Former Defense Minister Ameen Faisal, who attended a hearing for terrorism charges against him on Tuesday, has been given 15 days to respond to the charges and produce his evidence.
Faisal’s lawyer, Abdulla Haseen, had asked for an extension to preparation hours, and Judge Ibrahim Ali had given the defense 15 days.
The allegations against Faisal claim that he had taken President Abdulla Yameen ‘hostage’, a term used in the act on terrorism prevention, and unlawfully detained him.
President Yameen, then a member of parliament, was detained in Aarah of Kaafu atoll for nine days in July, 2010.
The charges were raised in on the 20th of October, 2016 and the first hearing was held on the 29th of December.
Faisal’s defense had, just as they did in the first hearing, asked that he be allowed to leave the country for medical purposes. Faisal reportedly suffers from a heart condition that requires speedy treatment, and the defense called on the state to take responsibility for any injury he may suffer because of the hold on his travel documents.
The judge stated that a decision on the matter would be made in the next hearing, just had he had said in the first.
