Criminal Court has ruled to continue the case raised against Dhiggaru Constituency MP Ahmed Faris Maumoon, with a preliminary hearing set for October 24th.
MP Faris is charged with offering bribes to his fellow Parliamentarians.
In Monday’s hearing of the case, Judge had passed to carry out the case and to detain the Parliamentarian for the duration of the trail.
MP Faris was arrested in connection to the case on July 18th, with Criminal Court ordering the next day, that he should be detained for the duration of the investigation and trial of the case.
Though he was detained on charges of offering bribes, the charges on him were first stated as accepting bribes. When this was alerted to by MP Faris’ lawyers, the charges were amended to offering bribes.
The charges were first raised on the Parliamentarian on 22nd August. The case documents were exchanged on August 28th.
The Parliamentarian is charged under clause 510 (b) of the Penal Code. This class ‘three’ felony carries a sentence of three years and 12 months. If proven guilty, MP Faris stands to lose his Parliament seat.
The charges were raised on MP Faris after he spearheaded the no confidence motion on Parliament Speaker Abdullah Maseeh. The motion earned the signatures of 45 MPs, more than the required majority.
In addition to the bribery charges State prosecutors are also looking to file charges of identity fraud against Faris, for having used the ruling party’s flag and logo at a joint press conference with leaders of the opposition.
