May 6 attack: Nazim given seven days to appoint lawyer
Mohamed Nazim is one of the suspects arrested in connection to the May 6 attack
Mohamed Nazim is one of the suspects arrested in connection to the May 6 attack
A hearing in connection to the additional terror charges raised against terrorist suspect arrested in connection to the May 6 attack, Mohamed Nazim, has been held at the Criminal Court.
Nazim is being charged with being in possession of a document that indicated his support for a terrorist organization.
The suspect was granted three days to appoint legal representation during the last hearing. However, he had failed to appoint a lawyer by the time Sunday’s hearing approached.
Judge Hassan Saeed is presiding over Nazim’s trial.
The defendant revealed that the relevant documents had been handed over to a lawyer and that he had received information that a lawyer will be appointed. With this being said, Nazim requested for time to contact the lawyer and inquire an update, however, the lawyer did not respond to the call following which the defendant requested to delay the hearing for another day.
Pointing out that defendant had the option to let the state appoint a lawyer, the judge granted Nazim seven days to appoint an attorney on his own.
During the preliminary hearing held in connection to the May 6 terrorist attack, Nazim had initially denied all allegations against him. Following this, the state had presented a summary of evidence as well.
The police institution in July revealed that 10 suspects had been arrested in total.
Shortly after the attack on May 6, authorities had announced plans to bring in foreign investigators to assist in the investigation. As such, a team from the Australian Federal Police is assisting in the probe, as well as American experts.
Nasheed was targeted in an assassination attempt on May 6, as he was heading out to attend an event in an island. The attack, which saw a remote-controlled IED explode near his residence in the center of congested Malé City, caused serious injuries to the ex-president who was rushed to the hospital within seven minutes after being knocked to the ground by the blast, which was dubbed far more powerful than the explosion in Sultan Park, 2007.
The shrapnel pieces from the bomb blast caused a substantial amount of damage to his internal organs, but had missed some vital arteries and organs. A shrapnel piece struck his rib, which otherwise would have struck his heart, leading to a fatality. Speaker Nasheed underwent 16 hours of live-saving surgery at ADK hospital.
Nasheed returned to Maldives earlier in October, after nearly five months abroad.
