14 months after arrest, "Shumba Gong" Ashraf transferred to house arrest
Ashraf was arrested in November 2015 over the blast on the presidential speedboat
The hearing on Feb. 27 was cancelled after Ashraf was presented to Court
14 months after his arrest, Ahmed "Shumba Gong" Ashraf has been transferred to house arrest.
On Wednesday, Criminal Court ordered that the social media activist be transferred to house arrest.
Arrested in November 2015, from Sri Lanka, the state raised extortion charges against the close ally of jailed former vice president, Ahmed Adeeb, in February 2016.
At a hearing held on Wednesday, Ashraf's defense lawyer requested that he be transferred to house arrest, which was acconmodated by presiding judge, Abdul Baaree Yoosuf.
At the hearing, Court heard the testimonies of two of the five witnesses presented by the prosecution. The two secret witnesses had testified that Ashraf had sent death threats to Zahid Rameez- businessman and council member of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). According to the witnesses, the threats were sent to a PPM viber group.
Judge Baaree stated that the rest of the witnesses will be heard at the next hearing, which is to be scheduled for next week.
Back in 2015, Interpol had issued a red notice for Ashraf; one of the eight individuals wanted in connection to the blast on President Abdulla Yameen's speed boat, in September 2015.The President, First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim and some members of the cabinet were on board at the time of the blast. Former VP Adeeb is the main suspect in the blast, and has been charged with terrorism.
While the last hearing for the trial was held in March 2016, two additional hearings were scheduled- for December 2016 and February 2017- which were cancelled.
Criminal Court had previously ordered to keep Ashraf in custody till the end of his trial.
