MP Mahloof’s trial to begin on Sunday over tweet

South-Galolhu MP Ahmed Mahloof’s trial is set to begin on Sunday over this tweet claiming that the prisoners that died in Maafushi Prison were killed.

Mahloof has been charged with false reporting for his Twitter post on January 20.

In the tweet, Mahloof said “detainees are not dying in Maafushi Prison, they are being killed. They are being killed by not providing them with the necessary medical treatment. When 10 detainees die within a year, it’s a serious issue. Commissioner Shiyan and DOP Salman must take full responsibility. I don’t know how many times I’ve made this complaint while I was jailed.”

In the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, presiding judge Ali Adam said that neither the defense nor the prosecution have submitted any documents for the trial. The state prosecutor said that, other than the evidence submitted to the court already, they have no documents to submit. Mahloof said that the court did not accept his documents, saying that he had passed the deadline for submission. The judge said that Mahloof had tried to submit the documents three days after the deadline and that he will not get another chance.

Mahloof presented himself at Tuesday’s hearing without a lawyer. He said that suspending his lawyer, Nazim Sattar, over an inflammatory tweet regarding the court without verifying that it was his Twitter account is not acceptable and requested that Nazim be re-assigned as his lawyer. The judge said that since Nazim has not filed a complaint over the suspension, it was reasonable to conclude that it was his Twitter account.

Attorneys Ahmed Abdulla Afeef and Mohamed Has’san, who had handled Mahloof’s case after Nazim’s suspension, sidelined themselves from his case upon Mahloof’s request.

The state’s evidence against Mahloof include his police statement, two letters from the correctional service, and another piece of evidence confirming that his Twitter account belongs to him. Mahloof has not presented any evidence in his defense.