Criminal Court Judge Adam Mohamed has withdrawn himself from the ongoing trials of the suspected perpetrators of the May 6 terrorist attack.
The state charged nine individuals over the terrorist attack against Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed on May 6, 2021. Eight of the suspects are still under trial at the Criminal Court, with Judge Adam Mohamed leading the judges’ bench overseeing the case.
During the hearing held on June 12, Judge Adam Mohamed announced his withdrawal from the trial, citing a letter submitted to the court by one of the suspects, Ishaq. The letter by Ishaq revealed his son is under investigation for threatening Judge Adam Mohamed amid the trial of the individuals charged over the murder of blogger Yameen Rasheed. Therefore, the judge announced he would be withdrawing from the case to avoid a conflict of interest.
Criminal Court is currently conducting the trials of eight suspects of the May 6 attack, including Thahumeen Ahmed, Mujaz Ahmed, Ali Haisham, Mohamed Nazim, Ishaq, Fahumee Ali, Mohamed Thasleem, and Abdulla Ali Manik. The court had earlier sentenced one other suspect, Ahmed Adhuham Rasheed, to 23 years in prison for plotting and attempting the assassination of Speaker Nasheed.