The son of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and lawmaker of Dhiggaru constituency, Faris Maumoon, was arrested again Saturday afternoon.
His second arrest comes after the Criminal Court on Thursday overturned a previous court order to detain him until the end of an ongoing trial, where he is being tried for bribing a lawmaker to garner support for an opposition lobbied censure motion against the parliament speaker. After a six-month incarceration, the court had freed Faris under strict conditions.
However, Mihaaru has found out that Faris was arrested on Saturday, just two days after he was released, under bribery accusations again. According to the arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court, Faris is accused of bribing parliamentarians with money sometime during May last year and of working with a band of lawmakers to topple the current government.
The official charges on the arrest warrant are bribery, influencing official matters, and influencing voters.
The warrant further stated there was possibility of Faris destroying evidence and influencing witnesses if he were not detained, as the reasons for the arrest. It was signed by Judge Hussain Shaheed, who was appointed to the Criminal Court last Thursday night.
Faris’ arrest was requested by the Prosecutor General instead of the police, as per the Parliamentary Privileges Act.
Prior to the arrest, Police had raided Faris’ residence in capital Male with a court order claiming to search for evidence pertaining to the accusations against him. Police had also searched the resident of his father, former President Maumoon, before the arrest.
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