A hearing on the charges raised against Ibrahim Faih Nizam has been held at the Criminal Court.

The last hearing in connection with the case was held on September 13, where the suspect denied the charges raised against him.

The 25-year-old native of Maradhoo Feydhoo island in Seenu atoll, turned himself in after being on the run for over a month. Faih was arrested under accusations of being involved in a case of gang violence and assault.

Charges raised against Faih include a charge of deliberately obstructing a law-enforcement officer, a charge of touching someone against their will and a charge of being involved in an assault using a dangerous weapon.

During Thursday’s hearing, pre-trial submissions were made. The submissions in question were made on the basis that a defence could have been present that could hamper the proceedings of the prosecution.

Faih’s legal representative revealed that his client was initially accused of assaulting using a sharp weapon, however, that he was charged for assaulting a police officer.

The lawyer revealed that it was not mentioned in the legal warning issued at the time of the arrest, or even in the investigation stage.

In response to this, the state attorney revealed that Faih was clearly aware of the incident in which the accused was charged, according to his investigation statement.

As such, the state attorney quoted Faih having revealed that he had “not raised a hand on anyone or assaulted a police officer” in his statement.

The prosecution has submitted to give protection to the anonymous witnesses while collecting witness testimonies, as pre-trial submissions.

Judge Ismail Shafeeu reached a verdict on the pre-trial submissions following this.

As such, he revealed that the court could not accept the submissions made by the defence in connection with the case. However, he had decided to accept the submissions made by the state attorney, as the court believes that the witnesses should be provided protection on the basis of the case.

The next hearing will focus on collecting witness testimonies.

The Prosecutor General’s Office earlier filed charges against Faih, who has a criminal record.

The suspect was wanted in connection with the case of gang violence and assault using a dangerous weapon for over a month and a group of individuals were earlier arrested under allegations of hiding him.

The initial manhunt for Faih was launched in connection with a case of gang violence inside a café in the capital city. The publication was issued on February 15. The police institution conducted a search operation in the capital, Malé City to locate the suspect.

After he turned himself in, Faih was put behind bars immediately.

The evidence submitted against him includes statements of witnesses who witnessed the scene, statement of the victim, his criminal record and a video and image analysis report.