Ex-Minister's pretrial hearing scheduled for Sunday

Ameen Faisal, a former minister defence, has been summoned to the pretrial hearing over the terror charges against him for Sunday.

The hearing is to be held at 10:00 am.

At the previous hearing, Faisal was given 15 days to prepare his defence, at the request of his lawyer, Abdulla Haseen.

He had, just as he did in a previous hearing, asked that Faisal be allowed to leave the country for medical purposes. Faisal reportedly suffers from a heart condition that requires speedy treatment, and the defense called on the state to take responsibility for any injury he may suffer because of the hold on his passport.

Faisal is facing terror charges against him for having ordered President Abdulla Yameen’s detention in 2010 has been scheduled for Tuesday.

Prosecutors charged Faisal under the second clause of the Prevention of Terrorism Act’s Article 2 – for kidnapping and taking a hostage. The case was filed in October, 2016, and all of Faisal’s travel documents have been ceased.

President Yameen, who was then the parliamentary representative to Mulaku constituency, was detained in July 14, taken to Aarah Island in Kaafu atoll, and released on the 23rd, nine days later.

Yameen was detained after his release from Police custody, under a Supreme Court order, amidst speculation that bribes were being funneled to MPs in a bid to remove then President Mohamed Nasheed from office.

However, Nasheed’s government maintained that Yameen was detained for his own safety following a National Security Committee decision. As Minister of Defence, Ameen Faisal would have also been on this committee.

Prosecutors are also pushing to raise further terror charges against Nasheed for his alleged involvement in the detention.