MP Ahmed Mahloof, representative of constituents in capital city Malé’s south-Galolhu, has chosen to defend himself in court by himself, after a Criminal Court judge suspended his principal counsel.

The lawmaker said in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday night that he has now relieved the remaining two lawyers on his legal team of their duties.

Mahloof said that this was done to protect them and described the current conditions under which he is being tried as hostile to those in the legal profession.

Nazim Abdul Sattar, the chief counsel on Mahloof’s legal team, was suspended over a tweet as well. Judge Ali Adam suspended Nazim from representing Mahloof in the case.

Mahloof is charged with submitting false information to a law enforcement body, although he denies these charges. He is also facing charges of terrorism, for which he is currently being held in detention. 

The grounds for the case against the lawmaker is a tweet he posted about the condition of prisoners held at the state’s detention facility in Maafushi island.