Criminal Court: Thinadhoo arson attack case will not be accepted until attendance of state lawyer to trial is confirmed

Criminal Court has said that the case of 89 suspects involved in the arson attack in Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo would be received to the court after the attendance of the state lawyer to hearings is confirmed in written form.

Ahmed Mohamed Manik, Media official of Criminal Court said to Sun Online on Monday that the case was rejected when it was submitted for the second time, for not providing assurance of the attendance of state lawyer to trial.

He said that Criminal Court has abolished the case on last Saturday when a notification was sent to the court by Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office stating that the state lawyer was unable to attend the trial that day. For that reason, Media Official said that court has decided not to accept the case until the attendance of the state lawyer is assured for the hearings at any time scheduled by the Criminal Court.

Adam Arif, Public Prosecutor of PG Office said to Sun Online that, because Criminal Court did not mention the reason for the rejection of the case of 89 suspects involved in the arson attack in Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo, the case will again be submitted to the court on Tuesday.

The Defense Lawyers’ Team of the 89 suspects have said that they did not believe the case could be submitted again as the court has already made its decision regarding the case. So the team said that submitting the case to the court again is against the rules and regulations.