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Monday 23 Dec 2024
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Ali Haisham, 27, Nooreege, N. Manadhoo. (Photo/Maldives Police Service)
Criminal Court has ordered for one of the key suspects arrested in connection to the IED attack on Parliament Speaker, former President Mohamed Nasheed on May 6 to be detained pending the outcome of his trial.
Ali Haisham, 27, Nooreege, N. Manadhoo, is one of 10 suspects arrested by police in connection to the assassination attempt on Nasheed. The State filed charges against him and three more suspects earlier this July. They are:
Sun has been informed that while the Criminal Court has ordered for Haisham to be jailed pending the outcome of his trial, no changes have been made to the previous decisions to jail Adhuham, Mujaz and Thahmeen pending the outcome of their trials.
Haisham has been named by police as one of the key suspects in planning and executing the attack. Police had also found his DNA on the explosives.
He has been pressed with three charges in connection to the case; conspiracy to carry out an act of terrorism, aiding in transporting an explosive, and participating in carrying out an act of terrorism.
Police had originally requested charges against five suspects in connection to the case. But the State decided not to file charges against one of the suspects - Ahmed Fathih, 23, Dhunfini Ufaa, L. Gan - citing lack of sufficient evidence.
The five remaining suspects in custody in connection to the case are:
The assassination attempt on Nasheed involved a homemade remote-controlled IED was strapped to motorcycle parked nearby Nasheed’s residence, and was detonated at 08:27 pm on May 6, just as Nasheed, 54, exited his residence and went to get in his car. Nasheed was thrown to the ground and sustained multiple shrapnel wounds, while three members of his security detail and two bystanders sustained minor wounds.
Police said in a press conference in July that the suspects involved in the attack believe Nasheed to be an apostate who openly mocks the religion of Islam and Prophet Mohamed, and that killing him to be justified.
They said the terror cell involved in the attack made prior attempts to assassinate Nasheed by strapping the same motorcycle used in the May 6 attack with an IED and parking it outside the residence of his spouse, Laila Ahmed.
Police said that while they found evidence suggesting the suspects to be ISIS sympathizers, but found no evidence directly linking them with the international terror organization.
