Criminal Court on Wednesday for the second time in as many days cancelled the scheduled hearing in the trial of the alleged abduction of of journalist Ahmed Rilwan.
The Maldives Independent reporter Rilwan went missing nearly four years ago and his disappearance remains arguably the biggest unsolved mystery in the archipelago.
The court had also cancelled Tuesday's hearing after the judge the day before expressed his wish to fast-track the trial.
The reason for the cancellation however, remains unclear.
The judge had scheduled both hearings to hear the remaining prosecution witnesses while the defence was also slated to present its witnesses.
Prosecutors have charged two men - Ahmed Aalif Rauf and Mohamed Nooraddeen with terrorism. Both however, had denied the charges. Prosecutors had presented a total 29 people as witnesses while the defence has named five.
During the hearing on Monday, several prosecution witnesses had testified in secret.
The first witness to testify in secret was the one who met Rilwan on the ferry to the reclaimed suburb Hulhumale on that fateful night and could very well be the last person to see the reporter alive.
The man told court that he was a friend of the victim and both often met on the Hulhumale ferry. The witness said Rilwan was sitting to the left of him on the ferry and they were having a conversation but could not recall the details of that night's conversation between the two. But he did recall an unusual thing Rilwan did while on their way to Hulhumale.
"We were talking and suddenly he turned to a side to take out his phone. He was doing something with his phone. It wasn't something Rilwan does normally. I have often traveled with him," the witness told court.
When the ferry docked at Hulhumale terminal, the man remembers getting up together with Rilwan but does not remember whether the reporter actually got off the ferry. But he was certain that Rilwan stood up to get off the ferry.
Three of Rilwan's neighbours which included two women and a man who lived at the adjacent apartment building to Rilwan's had also testified in secret during Monday's hearing.
One woman told the court that she had heard a loud commotion around 2am and had rushed out to the balcony where she saw a man being forced into a red car. The car then sped off with one door open, she added. But the witness admitted that she could not make out the victim and had not paid attention to the license plate of the car. She also said she knew Rilwan and often saw him smoking on his balcony.
The next witness told a similar story. She had also rushed out to her balcony after she heard a loud commotion. She also recounted a man being forced into a red car. When the car sped off, the alleged kidnapper did not have time to close the door, she added. But the second witness also admitted that she could not make out the faces.
The witness said the suspicious circumstances had prompted her to wake up her sleeping husband who had called the police. Around 20 minutes later police arrived while she saw her a knife at the scene.
The husband who was sleeping at the time told the court that he had not seen the alleged kidnapping. But when his wife woke him up following the incident, he had immediately rushed down and called the police. He also admitted seeing a knife at the scene which the police had taken after they arrived.
