The High Court verdict supporting the 11 year jail sentence verdict issued by Criminal Court on former Defense Minister Colonel Mohamed Nazim has been filed for appeal in Supreme Court. The appeal was filed today.
The Criminal Court verdict was announced on March 27, 2015. When the appeal was first filed in High Court, the Court had decreed the ruling was correct.
The ruling issued by High Court said the evidence submitted by the defense had failed to present sufficient evidence to back the defense's stance that the weapons found in the residence of the ex- Defense Minister belonged to him. As such, the Court said there was no legal grounds to warrant a change in the verdict and was unanimously agreed on by all the Judges of the bench.
The Judges said the charges were raised against Nazim for the discovery of weapons in his residence. As such, the state had to only prove that the weapon was discovered in Nazim's room and that possession of weapons was an illegal offense in the Constitution. The ruling added that it was the mandate of the defense to prove how the weapon had come into the defendant's residence and in the event that the defense was unable to provide an additional suspect, Nazim was the sole person who will be answerable to the Court over the charges.
Speaking at a press briefing, Nazim's lawyer, Husnu Suood said the individual who had originally planted the weapon in the former Minister's residence, G. Enif, had been discovered. However, he had refrained from publicly revealing who the person was.
Suood said the details of the individual were revealed to Nazim, who is currently in jail serving his sentence, and had shared the details with the legal team.
