The High Court has scheduled to begin today the appeal against the Criminal Court order to arrest former Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on suspicion of sexually abusing a minor.

Shahid filed the appeal at the High Court on the 5th of this month.

The appeal hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:15 pm today.

Shahid was arrested from the apartment where he lives in Hulhumalé on the night of the 2nd of this month, under a court order, on suspicion of sexually abusing a child under the age of 18. When he was presented to court on the 3rd of this month for a decision on his detention, the court ordered that he be held in custody for 30 days.

Later, on the night of the 5th of this month, police entered and searched H. Rabeeimanzil, Shahid's residence in Malé.

Before his arrest, Shahid, a former foreign minister and former President of the UN General Assembly who has announced he will contest the MDP's presidential primary, also made a post on X. In the post, Shahid said the politically motivated stories being spread to assassinate his character were baseless lies, and asked that such unproven stories not be spread.