The Criminal Court has scheduled a hearing in the murder trial of social media activist and blogger Yameen Rasheed, for Sunday afternoon.

The hearing has been scheduled for 01:30pm and the last hearing in the case was held on 25 November, where testimonies were taken from two state witnesses. Testimonies were taken from two officers who had respectively conducted raids in the residences of two accused, Ismail Rasheed and Hussain Ziyad, who said that “army” outfits were found inside Rasheed’s residence as well as a laptop and mobile phone.

The presiding judge over the case, Ali Rasheed decided to proceed with the trial after Ziyad’s lawyer stated that he does not wish to question the officer who searched his residence.

Judge Rasheed further revealed that defendant testimonies will be taken during the months of December and January.

As such, a hearing will be held to present documented evidence on 7 January, which will be followed by a summary statement hearing on 15 January and a verdict hearing has been scheduled for 30 January.

Yameen was stabbed to death at the stairwell of his apartment building, Maafannu Spatula, brutally on 23 April 2017. The state raised murder charges on six individuals; Ismail Haisham Rasheed, Hussain Ziyad, Ismail Rasheed, Hassan Shifaz, Mohamed Dhifran, and Ahmed Zihan Ismail