The High Court has decided that only one out of four suspects in the murder of Nadheem Ibrahim (Nadey) could be detained.
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 not guilty verdicts at the High Court and sought an order to keep the suspects detained pending a ruling on the appeal.
The High Court decided on Tuesday to detain Ali Nifaz until the end of the appeal process. The court decided not to order the detention of the prime suspect Mafaz as he was already in custody in a separate case.
There were no grounds to detain Hussain Shamin and Mohamed Karam Suhail, the court ruled. The allegations against each suspect, the evidence against them and their criminal records were taken into consideration in reaching the decision, the High Court judgment stated.
The High Court previously ruled that detention orders could not be granted during the appeal stage. But when the state appealed, the Supreme Court overruled the decision and ordered the High Court to reconsider the case.
Tuesday's decision was made in line with the Supreme Court's instructions.
The High Court bench hearing the appeal includes Chief Judge Hussain Shaheed along with Judges Hassan Mazeed and Mohamed Saleem. The chief judge presides in the bench. The detention ruling was made unanimously by the three judges.
Nadheem was stabbed in the head inside the Terminal cafe in Malé 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.
