Taxi driver's murder case: suspect seeks to give testimony

21-year-old Adham Mohamed from Lh. Hinnavaru, Boduhiyaage, who is facing murder charges for the death of 59-year-old taxi driver Gasim Hassan, has declared that he wishes to present the court with a testimony regarding the case.

Adham made his wishes known to to the Criminal Court Judge presiding over his case on Thursday, at which point the Judge confirmed that a hearing will be held on January 25 so that Adham may present his testimony.

A hearing for this case was also held on 17 January, but was cancelled as Adham was set to meet his newly-appointed legal counsel on that day.

Further, a hearing held on October 11 last year for the case of Gasim's murder saw Adham inform the court that he had been facing difficulties in acquiring legal representation for himself while incarcerated. Adham further expressed that he would like to waive his right to legal counsel from that point on, but requested that the court present him with all the documents pertaining to his case.

Following this, the Judge had asked Adham whether he would like another opportunity to seek out legal counsel, which Adham declined saying that he wished to present his own defense.

Adham later sought to appoint a new legal representative for himself, following several points for the case being presented by the state and the Judge. A Judge went on to grant Adham's request to seek out new legal counsel for his case.

In the very first hearing held in the case of Gasim Hassan's murder, Adham had confessed to having murdered Gasim Hassan in court and plead guilty for the charges pressed against him. However, Adham later retracted his confession at a preliminary hearing for the case held on 18 February last year, and plead not guilty for the murder charges.

Gasim Hassan's body was found and reported to the Police at 9:27PM on December 4, 2019.

Maldives Police Service has revealed that Adham has a record pertaining to illegal substances, robbery, and gang violence, among other criminal activities. Further, Police said that even on the day of Gasim Hassan's murder, Adham had attempted to rob someone to procure funds with which to buy illegal substances and fulfil other needs.