Alleged ISIS recruiter to be jailed pending outcome of trial

The Criminal Court has ordered terror suspect Mohamed Ameen (Kariyya Villa, Maadhadu, Gn. Fuvahmulah) to be jailed pending the outcome of his trial.

Ameen, 35, has been charged with membership at a terrorist organization and conspiracy to carry out an act of terrorism.

His trial began at the Criminal Court this Sunday.

The court has granted a motion filed by the State prosecution to keep Ameen detained pending the outcome of the trial.

Ameen was arrested on October 23, after the US Department of Treasury blacklisted him as a key leader of ISIS. The US said in its statement that Ameen was actively engaged in leading ISIS recruitment in Maldives. It said that he previously directed terrorist fighters to Syria, but now sent them to Afghanistan.

Recent amendments to Counter-Terrorism Act criminalizes recruitment of people for terrorist organizations, and criminalizes supporting or promoting terrorist organization.

Ameen is the first person to be charged under the amended Counter-Terrorism Act.

Ameen was also suspected of involvement in the Sultan’s Park bombing which injured a dozen tourists in 2007. He fled the country after the bombing, resulting in an Interpol red notice being issued against him.

He was located in neighboring Sri Lanka and brought to Maldives in 2012 but released by the court following two months of detainment.

Disappearances and Deaths Commission (DDCom)’s report into the 2014 abduction and murder of journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, released this year, had named Ameen as the leader of a local group affiliated with ISIS.