High Court has upheld the Criminal Court’s decision to detain Ismail Rasheed, one of the suspects in the murder of writer and social media activist Yameen Rasheed.
Ismail Rasheed was given a remand of 15 days on June 9th by Criminal Court. The remand was appealed in High Court, which had ruled in favor stating that Ismail Rasheed was a key suspect in the murder of the blogger in the early hours of April 23rd. The ruling said that Ismail Rasheed’s actions were inhuman, cruel and posed risk to members of public. Additionally, it said that if released he can commit an act of this nature again or destroy evidence or intimidate witnesses.
It also said that Police had provided evidence that Ismail Rasheed had connections to other perpetrators as proven by intelligence reports, CCTV footages and call charts.
Additionally, the ruling noted that the case involved first degree murder, terrorism and violence. Such aspects, the Court said, posed indefinite risk to public. It also noted that murder is a grave offense under Islamic shariah and the law was clear on such matters.
Therefore, High Court said there was no legal grounds to release Ismail Rasheed.
Judges Abdullah Didi, Abdu Rauf Ibrahim and Ali Sameer presided over the session.
A statement released by Ismail Rasheed’s family on the 19th of June stated that Police had attempted to extort a confession from him, in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Two others were arrested in connection to the case as well.
