Former Attorney General and former Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim’s lawyer Husnu Suood has revealed that the pistol allegedly found in the Minister’s residence was planted by a Police officer named Asif.
Suood made the revelation in the appeal hearings of the case filed against the former Defense Minister. Nazim was sentenced to 11 years in jail for weapons possession charges by Criminal Court. High Court had upheld the verdict.
In today’s hearing, new items were submitted in as discovery, previously not included in the discoveries for both Criminal Court and High Court.
Nazim’s legal team had included Home Minister Umar Naseer to testify that ex-VP Adeeb had threatened Nazim in conference call with the Minister. Additionally, Adeeb had also been listed as a witness to inquire how he had been in the know over the whole issue, prior to Police raid. Suood said that they had received evidence that Adeeb had contacted journalists informing of the arrest, prior to the arrest.
Suood alleged that the pistol had been planted by the then Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb and the then Commissioner Hussain Waheed. He also said the two and former PG Muhthaz Muhsin had been in a vehicle near Nazim’s residence during the raid. Suood had requested the Court to summon the three to Court as well.
Suood had also requested to summon then Senior Judge at Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed to ascertain if the court order to search the residence was obtained illegally.
Nazim’s legal team had requested the Court to summon the Police officer who had allegedly planted the pistol. Suood said the officer Asif would be summoned to enquire whether the pistol was planted and that he had orchestrated the plant.
Nazim’s legal team today noted eight separate point on which the Criminal Court and High Court sentences have to be to be nullified. They noted that the state was unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the pistol found in the residence belonged to Nazim.
Suood said the High Court had decreed the pistol was not linked to another individual, while the fingerprints on the pistol did not match Nazim’s or his wife’s. Therefore, he said additional investigation must be carried out to determine whose fingerprints they were. He also said the method of erasing the serial numbers on the pistol was a match to the method used in erasing the serial numbers of the weapons cache discovered in B. Himbalhidhoo.
Supreme Court had concluded the hearing, announcing that time would be given to the state to respond.
Pistol was smuggled in by a Police officer named Asif: Lawyer
