Court orders to remand man accused of recruiting terrorist fighters, until trial concludes

Mohamed Ameen, arrested after being included in the list of terrorists publicized by America's Department of the Treasuries Office of Foreign Affairs Control (OFAC), is to be kept in custody until his terrorism trial concludes.

Ameen was arrested on October 24, and charged with joining a terrorist organization and plotting a terror attack. in early December.

The first preliminary hearing in the case was held on Sunday, with both charges being tried together.

Judge Mohamed Shakeel is presiding over the case, and decided to keep Ameen in remand until for the remainder of the trial after hearing both the prosecution and defence.

Ameen is accused of spreading extremist ideologies in Maldives on a large scale, in addition to recruiting and directing terrorist fighters abroad. The 35-year-old is also accused of providing financial and technological assistance to foreign terrorist organizations and having close ties with their leaders.

He is the first Maldivian to be included in the US Department of the Treasury's OFAC terrorist list. Sanctions were imposed on him by the OFAC in August this year. According to the US Department of the Treasury, Ameen “has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K)”.