The Criminal Court has cancelled its hearing on the terror charges against South-Mahchangoalhi constituency MP Abdulla Sinan, Villigili constituency MP Saud Hussain and Ibrahim Haneef, a former deputy minister at 'the Ministry of Education, has been cancelled.
No reason was given for the cancellation of the hearing, which was initially scheduled for 01:00 on Wednesday afternoon.
This is the second cancellation since the court proceedings were scheduled in MP Sinan's case. The court had only notified MP Sinan of the cancellation after the time for which the hearing was sheduled to begin had passed.
The state has raised terrorism charges against MP Saud and Haneef for allegedly planning the murder of High Court Judge Shujau Usman.
If the charges raised against them are proved in court, they can be jailed for any period between 17 - 20 years. Two additional charges had been raised on MP Saud.
In a tweet posted in Dhivehi following the summon chit issued to Saud on Tuesday afternoon, the MP wrote that he is being charged for attempting to uphold the rights of citizens. He wrote that he does not fear the prison cell or the prejudiced charges raised against him by the Police.
MP Sinan, who is to remain behind bars for the remainder of his trial, was arrested under the state of emergency after he had turned himself in upon the issuing of a manhunt by the Maldives Police Service. Sinan was informed of the allegations raised against him on the 17th of March 35 days after his arrest.
At a preliminary hearing held last Thursday, the state prosecutor had said that Sinan has been actively involved with the scheme to overthrow a legally established government through the parliament since last year. Other charges raised against him include his alleged involvement in the Supreme Court ruling issued ont he 01st of February releasing nine high profile prisoners and reinstating 12 opposition parliament members as well as working with former Commissioner of Police Ahmed Areef to create public unrest by pitting police officers against one another.
