Criminal Court Judge Dheebanaaz Fahmy has suspended the court proceedings against Ismail Yafis of Henveiru Light Night, who was charged for threatening the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed, to assess the defendant's mental health.
In the hearing today, the defendant was accused of 3 different charges but he pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
The defendant maintained that he had no evidence to present in his defense and hence do not want to appoint a defense lawyer and also refused a state-appointed defense lawyer.
But once the presiding Judge Fahmy said that the defendant can dismiss the state-appointed defense lawyer at any given time, Yafis agreed to it and the Judge requested the Attorney General's Office to make the arrangements.
The defendant was then asked if he was physically and mentally fit and he answered by saying that he was treated for Schizophrenia back in 2013. Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.
He also said that he was admitted to Raa Ungoofaaru regional hospital in December 2020 for psychological treatment.
The Judge then requested clarification from State Prosecutors handling the case and they informed the court that the defendant had undergone a psychological assessment prior to the trial and that it did not raise any red flags.
When Judge Fahmy pointed out that Yafis's diagnosis was more a psychiatric condition rather than a psychological issue, both the state prosecutor and the defendant said that Yafis was seen by a specialist during his remand period. But the state prosecutors said that they did not have the documents about the specialist's assessment.
The Judge then decided to suspend the court proceedings till the defendant's mental health state is assessed and determined.
Yafis was arrested back in August after he had threatened to harm Speaker Nasheed if returned to the Maldives and had said that he would do more harm than the May 6th attack against the speaker.
The defendant had previously been sentenced to 15 days in jail after he disrupted court order and was found guilty of contempt of court.
