Two witnesses presented by the defense have had their statements recorded in the murder trial of Nadheem Abdul Raheem (Nadey) who was stabbed and killed inside Terminal Café in Male' City on 27 July 2017.

The hearing for this trial held on Monday had seen the defense present witnesses to record their statement, and the detention period reviewed for the four people who face charges for the murder.

Mohamed Mafaz Hussain, G. Shaz, K. Male', faces charges of assaulting and killing a person with a sharp weapon in the case of Nadheem's murder. Hussain Shamin, Samanthaa, R. Innamaadhoo faces charges of being an accessory to the premeditated murder of a person using a sharp weapon, along with Mohamed Karam Suhail, Havaas, GA. Gemanafushi and Ali Nifaz, Vidhaathari, L. Gan. All four of the defendants have pled not guilty to the charges they face in relation to the murder of Nadheem Abdul Raheem.

At Monday's hearing, the present had presented two witnesses to record statements that corroborate that one of the defendants, Hussain Shamin, had not been present inside Terminal Café at the time of Nadheem's murder.

The first witness had stated that they had met Shamin twice on the day of Nadheem's murder, and that the first meeting had happened inside a café, and that he had gone to drop Shamin off at his sister's house at around 2:30pm in the afternoon on the day of the murder. The witness also said that they had returned Shamin to the café at around 4:15pm that day, before departing from the café themselves.

The second witness presented by the defense in this case had said that Shamin had arrived at the café at around 1pm in the afternoon in their presence, and that he had returned at 4pm after leaving the café around 2:30pm, corroborating the statement of the first witness. The second witness went on to state that they had been present with Shamin at the café until 7pm in the evening on that day. The second witness conclided their statement by saying that they had departed the café along with Shamin at 7pm on the eve of Nadheem's murder.

In addition to this, Monday's hearing in this case had seen the Criminal Court review the detention for the four defendants who face charges relating to the murder of Nadheem. Their detention had been upheld by the court, with the court confirming that some eases could be afforded to the defendants as per the request of the defense, calling for the state process their requests.

The hearing had concluded with the affirmation that more witness statements as presented by the defense would be recorded at the next hearing as well.