Criminal Court is scheduled to begin the hearings over the sexual harassment and assault allegations raised against former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed, on Sunday.

The first hearing in the trial is set for 1:30pm on Sunday.

Seven charges were raised against the disgraced ex-minister, including one count of attempted rape, one count of sexual abuse, one count of indecent exposure, one count of sexual harassment and one count of attempted sexual harassment. He is also charged with two counts of solicitation of sexual favors.

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PG Office) forwarded the charges against Waheed to the Criminal Court on 18 November 2020.

The case was forwarded for prosecution by the Maldives Police Service, on October 7 last year. According to the police, statements were obtained from 15 individuals against Waheed, in connection to the case.

After the case surfaced, police officers conducted a search and seizure operation at the former minister’s residence during which his phone and laptop were seized, alongside withholding his passport.

Speaking to media outside of the police headquarters after being summoned for questioning last year, Waheed had said that the sexual assault allegations against him were “politically motivated”, stressing that the truth will be exposed once the investigations were completed and that justice "must be served".

Following the allegations against him, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ordered Waheed to resign and consecutively stripped him from the ministerial post after he failed to forward a resignation letter.

Speaking on RaajjeTV’s ‘Fashaairu’ programme last November, the president noted that even Waheed will believe that the decision to terminate him, was the right one.

Waheed is accused of sexually assaulting ministry employees during resorts trips, Waheed is also accused to sexually harassing ruling coalition partner, Jumhooree Party (JP) member and Transport Minister Aishath Nahula. JP council proposed to dismiss Ali Waheed as the party’s leader in July.