Humaam convicted of killing Afrasheem, sentenced to death

Hussain Humaam, H. Lobby has been convicted and sentenced to death for killing prominent religious scholar and parliamentarian Dr Afrasheem Ali.

Criminal Court's sentence today states that the defendant’s testimony and evidence against him shows clear proof that Humaam, accompanied by others, entered H. Funvilu between 11:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on the night of 1 October 2012, and attacked and killed Afrasheem with a sharp object.

The court stated that Humaam had repeatedly confessed in court to killing Dr Afrasheem, in addition to providing a confession in writing during an extension of detention hearing held at the Criminal Court on 7 December 2012.

However, Humaam had retracted his statements and denied the murder when he said at a later hearing that the earlier confession was coerced and that the investigation officers had threatened to kill him if he did not confess.

But the court said a statement provided by a prosecution's witness affirms the details provided by Humaam in his confession on 7 December 2012 were true.

The court said that a witness provided by the prosecution admitted to meeting Humaam on the evening of the day of the murder, when Humaam, in the presence of Ali Shaan who was holding a knife, had said that “everything is prepared for the mission.”

Criminal Court also said that the witness had confessed to seeing Humaam and Shaan enter H. Funvilu around 11:30 p.m. on the night of 30 September and that he saw Dr Afrasheem Ali enter the house, moments later, carrying a bundle of books.

The witness also told the court that he saw Humaam holding a blood stained knife moments after Dr Afrasheem Ali entered the house and that Humaam’s hands were also stained with blood.

The court said forensics reports have shown that the DNA on Humaam’s jeans matched the DNA of Dr Afrasheem Ali and that experts had testified and confirmed the authenticity of the report.

The prosecution earlier argued that confessions of the witness must be disregarded because the man is known to be lascivious or a “Faasiq” and that he is not eligible to confess under Islamic law. However, the court said the witness did not have a criminal record and that his statement are valid.

The court also said that, a confession involving the rights of a human being cannot be retracted under Islamic Sharia and that precedents in democratic countries also show that a person who confesses to a crime with the full knowledge of the penalty cannot retract his statement.