Colonel Nasheed submits evidence against homosexuality charge

Former Nolhivaram MP Mohamed Nasheed (Colonel) who has been charged for engaging in homosexual relations with Bangladeshi national, Alamgir, has submitted evidence in his defense.

The preliminary hearing in Colonel Nasheed’s case was held on Sunday morning. This is the second hearing held in the case.

During Sunday’s hearing, Colonel Nasheed submitted evidence in his defense – refuting the charges against him. However, as the hearing was held behind closed doors, the nature of the defensive evidence submitted by Colonel Nasheed remains unclear at the moment.

The next hearing will be for the submission of pretrial motions by both parties, if any.

In the first hearing of the case held five months ago in October – Colonel Nasheed’s side asked for permission to conduct a third-party analysis of the video in which he is allegedly seen. The court concluded to permit the third-party analysis under an arrangement decided by the court.

A string of videos showing men engaging in homosexual relations were leaked on social media last year.

The subject of many videos, Alamgir, pled guilty to three counts of homosexuality and is presently serving a prison sentence of seven months and six days.

He was later charged with 40 counts of production of pornography to which he had also pled guilty. Subsequently, he was sentenced to an additional three years in prison.

The videos leaked online showed Alamgir engaging in sexual relations with prominent lawyer and the younger brother of Parliament Speake Mohamed Nasheed, Ahmed Nazim Sattar, Colonel Nasheed, Sergeant Abdul Rahman Rafeeu, and a senior police officer from the Drug Enforcement Department (DED).

Abdul Rahman was sentenced to one year, two months and 12 days in prison for engaging in homosexuality. Nazim, who was sentenced to three months and 26 days in home confinement, has completed serving his sentence.