Former defence minister Nazim waves as he is escorted into the Supreme Court on Tuesday. MIHAARU PHOTO/NISHAN ALI
Jailed former Minister of Defence Mohamed Nazim was shifted back to Maafushi Prison on Wednesday after nearly a year under house arrest.
He was taken back to prison in a Correctional Service vehicle under police security.
Nazim was sentenced to 11 years in prison after he was convicted of weapons possession over a hand gun found in his residence. However, neither his DNA nor fingerprints was found on the weapon. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court had upheld the verdict of the High Court sentencing Nazim to jail, despite new evidence of DNA recovered from the pistol that matched the DNA profile of former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor, who is currently serving a jail sentence of 15 years over an assassination attempt on the president last year September.
His family had also filed his case at the United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention via Amnesty International. The UN Working Group stated in its report, which was released last year January, that it observed several issues in the investigation as well as the trials of Nazim. Hence, it concluded that Nazim’s trials were not independent and impartial.
However, the government maintains that as Nazim’s case has been completed and closed at all three judicial levels, the Supreme Court’s verdict is final.