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Court dismisses Gayyoom's pleas, schedules hearing for Thursday

Farah Ahmed
24 May 2018, MVT 10:55
Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom entering the Criminal Court for his son and Dhiggaru MP Faris Maumoon's hearing. PHOTO: MIHAARU
Farah Ahmed
24 May 2018, MVT 10:55

The Criminal Court has stated that there was no reason to postpone former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s trial on the obstruction of justice charges, and rejected the legal and procedural issues raised by his attorneys.

Gayyoom was charged with obstruction of justice for refusing to provide the police his mobile phone, which was considered material evidence in an investigation initiated after his arrest on February 5, shortly after a state of emergency was declared.

Gayyoom was also charged with attempting to orchestrate an act of terrorism.

At the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, the presiding judge Hassan Najeeb had rejected 12 pre-trial motions submitted by the defence. Three motions out of the 12 concerned postponing the trial due to legal matters such as deficiencies in the Penal Code, while others concerned dropping the charges altogether due to procedural issues with the case.

The prosecution had also submitted two motions in the preliminary hearing. The prosecution pleaded for their witness testimony against Gayyoom to be presented in secret, as well as for protection of the witness' identity, and to uphold the court’s previous temporary order on protecting the integrity of evidence.

The judge dismissed the pleas raised by the former president’s attorneys; he stated that there was no reason the prosecution could not present a secret witness, and scheduled the first hearing of the case for Thursday.

Gayyoom’s lawyer Maumoon Hameed protested the decision, and claimed that trial proceedings must commence within 30-days after the preliminary hearings conclude, according to the Penal Code, and asked for additional time to prepare for the case.

Judge Najeeb rejected the claim and reiterated that the hearings would commence on Thursday.

In response, Gayyoom’s attorney Mohamed Faisal stated that hearings are typically scheduled after consulting with both parties and insisted that a 30-day period should be given before hearings commenced. He had also questioned whether the trial was being conducted in accordance to the Penal Code.

Judge Najeeb had again repeated that the hearing would commence on Thursday, in response.

Gayyoom’s attorneys also raised concerns about his deteriorating health condition in court on Tuesday. Gayyoom, who is now 82-years old, suffers from Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. Lawyer Hameed told the court that his doctors had advised him to rest for 48 hours after an attack, stating that Gayyoom had his fifth attack this month on Tuesday morning.

His lawyer Faisal said that Gayyoom finds it hard to sit for long periods of time and requested the hearing to be postponed. However, the court objected, stating that it was a scheduled hearing. Faisal responded by stating that the defence only came to know about Tuesday’s hearing the night before.

Besides Gayyoom, Chief Justice Abdullah Saeed was also charged with obstruction of justice for not handing over his mobile phone to the police, after being arrested from the premises of the Supreme Court on the same night as Gayyoom.

Gayyoom has been remanded in Maafushi Prison until the end of his trial.

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