The trial on murder charges against Mohamed Aabid, has begun at the Criminal Court.

The first hearing in connection with the murder, was held on Monday where the state prosecutors presented a preliminary statement.

The state is charging Aabid with deliberate murder using a sharp weapon and accused the suspect of stabbing his victim in the face and chest.

Aabid faces a death penalty if the court finds him guilty of the charges pressed against him.

However, a sentence of 15 to 25 years will be imposed on the suspect if the murder charges are unproven, or if he is found guilty of abetting the murder or planning it.

The hearing also saw the defendant presenting a preliminary statement, where he asserted that he had not attacked the Bangladeshi man with the intention to kill him and that although he had attacked the man, he had not intentionally inflicted injuries on him.

Aabid’s lawyer revealed that his client had simply acted on self-defense.

The state had presented 18 pieces of evidence in connection with the murder case, including 11 witnesses linking the suspect and victim to their nationalities. The hearing saw the judges bench taking testimonies from eight witnesses as well.

The state presently wishes to take testimonies from the two witnesses, required to be presented to court in connection with the medico legal report.

With this, presiding judge Ismail Shafeeu had revealed that the testimonies will be collected from the remaining five witnesses, during a hearing scheduled for August 8.

The presiding judge went on to reveal that the judges’ bench will put in their best efforts to conclude the hearings and issue a verdict in connection with the case, during October.

Aabid was charged with deliberate murder in connection to the murder in Khanji restaurant, Hulhumalé in April, during June 2022.

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PG Office) forwarded the charges of deliberate murder with a sharp weapon, were filed at the Criminal Court against the Pakistani national on June 15.

The charges come under the act on the prohibition of threatening and being in possession of sharp weapons and objects.

The murdered Bangladeshi man, Shameem was employed as a waiter at Khanji restaurant in the capital’s suburban extension.

He died from injuries after being assaulted inside the café by Aabid, on April 16, while receiving treatment.

Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed that they received information of the assault with a sharp weapon inside a restaurant in Hulhumalé, on the evening of April 16.

A team of police officers was dispatched to the area shortly after the report was received.

The injured Bangladeshi man was rushed to the hospital immediately. However, doctors had pronounced the man dead a short while after he was brought in for treatment.

The Pakistani man, employed as a chef at Khanji, was arrested a day later, from the beach area in Hulhumalé Phase II.