Male’, Maldives – The hearing date for the two charges raised against the former Legal Affairs Minister of the President’s Office Azima Shukoor has been scheduled for this coming Sunday.
The two charged against Azima are that of facilitating money laundering and giving false testimonies to a government institution, with both charges to be addressed in the same hearing. Although a hearing was scheduled for 27th September regarding the charged against Azima, it had to be discontinued after Azima reportedly felt unwell and required medical attention.
Starting the hearing that day, Judge Hassan Saeed of the Criminal Court highlighted that the court had received a letter from Azima, in which she had requested to move the hearing to another date due to an issue that came up. The prosecutors clarified further on the nature of the issue, upon which Judge Hassan Saeed requested Azima to provide more details.
In response, Azima clarified that she has been required to consult a doctor, citing medial issues and clarified that she received an appointed for the same date. She added that she has clarified the medical reasoning in the letter provided to the court and that she does not wish to get into further details on her medical state as media personnels were present in the court.
The Judge then asked Azima whether she would prefer to continue with the hearing or whether she wants to go to the hospital, to which Azima replied saying that she wishes to go to the hospital. Judge Hassan Saeed cancelled the hearing for the day, and rescheduled the hearing for 13:30 on this coming Sunday.
Uza. Azima had served as the a Minister of Legal Affairs at the President’s Office, during the administration of former President Yameen Abdul Qayyoom.