A hearing has been scheduled regarding the charges raised against the mastermind behind the 1988 coup attempt, Abdulla Luthufee for fleeing from prison.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 11am, Sunday, at the Criminal Court.

The court has been holding virtual hearings through video conferencing, following the lockdown declared across the Greater Malé Region due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Luthufee was charged for fleeing from prison after being granted medical leave while serving a 25-year prison sentence during 2010.

The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) forwarded the charges against the mastermind behind the 1988 coup d’état on March 2, 2020, under section 537 of the Maldives Penal Code.

The fugitive fled from prison and went into hiding until May 1, 2019 after departing to India during January 2010 under medical leave granted to him during the administration of Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.

In May 2019, he was extradited to the Maldives and is currently doing time at Maafushi Prison, after turning himself into the Maldivian Embassy in Colombo earlier that month.

He turned himself in after the country launched a nation-wide search for him, following the Easter Sunday bombings.

The lives of 19 Maldivians were taken during the attempted coup in the Maldives capital on November 3, 1988 by a Sri Lankan militant group. Luthufee was initially sentenced to death due to his involvement, but his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment by Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Although he was granted medical leave during Nasheed’s tenure, now incarcerated Former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration was observed to be negligent in the case as well.