Appeal hearings of former Defense Minister Colonel (Rtd) Mohamed Nazim on the 11 year jail term that was issued by Criminal Court has begun in High Court yesterday.
The hearing was held amid controversial elements on the case pointed out by his legal team, which had emphasized that the Criminal Court sentence was devoid of justice.
In the hearings, which began at 11.00 am, Nazim’s legal team noted that the Criminal Court verdict was issued on the basis of false witness, conflicting witness statements and State influence on the witnesses. Additionally, his lawyers stated that Nazim was not granted enough time to prepare an adequate defense and that the Criminal Court bench had exerted undue influence in order to prevent a proper defense.
The lawyers added that while Court summary of the case indicated that statements of seven witnesses had been taken, the statements were not taken in the hearings.
As such, the lawyers stated that between announcing of summary charges and the announcement of the verdict, there was room to deduce that the outcome of the case had already been judged.
The lawyers also noted that the hearings of the case was held against the set procedures of the judicial system and added that Nazim was summoned to only one hearing. The lawyers added that the Court summons were issued to Nazim via a phone call.
The hearing was scheduled to be concluded at 2.00 pm. By the time Nazim’s legal team finished presenting their case, there was only 30 minutes for the state to present their case. State lawyers requested for a recess of one hour. The Judges Bench opted to hold the next hearings today.
In the preliminary hearings of the case, Nazim’s lawyers and the State lawyers agreed to hold the hearings of the case on every formal day of this week. The Court had obliged to the agreement.
The 11 year jail sentence was issued on Nazim last March.