Supreme Court Justice Husnu Suood on Wednesday questioned the threat posed to society by suspects in the murder of Nadheem Ibrahim (Nadey) who have been free for more than a year.
Murder charges over the fatal stabbing of Nadheem by a group of masked men inside the Terminal cafe were raised against Mohamed Mafaz Hussain Saleem. His alleged accomplices Hussain Shamin, Mohamed Karam Suhail and Ali Nifaz were charged with aiding the murder.
The Criminal Court found all four defendants not guilty of murder on November 14, 2022.
The state appealed the acquittals at the High Court and sought an order to keep the suspects detained pending a ruling on the appeal. But the High Court declined to issue the detention order.
The rejection was appealed at the Supreme Court. During the second appeal hearing today, Justice Suood asked whether the state's contention that they pose a danger was not weakened by the fact that they have been free for more than a year.
In response, Public Prosecutor Ibrahim Nasih conceded that their freedom does weaken the argument.
"By its nature, it does weaken our contention. But it's because there is a vacuum in the law that we have to say it," Nasih said, arguing that the state was forced to argue danger to society due to a shortcoming in the legal framework.
During today's hearing, Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir also posed questions to the prosecution, asking whether the state had other options apart from seeking to detain the suspects.
Mahaz's question came after defense lawyer Noorul Salam repeatedly expressed concern over the prolonged detention of suspects for trial. Keeping the accused in custody for long periods without a conviction was an infringement of their fundamental rights, Noorul Salam noted.
In response to Justice Mahaz's question, the state noted that suspects could be provided relief with conditional or bail releases. But defendants in murder cases were not eligible for such relief, Prosecutor Nasih said.
"There is a further opportunity. That is the right to be freed on bail. When it is considered whether that opportunity exists in this case, the difficulty that arises or how it is narrowed in the law is that bail cannot be granted in murder cases. Bail cannot be granted in cases of premeditated murder," Nasih said.
The first hearing in the appeal took place on Tuesday. Concluding today's hearing, Justice Suood said a judgement would be delivered at the next hearing.
Nadheem was stabbed in the head inside the Terminal cafe in Male' by a group of masked men around 6:30 pm on July 27, 2017. He died two days later while undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of the ADK hospital.
Only two prosecution witnesses testified to having seen the faces of the masked assailants. But the two secret witnesses who testified anonymously later wrote to the court to retract their testimony.
The Criminal Court's acquittals were based on the retractions.
