Criminal Court to sentence May 6 attack suspect on Tuesday
A verdict will be issued on December 14
Adhuham Ahmed Rasheed faces faces four charges in connection to the May 6 terrorist attack
Suspect arrested over the assassination attempt on the life of current Speaker of Parliament and Former President Mohamed Nasheed, Adhuham Ahmed Rasheed is to be sentenced on Tuesday.
The closed-door trial’s last hearing was held at the Criminal Court on Sunday, where the presiding judges announced that they will be issuing a verdict on Adhuham’s case on December 14.
During the latest hearing, the judges’ bench had decided to accept the plea deal Adhuham had reached with the Prosecutor General’s Office earlier. The state earlier shared Adhuham’s plea deal with the court.
Adhuham had pled guilty to all four charges raised against him, without any coercion or influence, during the last hearing held on September 21.
Adhuham faces four charges in connection to the May 6 terrorist attack; being involved in a terrorist attack, planning one, supporting a terrorist organization as well as attempting to kill another with a dangerous weapon. If found guilty of the charge on being involved in a terrorist attack, Adhuham faces a prison sentence of 20 – 25 years, the second charge of planning a terrorist attack carries a prison sentence of 17 – 20 years, the third charge on supporting a terrorist organization carries a three- five year prison sentence and the fourth charge on attempted murder will see Adhuham imprisoned or 15 – 25 years if he is found guilty.
Highlighting the charges against him have been made clear, Adhuham pled guilty to the charges, without any coercion or influence.
The presiding judges closed the hearing to the public at some point, citing discussions regarding national security. The judges had revealed that the hearing would be opened to the public, once the discussions were over.
Adhuham signed a plea deal with authorities in early August, for a reduced 23-year prison sentence. The plea deal was reached under the Criminal Procedure Act, after three days of negotiations.
According to the plea deal, Adhuham admitted to have been involved in the planning of a terrorist attack and being a part of the crimes performed by a community called the ‘Islamic State’.
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.
