Former defence minister Nazim waves as he is escorted into the Supreme Court on Tuesday. MIHAARU PHOTO/NISHAN ALI
Religiously conservative Adhaalath Party on Sunday proclaimed that the government has no more excuses left to keep jailed former Minister of Defence Mohamed Nazim in custody.
In a statement, Adhaalath Party declared that United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s report published late Thursday on Nazim’s detention has proven to the world that the trial and investigation of Nazim’s case had several loopholes and there are no more excuses for the government to keep him in custody.
Adhaalath Party noted that the government has been neglecting several rights assured to the citizens by the Constitution. Hence, the citizens have no choice but to beg for justice beyond the nation’s borders.
Describing the situation as a shameful time for the government, Adhaalath noted that this has led to more isolation of the country and also hindered its development.
Furthermore, Adhaalath warned that such actions would defame the country and that the Maldives cannot rest for long after not heeding such recommendations repeatedly.
The UN Working Group stated in its report 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.
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 in September 2015.