Home Minister Umar Naseer has said that the ousted Vice President Ahmed Adeeb will now be charged under the recently passed Anti-Terrorism Law.
Speaking to the Associated Press (AP), Minister Umar said that since the Maldivian Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to impeach the country's vice president, he will be charged with terrorism for plotting to kill the president.
"We have passed the impeachment with an overwhelming majority. We thought 57 votes would do the job but we got 61," Home Minister Umar Naseer told The Associated Press.
"Now the vice president is out of office and we will charge him under the recent terrorism law," Umar said.
The new act that was molded in a modern sense states that encouraging or aiding in a terrorism act is also grounds for the person to be charged with terrorism.
The punishment, if convicted has also been extended to between 20 and 25 years. The Act also states that anyone who encourages or aids an act of terror will also be jailed for 17 to 20 years.
Acts of terror are defined as causing harm to someone physically or to the senses intentionally to hurt someone, forcefully hiding or kidnapping a person or dealing a great deal of financial loss to a person.