Suspect arrested over the assassination attempt on the life of current Speaker of Parliament and Former President Mohamed Nasheed, Adhuham Ahmed Rasheed has been slapped with a 23-year prison sentence.

Issuing the sentence, the presiding judge noted that the days Adhuham spent in confinement until sentencing will be deducted from the sentence. As such, with the deduction of 221 days, he has been sentenced to 22 years, four months and 23 days in prison.

Adhuham had pled guilty to all four charges raised against him, without any coercion or influence, during the last hearing held on September 21. Following this, the court had fast-tracked his trial.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Adhuham took the opportunity to seek forgiveness from the former president, those who were injured in the bomb blast as well as the entire nation. He is to have affirmed that he would not repeat such an act ever again.

The trial was closed to the public following a request by the defendant and during the last hearing held on Sunday, the bench 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 faced four counts of 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.

The presiding judges had closed the hearing to the public later on, citing discussions regarding national security. The judges had revealed that the hearing would be opened to the public, once the discussions were over.

Highlighting the charges against him have been made clear, Adhuham pled guilty to the charges, without any coercion or influence.

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.