An anonymous witness testified in the murder trial of blogger Yameen Rasheed on Wednesday, revealing that the defendants had ‘plotted and trained’ for the attack.

Yameen was stabbed to death in the early hours on the 23rd of April 2017, the attackers had taken him by surprise when he returned home from work that night; his body was found on the staircase with over 30 stab wounds.

Six suspects were arrested and charged with felony shortly after. They are; Ismail Haisham Rasheed, Hussain Ziyad, Ismail Rasheed, Hassan Shifaz, Mohamed Dhifran and Ahmed Zihan Ismail.

The anonymous witness, whose voice was altered to avoid identification, detailed how the defendants planned the murder including places in which they had discussed on how to carry the gruesome act.

As such, he said that they hatched a plan at a mosque -Furgan Mosque in the Galolhu ward of capital Malé City- in November 2016.

It is to have been sparked after some of the artwork place at an art exhibition called Katti Hivvaru were deemed offensive to Islam.

While the discussions are to have started in Furgan Mosque, Ismail Haisham Rasheed is described as ring leader. The witness also revealed that discussions on how to kill the blogger had continued at Thoiba Mosque in the Maafannu ward of the city, as well as one of the defendants, Ziyad’s home.

He further said that despite having started planning in 2016, they began the active work in February 2017. As such, leader Haisham is to have chosen Ziyad as his partner at the scene. They are to have started preparations then as well, through running and swimming.

However, Ziyad was unable to accompany Haisham on the night of the attack after sustaining an injury to his leg four days prior, and Zihan was chosen instead.

The witness also described the events of that night, including that Haisham and Zihan had actively participated in the killing and that Shifaz and Dhifran had trailed Yameen while Ismail Rasheed had acted as a lookout. The witness is to have seen Dhifran near the victim’s house, but not Shifaz.

While police had released of photos of the suspects in Yameen’s murder two days later, the witness identified both Haisham and Zihan, adding that their physique helped identify them despite the attempts to hide identities.

The witness further indicated that a separate party had funded the murder, saying that they were provided knives, motorbikes, wigs and phones by “an unknown accomplice.” According to a photo released by the police, the two are seen leaving on two separate motorbikes that were waiting for them when they left Yameen’s house after attacking him.

Furthermore, the witness is to have overheard Zihan talking about the murder the next night, in a shop in Orchid Magu. Haisham is to have been at the shop as well.

This gang is to have gone on a fishing trip after the murder and prior to the arrest, where ringleader Haisham is to have “accidentally” dropped his phone into the sea. He is to have ordered the others to remove any trace of the crime from their phones as well.

During the cross-examination, the witness faced a number of questions including how he heard the plotting the murder and why he did not inform the matter to the relevant authorities. While the defendants are being represented by some of the country’s most prominent lawyers, including the president of the recently formed Bar Council, they also questioned the witness on how he knew where the discussions took place and if he had been arrested in connection to the case.

While the anonymous witness refused to answer some of these questions, he said that he heard them plotting “with [his] ears,” and that he did not report the matter as he did not believe that they would go ahead with killing someone.

In addition, the court also heard the testimonies of the four police officers including the two that attended the scene first.

While Yameen was attacked at the stairwell of his house, the officers said that the entire place was dark when they entered and that they had used the flashlights from their phones. Noting that they had found Yameen “lying face down on the floor in a pool of blood”, the officers are to have called for a backup and an ambulance after checking for a pulse. The backup is to have arrived within two minutes, and Yameen was taken to the hospital in the police car.

The third officer that testified at Wednesday’s hearing is the one that took photos of Haisham and Zihan after their arrest. The officer said Haisham had scratch marks on the neck while Zihan had cuts on his legs, adding that the injuries proved that there was a struggle.

A fourth officer testified that the lightbulb in the stairwell had been loosened deliberately.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 7.

A total of eight suspects were arrested in relation to Yameen's murder; Ahmed Nasooh Abdulla and Mohamed Yashfau Rasheed were not charged.