Accused murderer of taxi driver requests to plead guilty

Mohamed Adhuham from Boduhiyaage, Lh. Hinnavaru, the alleged murderer of taxi driver Qasim Hassan, has once again requested to plead guilty to the charges made against him. 

Qasim was died on December 4, 2019, after being attacked with a sharp object inside his taxi. Police have previously said that the investigation had shown Adhuhan had attempted to mug Qasim with the threat of violence. 

Adhuham is charged with murder and he initially pleaded guilty to the charge during a hearing on February 12, 2020, under a plea deal with the prosecution. 

However, in the next trial, Adhuham changed his story and decided against the plea deal, by stating that he was coerced into confessing. The hearings are now carried out under the assumption that Adhuham denies the charges against him. 

The hearings had been delayed due to the lack of a legal representative for Adhuham. Today, a hearing was finally held in the case, where evidence was presented. A state-appointed lawyer spoke on behalf of Adhuham. 

The lawyer stated that Adhuham wished to speak during the trial, however, the judge in the case, Judge Ismail Rasheed said that the court proceedings were conducted under specific procedures. Today’s hearing was to present evidence, on the presumption that Adhuham denied the charges, according to the judge. 

The judge said that during the proceedings to present evidence, how Adhuham responded to the charges cannot be decided by the court and stated instructed that Adhuham should wait until the trial commences. Any other elements Adhuham wished to present or speak about, can be done during today’s hearing, stated the judge. 

The state-appointed lawyer, then stated that Adhuham now wished to commence the hearings by pleading guilty to the charges, even though Adhuham had previously denied the charges. The lawyer stated that Adhuham also wished to specify the events which led to his denial of the charges. Adhuham had evidence to support his statements, said the lawyer. Adhuham requested the prosecution to uphold the same clauses of the plea deal as before if he pleaded guilty to the charges now. 

However, the prosecution rejected this by stating Adhuham had been informed that once the deal had been rejected, it was terminated. The prosecution then requested the judge to terminate the plea deal since Adhuham had denied the charges knowing that the deal would be terminated.

Judge Ismail Rasheed sided with the prosecution on this by stating that the court had decided that the plea deal was no longer available since it was terminated. 

Adhuham can only respond to the charges during the trial hearings to respond to the charges stated the judge.

The judge also decided that based on the evidence presented, Adhuham’s case could be heard based on the civil standards. Adhuham has not presented any evidence related to his defense so far. 

Adhuham’s detention was also finalized today. The prosecution requested to uphold his detention when Adhuham contested for easements to his detention. However, the judge ruled to uphold his detention.