Former defence minister Nazim waves as he is escorted into the Supreme Court on Tuesday. MIHAARU PHOTO/NISHAN ALI
Maldives police refused to investigate the DNA of jailed former vice president Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor found on the pistol that was discovered in former defence minister Mohamed Nazim’s residence, stated the latter’s family.
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.
The Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the High Court despite DNA recovered from the pistol that matched the DNA profile of Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor, who is currently serving a jail sentence of 15 years over an assassination attempt on the president last year September.
Nazim’s younger brother and former managing director of State Trading Organisation (STO) Adam Azim said that he had requested Police to investigate the evidence found as the apex court had not taken the new evidence into account while passing its verdict. However, Police refused the request in a letter, stating that the case has been already closed.
“It concerns us how much the state is neglecting Nazim’s case,” said Azim on behalf of his family.
Police spokesperson confirmed that they are not investigating any cases related to Nazim but did not provide a reason.
“When the Supreme Court threw out our appeal, we met Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham and she said she sent a letter to the Supreme Court to discuss the matter. However, there is no confirmation of such a meeting,” Azim said.
He added that some police officers are prepared to testify at court against the officer who planted the pistol in Nazim’s room, and that he had mentioned it in the appeal. However the evidence was not referred to during the appeal process
As the top court’s ruling is the final verdict, the family now has lost all chances of appeal. The only possibility of Nazim’s freedom would be the president giving clemency to his sentence.