Wisam’s sentencing scheduled for tomorrow

Sentencing on RaajjeTV’s journalist Mohamed Wisam on obstruction charges has been scheduled for 1 pm, on Thursday.

Wisam has been charged for obstructing Police duties over an arrest made in March 2015, while covering an opposition rally in the capital, Male’ City. The charges were raised against Wisam in April 5, 2016.

Speaking about the video footage, prosecution argued that Wisam had refused to listen to orders issued and attempted to obstruct Police duties. Wisam denied the allegation, adding that the video footage did not show his arrest, but what had happened afterwards. Wisam also questioned why only he was arrested, while other journalists were present in the area.

Wisam’s lawyer Abdullah Haseen said that while he had been charged with entering an area closed off by the Police, the submitted video footage does not corroborate the charges.

In addition to the video footage, state prosecutors submitted two witnesses and a chart. Wisam had presented witness statements of three individuals as his defense.

Summary charges say that Adam Zareer, one of Wisam’s witnesses, is a co-respondent of the charges and had given his statement to protect Wisam. The judge had decreed that Zareer’s statement was inadmissible in Court.

State prosecutors argued that the two prosecution witnesses had said that Wisam had obstructed Police duties. They also said the video footage was sufficient proof of this. The prosecutor therefore had argued that there was reasonable proof of guilt.

Haseen argued that the video footage was not sufficient proof, remarking that the video shows that Wisam had obediently followed orders. Haseen further noted that the three defense witnesses had said that they did not observe any act on Wisam’s part to obstruct Police duties. Therefore, he had called for a not guilty verdict against Wisam.

Wisam had been sentenced to pay a fine of MVR 28,800 on January 24th for a separate charge of obstruction of duties.