Criminal Court cancels hearing in terror trial against MP Faris

The hearing in Member of Parliament for Dhiggaru constituency and son of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Ahmed Faris Maumoon’s terror trial scheduled for 01:00 p.m. on Wednesday, has been cancelled.

While the Criminal Court had not stated a particular reason for the cancellation, the MP was charged with terrorism for alleged conspiring to overthrow his uncle’s government.

According to the accusations raised against him by the state, Faris was in the frontlines of individuals who had attempted to overthrow the government following the initial Supreme Court ruling releasing jailed prominent figures in the political sphere.

Faris is to be kept under police custody for the remainder of the terror trial. Presiding Judge over Faris’s terror trial is recently appointed Head Judge of the Criminal Court, Ahmed Hailam.

Additional charges pending against the MP include offering bribed to a fellow parliamentarian who has since testified in court in Faris’s defense, saying that he had not received bribes from Faris following which hearings in the case had been halted.

While trials under several charges against him are proceeding, Faris continues to express his concern over the fast-tracked manner in which his trials are being conducted.

While the hearing in the MP’s terror trial was cancelled this afternoon, another hearing that was to be held in the morning was also cancelled without the court having given a particular reason for the cancellation.

The hearing was in the identity fraud allegations raised against him over which judge Ibrahim Ali is presiding.