Court cancels Thursday's hearing on MP Faris' identity theft case

Criminal Court has cancelled Thursday's scheduled hearing over the identity theft allegations against Dhiggaru constituency Ahmed Faris Maumoon.

Court did not disclose a reason for the cancellation.

At the hearing scheduled for 11:30 am, the Court was to hear the testimonies of the witnesses submitted by the state.

At the last hearing in the case held on October 22, state lawyers had submitted the names of two witnesses, video evidence, Civil Court verdict to handover the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to President Abdulla Yameen, letter from the Elections Commission (EC) regarding the dismissal of Faris from the party register and a letter sent in to the Maldives Police Service (MPS) from PPM, asking to investigate the matter. They also requested anonymity for their witnesses, citing 'possible economic losses'.

State lawyer Aishath Reesha said the reason for requesting anonymity was because they feared the witness may stand to lose their jobs if they were to give their testimonies to Court.

According to prosecutors, both witnesses were present at a press conference help by opposition parties on the 22nd of March 2017. They said that the testimonies are vital in the case, as it proves the allegation against Faris had taken part in the press conference on behalf of PPM.

At the hearing, Faris' defence lawyer Maumoon Hameed denied the allegations against his client, arguing that the identity was stolen by MP Abdul Raheem. Hameed noted that Raheem has no stand within PPM, to send such an official letter from the party, as he was removed from the party on 15th October 2016 by its leader, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Hence the lawyer questioned on why such a case had not been filed against Raheem.

Faris is also charged with bribery, with the Court ordering to keep him in remand for the duration of investigation and trial.