A crucial hearing in the case where Lahiru Madushanka, the Sri Lankan man held in Maldives in connection with an assassination plot to kill President Abdulla Yameen, was cancelled at the last minute last week, his lawyer Fareesha Abdulla said.
The lawyer said she was informed by the court staff that the hearing was cancelled as the trial judge had a meeting. Lahiru, who has been denied a fair trial remains behind bars at a maximum security prison in Kaafu Atoll. He shares a cell with another Sri Lankan man charged with drug offences.
A family source said Maldivian law enforcement authorities had been postponing the hearings over flimsy reasons for two years after officially charging him in court in August 2016, months after his sudden arrest in October 2015.
He is accused of being a contract killer, a sniper hired by the former Maldivian Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, a claim denied by the family. The family says he has never had weapons training and he is not an ex-military man. The so-called evidence against the Lankan is being suppressed by State officials citing secret State intelligence.
Three Maldivians including the former Vice President are currently in remand prison apart from Lahiru in connection with the case. Diplomatic sources said the Sri Lankan Mission in Maldives is making efforts to get him released soon.
Sports Minister Faiszer Mustapha travelled to Male last weekend to raise this matter with the state officials there. However, he had not been able to meet Lahiru in prison.