Three days to appoint lawyer given to Ziyad

Former Colonel of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) Mohamed Ziyad, who has been charged with terrorism following arrest of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed against law, has been given three days to appoint a lawyer.

Lawyer of the state, Ahmed Hisham Wajeeh in his statement at the trial held on Tuesday evening at Criminal Court noted that Ziyad had been charged over that case because he was involved in the operation conducted to arrest Judge Abdhulla following the order of Head of MNDF Mohamed Nasheed and taking Judge Abudulla to Kaafu Girifushi after arresting him forcefully on 16 January 2012 at around 12:00 midnight when Ziyad was serving as a Colonel of MNDF.

He has been charged with terrorism with reference to Article 2 (b) and under Article 6 (b) of the Terrorism Prevention Act.

With the three days’ period given to Ziyad to appoint a lawyer, all those who have been charged following arrest of Abdulla Mohamed have been provided with opportunities to appoint lawyers.