State requests court to detain Nadheem murder suspects

Jul 11, 2023, 3:32 AM
The four suspects.

The four suspects.

The prosecution asked the High Court on Monday to detain the suspects in the murder of Nadheem Abdul Raheem six years ago.

Nadheem, 24, was stabbed inside the Terminal Cafe in Male' on 27 July 2017. He died two days later while undergoing treatment.

Mohamed Mafaz Hussain Saleem was charged with murder by assault with a sharp object. Hussain Shamin, Mohamed Karam Suheil and Ali Nifaz were charged with participating in the murder of a person with a sharp object.

Earlier, the Criminal Court acquitted all four of them, but the state appealed at the High Court. Only Mafaz and Shamin appeared at the hearing held in the High Court on Monday.

Prosecutor Ahmed Naufal asked the court to remand the two men in custody. He stated that both of them had criminal records and described them as a danger to society.

Additionally, Mafaz was detained in connection with an attempted assault in Male' following his acquittal by the Criminal Court.

The police said they had foiled an attempted assault amongst a group armed with knives. One was apprehended but two others fled the scene.

The prosecution counsel noted that this strengthens their arguments to detain the suspects.

Mafaz and Shamin appeared without a lawyer and requested access to attorneys to respond to the prosecution's motion. The judges' bench decided to give three days to appoint lawyers.

During the Criminal Court trial, two witnesses retracted their testimony after earlier testifying that they saw the suspects' faces on the night of the stabbing.

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