MP Riyaz's hearing cancelled a second time this week

The Criminal Court has cancelled its hearing for the obstruction charges against MP Abdulla Riyaz, scheduled for Tuesday night.

The hearing was initially scheduled for 8:00 pm, however the parliamentarian has confirmed to RaajjeMV that he has been informed that it has been cancelled.

This is the second time the hearing has been scheduled this week. It was first scheduled for Sunday but was cancelled after the government announced that it would a public holiday.

Riyaz is being charged with obstruction of police justice after he allegedly refused to provide officers access to his mobile phone.

Riyaz has denied the charges, and another hearing has been cancelled due to reported failure of state to provide the parliamentarian’s defence with a piece of evidence against him.

Police attempted to confiscate MP Riyaz’s phone as part of their investigation allegations that opposition parliamentarians had threatened and bribed pro-government MPs ahead of the now failed vote of no-confidence against parliament speaker Abdulla Maseeh.

The allegation has been described as heavily politically motivated.