Indian HC arson call trial halts as Abbas fails to appear in court
Five months after the charge sheet was filed, the hearings have not started as he has not been produced in court.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Abbas Adil Riza, charged for calling on the people to burn down the Indian High Commission in the Maldives, could not be produced before the court and the hearing scheduled to begin on Tuesday has been cancelled.
He was arrested on December 25 for allegedly calling to set the Indian embassy on fire via a twitter account in his name. However, he was released on February 8 with conditions after 20 days in police custody.
Later, on February 19, a case was registered against Abbas and the case was taken to court. The charge sheet against him states:
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Charged for threatening to commit destruction
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Abbas Adil Riza spoke on social media platform Clubhouse on December 22, not satisfied with the trial of former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in a money laundering case, and called on the people to instigate arson all over the city, by getting petrol and rope
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The next day, he tweeted calling to burn down the Indian Embassy
The Criminal Court had initially scheduled the hearings on March 5. However, Abbas did not turn up for that day's hearing.
The next hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, but was cancelled. The court told Atoll Times that the reason for the cancellation of the hearing was that "the accused could not be summoned".
Five months after the charge sheet was filed, the hearings have not started as he has not been produced in court. The police said he was released on conditions but did not give details of the conditions.
Abbas had tweeted at the time that arson attacks in Addu on February 8, 2012 were caused on Indian orders, but that there had been no compensation for it yet.
Abbas served as the spokesperson at the President's Office and the state minister for finance during President Mohamed Waheed's tenure. Abbas also served as the head of customs during Yameen's tenure.
