Nasheed’s attackers’ penalties must not be reduced for failing to accomplish goal: Nishan

Prominent lawyer, Mohamed Nishan Ibrahim has called for full action against Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed’s attackers, stressing that their penalties must not be reduced just because they failed to accomplish goal of killing him.

Police have confirmed that the attackers had intended to kill the former president with the bomb blast in capital Male’ City on May 6, adding that the suspects supported ISIS ideologies and believed Nasheed to be an infidel.

Nishan spoke on the matter during an appearance on RaajjeTV’s ‘Fala Surukhee’ programme, emphasizing that the suspects cannot be charged for murder as they can escape these charges easily.

Despite this, the lawyer said that their charges should not be reduced or alleviated, stressing that they should be brought to justice.

Nishan further pointed out that a lot of citizens were affected due to the improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Maldives congested capital, adding that the crime would fall under Prevention of Terrorism Act (Clause 3), which states that actions like these are considered spreading fear among people.

Moreover, Nishan highlighted that a suspect can be charged with several criminal counts. Hence, he said that different counts of charges can be raised against the person who performed the attack, accomplices and those that funded the operation.

While 10 suspects have been arrested in relation to the terrorist attack, with cases against four forwarded for prosecution, police earlier this week said that they have yet to find proof of any financial motive behind the attack.