MPs Waheed, Ameeth and Saud deny trespassing charges, next hearing set for Jan 16

Parliamentarians Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim, Mohamed Ameeth and Saud Hussain have denied the trespassing charges against them.

Trespassing charges were raised against Villingilli constituency MP Waheed, Maduvvari constituency MP Ameeth and Villingilli constituency MP Saud in August, for having entered the parliament premises on July 24, while the Elections Commission had decided that they had lost their seats in parliament, as per the Supreme Court ruling banning floor crossing.

A preliminary hearing in the case was held on Tuesday afternoon, where the state asked to present evidence to prove the charges against them. They presented video footage, a letter from the Elections Commission declaring them no longer members of the parliament, a letter sent to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) from the parliament administration, a letter proving that officers of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) were active near parliament that day as requested by the military, as well as a number of police officers.

Noting that the parliament administration had sent the letter to MNDF on July 24, the defence's attorney Hisaan Hussain said that 'this is the same day the events took place'. Hence, she said that they wanted 'to confirm the time the letter was sent' and that requested to move forward with the evidence submitted afterwards.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for January 16, 2018.

The three MPs, along with nine other opposition parliamentarians, are also charged with obstruction, for having entered the parliament premises that day.