Embattled lawmaker Faris Maumoon's lawyers on Wednesday expressed concern over the "ridiculous" questions police had asked their client after he was arrested for allegedly trying to overthrow the government.
Deposed ruling party leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's eldest son has been at the forefront of the ongoing government crackdown on the opposition after he spearheaded a move to unseat the parliament speaker last year. The Dhiggaru MP had spent six months in pre-trial detention after he was charged with bribing fellow lawmakers to back the opposition led censure motion against the speaker.
Less than two days after he was released, police again took him into custody accusing him of plotting to overthrow the government.
But according to his legal team the line of questioning gives further weight to their client's "politically motivated" arrest.
Faris' lead lawyer Maumoon Hameed said the government was trying to destroy his client's political career. According to Hameed, police had first asked Faris whether he had plotted with a fellow lawmaker to overthrow the government while second question was what would his response be to such an accusation.
Hameed insisted that such line of questioning was ridiculous since Faris has been remanded for 15 days to stop him from influencing evidence or witnesses. According to Hameed, Faris had denied any involvement in a plot to overthrow the government and had demanded more details of the allegations against him which the police had ignored.
