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Maldives' jailed ex-defence minister seeks re-investigation

Maldives' former defence minister Mohamed Nazim has urged authorities to re-investigate his case citing wrongful conviction and imprisonment.

Nazim was sentenced to 11 years in prison after he was convicted of weapons possession after police found a hand gun in his residence. However, neither his DNA nor fingerprints was found on the weapon.

The Supreme Court however, upheld the verdict of the High Court despite DNA recovered from the pistol that matched the DNA profile of former vice president Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor, who is currently serving 33 years for multiple accounts of terrorism and graft.

In a letter to prosecutor general Aishath Bisham, Nazim urged to re-open his case claiming that there was enough doubt to warrant a re-investigation.

Nazim argued that since his DNA was not found on the gun, there was enough room to cast doubt over his conviction.