Yoga Day event riot: defence urges state to raise charges in a way equality is ensured

A preliminary hearing in the charges of terrorism raised in connection with the riots at the National Stadium on 21 June 2022 which saw the disruption of activities to mark the International Day of Yoga, has been held.

The hearing was held at the Criminal Court on Sunday.

Judge Hussain Faiz Rashaad is presiding over the case.

Sunday’s hearing was for seven out of all accused in connection with the case.

They are Mohamed Zivyan, Abdulla Rifau, Aboobakuru Farih, Ahmed Aksam, Ahmed Nasooh, Hassan Shifaz and Shabim Adam.

During the hearing, the judge noted that some of the accused were yet to appoint legal representation.

Citing the reason for not having appointed a lawyer so far, the accused stressed that they wish to proceed with the case with attorneys.

With this, the judge granted the accused a 10-day period to appoint lawyers.

Some of the defense lawyers of the accused stressed that they are yet to receive a detailed document regarding the case. As such, they raised concern over the manner in which the documents were submitted by the state.

The defense also sought from the state to frame charges in a manner in which equality is ensured.

In November 2022, the People’s Majlis Committee on National Security Services or the 241 Committee was briefed regarding the actions of officers of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and the reasons security was breached during the riots.

The 241 Committee received two cases in connection with the Yoga Day riots, following which the committee had earlier sought the details of the occurrences of the day from the police institution.

The police institution had in turn provided the committee with detailed papers as well as a timeline of the events that took place.

Further, MPS had also shared with the committee the actions taken by the institution as well as the reasons security was breached.

The police have also compiled an internal review of the whole incident, which has since been presented to the committee.

According to the committee, the National Integrity Commission (NIC) had also run probes into the Yoga Day event riots, following which a confidential report has been compiled and forwarded to the committee.

Following a previous committee meeting, senior police officials including the Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed were presented to the committee for further questioning. The committee was held behind closed doors due to confidentiality reasons.

In connection with the riots at the National Stadium, several arrests were made and charges were raised against them.

The charges against the suspects were forwarded to the Criminal Court on 2 October 2022. The trial is currently proceeding.

23 individuals had been arrested in connection with the riots at the National Stadium by 5 August 2022.

The yoga event, organized by the Indian High Commission in Maldives, was joined by foreign diplomats, senior government officials as well as locals including children and elders. The event was disrupted by a group of individuals who stormed into the stadium and demanded to halt the event. Physical attacks were also reported alongside vandalism, which caused injuries to some of the participants.

MPS revealed that the supplies including flags were provided to the protestors by the opposition Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM). It was also revealed that the flags used in the riots were the same ones used at the political gathering held by the opposition party, at the carnival area. The sound system was also reported to have been provided by PPM. The opposition party had later issued a statement, noting that supplying the flags was “not an issue” by itself.

MPS assured that the case will be probed as a serious case and that perpetrators will be brought before justice.

The yoga event riot has since made international headlines, while the government also strongly condemned the actions of the protestors. As such, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in a Twitter post, said that the perpetrators will be brought before justice, “soon”.