Criminal Court moves forward with case against Rilwan's alleged abductors

The Criminal Court is moving forward with the case against those charged with being involved in journalist Ahmed Rilwan’s disappearance.

At a hearing held on Wednesday, the judge had given defendants Mohamed Nooredeen and Ahmed Alif Rauf 10 days to appoint themselves a lawyer and prepare their defence.

Mohamed Suaid, another suspect in the case, had not attended the hearing. Suaid is reportedly not in the country, and state prosecutors have asked the police to locate him.

The judge said that the court would issue an order to the Department of Immigration and Emigration to confirm whether or not he is in the country.

The court is to move forward with the state’s case against Alif and Rauf, having given them the longest period allowed to produce their defence. Both had pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges and opted to move forward with the trial process.

The defendants are facing terror allegations for having the unlawful capture and detention. The charges were forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office on August 20th, almost three years since Rilwan’s disappearance.

Rilwan has been missing since August 8th, 2014. He was last seen purchasing a ticket to Hulhumalé, where he lived alone in a rented apartment.

Eye witnesses reported that they had seen a man struggle with several individuals before being forced into a ‘red car’.

Police later confirmed that Rilwan’s disappearance was an abduction, revealing that they had found evidence linking a car that had been smuggled onto Hulhumalé to the case.

Officers had found a strand of hair on a carpet lain in the car’s storage space. It had matched DNA samples acquired from a member of Rilwan’s mother, Aiminath Easa.

The car belonged to Rauf, one of the defendants who had been given a 10-day period to prepare his defence.

Further evidence publicized by the police reveal that Rilwan had been surveilled and followed prior to his abduction.