Jumhoree Party (JP)’s deputy leader and Kinbidhoo MP Abdulla Riyaz’s legal team has requested the Criminal Court to review the order to remand him for the rest of his trial.

Lawyer Noorul Salam made the request via a letter to the head of the Criminal Court, Judge Adam Areef.

In the letter, Noorul Salam said that Riyaz was remanded at a hastily held hearing in which his rights were undermined. The lawyer said that Riyaz had highlighted issues during that hearing, and afterwards the presiding judge said he would review the remand order in a future hearing with lawyers present.

No such hearing has been held since, noted Noorul Salam in the letter.

He also said that Riyaz is a lawmaker and therefore keeping him in incarceration unlawfully would also be an injustice to his constituents.

Riyaz is charged with obstructing the conduct of law enforcement officers, for refusing to provide them access code to his mobile phone.