Rilwan's abduction: another hearing cancelled due to failure to produce witnesses
Rilwan was last seen on 8th August 2014
Mohamed Suaidh is said to have followed Ahmed RIlwan prior to his abduction. Suaid, the third charged in the case, is believed to have died after fleeing to Syria
Criminal Court has cancelled yet another hearing in journalist Ahmed Rilwan’s abduction case.
Sunday’s hearing in the case was cancelled due to the failure to produce witnesses, according to the Criminal Court.
A hearing in the case, scheduled for Thursday, was cancelled as well, on the defence’s request, also due to failure to produce witnesses.
While three are charged with Rilwan’s abduction, the trial is being tried over two of the accused as a third suspect- Mohamed Suaid- is believed to have died after fleeing to Syria to join the internal conflict there.
The court is trying Aalif Rauf and Mohamed Nooradeen. According to the charges raised against them, they are accused of abducting Rilwan in front of his residence in Hulhumalé, on 8th August 2014. However, both of the accused remain free.
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. After denying it for over 600 days, police had finally confirmed that their investigation had shown 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.
One of the witnesses produced to court had testified to seeing Nooradeen driving a red car around the time Rilwan went missing, even recounting to court that he had been told that the car belonged to Rauf.
