Naeema Moosa's murder: Rifas to respond to charges next
Rifas will respond to the charges after deliberating with his lawyer
Abdul Wahid Rifas
A hearing in the murder trial of Naeema Moosa from Manadhoo island of Noonu atoll, has been carried out at the Criminal Court.
Charges have been raised against Ahuzam Abdul Shakoor, Hassan Fawaz and Abdul Wahid Rifas in connection with the murder.
Hearings of all three accused are being held separately.
During Thursday's hearing, the defence attorney pointed out that there were discrepancies in the evidence list of the chargesheet due to the arrangement of the numbers.
The state clarified this during the hearing and pointed out that certain reports need to be released for the defendant.
The defence attorney said that the evidence presented by the prosecution was crucial to build the defence and went on to request to respond to the chargesheet on receipt of reports, pertaining to the evidence.
However, the prosecution argued that the evidence was being shared with the defence as much as available to the state and the response to the chargesheet could proceed even now.
The state prosecutor went on to note that the documents received by the state so far, have been shared with the defence and that even in the last hearing, time was given for the defence to evaluate said documents.
The chargesheet was heard next; deliberate murder with a sharp weapon, obstruction of law enforcement and abuse of the corpse.
The accused stated that before he is allowed to respond to the charges, he would like to discuss with his lawyer and sought an opportunity to do so.
The next hearing in Rifas’s case will see him responding to the chargesheet.
The defence attorney has sought to provide the remaining documents before the next hearing is held.
Criminal Court Judge Ali Adam is presiding over the trial.
