Rilwan's abduction: two witnesses recount accused driving a red car

A hearing in journalist Ahmed Rilwan’s abduction case was held on Monday, after Sunday’s hearing was cancelled due to the prosecution’s failure to produce their witnesses.

At Monday’s hearing, two witnesses testified that they had seen Mohamed Nooradeen- one of the three charged in the case- ‘driving around in a red car’ in Hulhumalé, Rilwan’s last known location.

Three have been charged with terrorism in connection with the kidnapping. They are, Nooradeen, Alif Rauf and Mohamed Suaid. While the third suspect, Suaid, is reported to have died after fleeing to Syria to join the jihad there, the trial is being held without him.

The two witnesses that testified on Monday used to work with Nooradeen in Hulhumalé. The first witness testified that Nooradeen was seen driving a red car ‘around the time Rilwan went missing’, adding that Nooradeen had told him that the said car belonged to Alif Rauf. However, he said that he had ‘not seen Nooradeen with Alif during the time’.

When questioned on Nooradeen’s movements on the night Rilwan went missing, the witness said that the accused was with him from 8pm to 3am on a motorcycle that night, adding that he had dropped him off at his home at around 3am. He noted that Nooradeen had not used the car on the night the journalist went missing, which he claimed ‘was parked at its normal spot on the street’.

The second witness also attested that Nooradeen had been driving a red car around the time Rilwan went missing, but said that he ‘was not aware of whom the car belonged to’.

Both witnesses testified that Nooradeen had used the car ‘to transport tourists’.

Journalist Rilwan was last seen in the early hours on 8th of August 2014 and is believed to have been abducted outside his apartment building in Hulhumalé. Over 600 days after Rilwan’s disappearance, police said that there were links between his disappearance and an abduction reported outside his apartment that night.

Police have said that on the night of Rilwan's disappearance, they had received a report of an individual being forced into a red car in Hulhumalé, but that the car was gone by the time they reached there. Police later said the car was registered under Aalif’s name, and that it had been taken into Hulhumalé illegally.

The charges against the three state that the said car was taken to Hulhumalé in August 2014, and that it was taken back to the capital the same month. Despite being transported in the same vessel, the prosecution noted that ‘the captains were different’, and had produced them to court as witnesses in the case.

Both testified to having transported a red car, but said that they were unable to clarify whether it was the same car. Noting that they did not know the owner, both said that they are ‘certain that it was a private car. While they were shown photos of both Alif and Nooradeen for recognition, both boat operators claimed to never having seen them.

While, during the last hearing, the prosecution and defence argued on producing Rilwan’s brother, Moosa Rilwan as a witness, presiding Judge Adam Arif had said that a decision on the matter will be made at the next hearing. However, at Monday’s hearing Judge Arif announced that a decision will be made after the court hears the testimonies of all the witnesses submitted from both sides.