Hussain Human, the alleged murderer of the late Parliamentarian for Ungoofaaru Constituency Dr. Afrasheem Ali, has presented evidence in Supreme Court in the appeal hearings of the death sentence issued on him by Criminal Court and supported by High Court.
Humam was given the death sentence in Criminal Court on January 16, 2014. When the appeal was filed in High Court, the Court supported the lower Court's sentence. That hearing was held on September 7 last year.
In today's hearing, the State had given Humam to respond to the charges. Humam's lawyer Haseen noted that they had not been given ample time to prepare their defense. However, Chief Justice Abdullah Saeed had halted his statements, adding that ample time had been given to respond to charges.
Haseen noted three points. He said that the statement taken by the Police admitting to the murder of the Parliamentarian was taken under coercion and therefore not valid. Humam had recanted his statement afterwards. Haseen added that they had the names of those who had forced the confession from Humam.
Haseen also said some of the interrogation sessions had been carried out without the presence of his lawyer. He said parts of the statement were inaccurate, with conflicts between the witness statements and Humam's statement. Humam's statement said that he had carried out the act on the instruction of Azlif Rauf. However, Haseen noted that Azlif had been declared innocent and charges had not been pressed against him.
Haseen also said that Humam had requested for a psychologists assistance but had not been granted access to one. In the lower Court, Humam said that he had been subject to harassment and intimidation. Therefore, Haseen had argued that a psych evaluation on Humam was mandatory.
Haseen said that Humam had not been briefed on the consequences of the admission and he had to be clearly informed of the consequences. In the High Court hearing Humam had said that he was ready to swear that both Police and Correctional services had attempted to threaten and intimidate him during the process. His lawyer said that Humam should be given the opportunity to swear as such, as proving that he was intimidated during the process was impossible.
Lawyer Haseen said that Humam was given only one chance to present witnesses during the trial he confessed to his crime and none afterward. He also noted that Humam had appealed to present witnesses but had not been granted the opportunity to do so.
Haseen also raised questions over the DNA found on Humam's clothing. Haseen said Humam was arrested 25 minutes after Afrasheem was found. He said there was a high possibility that Police could have used the opportunity to plant evidence. He said Police had removed Humam's T-shirt after his arrest, adding that it was not clear whether the DNA was collected from saliva or blood.
The state had said they needed time to prepare their responses to the points raised by the defense.
The state had filed the case for appeal after Humam had failed to file for appeal in the time period given after High Court reviewed the case.
Parliamentarian Afrasheem Ali was murdered between 11:30 pm and 2:00 am on 1st October 2012 in the stairwell of his residence.
