The Criminal Court of Maldives, having found Member of Parliament for Dhiggaru constituency Ahmed Faris Maumoon guilty of the identity fraud charges raised against him, has slammed a prison sentence of four months and 24 days in prison on the parliamentarian.
The last hearing in Faris’s identity fraud case was held on Wednesday evening followed by sentencing at 08:30 p.m. the same day.
The presiding Judge over the case had issued the prison sentence on Faris having found him guilty of identity fraud for allegedly using the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) flag and logo at a joint party press conference held on the 22nd of March 2017.
Faris had been under police custody for the remainder of the ongoing terrorism trial against him when he had been sentenced over identity fraud charges.
Pending trials against him include bribery for allegedly offering bribes 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, as well as terrorism for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government of his uncle, incumbent President Abdulla Yameen following the initial Supreme Court ruling releasing jailed prominent figures in the political sphere.
