Dhiggaru MP Faris Maumoon has told the presiding Criminal Court judge to not to bother ‘pretending’ to give him a fair trial and to convict him without bringing him into court.

Faris said this at his identity fraud hearing on Monday while expressing concern that presiding judge Ibrahim Ali has been recently fast-tracking his trial by holding back-to-back hearings.

At Monday’s hearing, the court heard the testimony of one witness from the defense. While Faris sent the names of 47 people as witnesses, the court issued summons for 10, and only one came to the hearing.

Afterwards, the judge said that a hearing will be held at 1pm on Tuesday and that the court will hear the testimonies of other witnesses if they come to the hearing. He also requested both sides to come prepared to give their summary statements.

In response, Faris said he was shocked that the judge was scheduling back-to-back hearings after five months passed without even one hearing being held. He asked what was forcing the judge to fast-track his trial.

Faris said that there was no reason why any of his 47 witnesses shouldn’t be allowed to testify. He also said that while he also needs to discuss with his legal team on what order to bring in the witnesses, he has not been given enough time to do so, adding that the court is bringing in whichever witnesses they prefer. This is undermining his constitutional right to a fair trial, he added.