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Ex-colonel Fayaz walks free after completing jail sentence

Fathmath Shaahunaz
12 June 2018, MVT 13:39
Ahmed "Papa" Fayaz: he was released June 12, 2018 after completing a two-year jail sentence. PHOTO: NISHAN ALI/MIHAARU
Fathmath Shaahunaz
12 June 2018, MVT 13:39

Ahmed Fayaz, the former colonel of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) who was arrested in connection with the blast aboard the presidential speedboat in 2015, was released Monday after completing his jail sentence.

The explosion on "Finifenma" speedboat took place in September 2015 while the president and first lady were aboard. Fayaz was sentenced to two years, after he was found guilty of commanding to obstruct police officers from boarding the speedboat to investigate the blast.

His lawyer, Husnu al-Suood, confirmed that Fayaz finished serving his sentence and was freed on Monday.

Despite his release, Fayaz has an ongoing terrorism trial at the Criminal Court, in connection to a hidden stash of weapons and explosives that was discovered in the island of Hibalhidhoo in Baa Atoll, during the investigation into the Finifenma explosion.

Fayaz is charged with smuggling weapons out of the military armoury during his tenure as head of the armoury, and later for obstructing efforts to recover the missing weapons. In addition to Fayaz, the then Vice President Ahmed Adheeb along with a number of other individuals were also implicated in the case.

Fayaz had previously served as the Male Area Commander and head of the Special Protection Group (SPG). In the wake of the Finifenma explosion, he was demoted from colonel to captain.

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