Adheeb requests to change judge in his case

Former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor has requested to change the judge presiding over in the abuse of authority case.

The preliminary hearing of the eight charges of in the abuse authority case against the former Vice President was held today. The judge presiding over the case is the Criminal Court Judge, Adam Arif.

At the hearing today, Adheeb said that Judge Arif was an employee of the Prosecutor General's Office when the case was in the investigation phase and he may have been involved in the process which would create a conflict of interest.

The state prosecutor responded by saying that no involvement of Judge Arif during his time at the Prosecutor General's Office has been noticed. And there were two investigations conducted in Adheeb's case; one from Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and one from the Maldives Police Service. And the charges in question come from the investigation by the ACC.

Judge Arif said that he has taken part in some cases against Adheeb but he was not involved in the cases in question. He said that Adheeb will be allowed to put it in record after discussing with his attorney. And if there are any problems, he would leave the case.

At the hearing today, Adheeb said that he has a life threatening disease.

He said that he has received the documents of the case and wants to proceed with legal representation. And so the state did not present the charges formally. The judge has given ten days to appoint a lawyer.

Judge Arif said that the next hearing in the case will be held ten days later. But he did not specify a date.

The Judge said that a hearing will be set for next week for the rest of the cases against Adheeb.