Adhuham Mohamed, who pled guilty to murdering taxi driver Gasim Hassan last Tuesday has retracted his confession.
Gasim was found critically injured on a deserted street of reclaimed suburbs Hulhumale' on the night of December 4th. He died at Hulhumale' Hospital while being treated for the deep wounds sustained to his neck and arm in the attack.
After fingerprint and DNA of the assailant were obtained at the crime scene and the murder weapon was recovered, the police took a suspect into their custody. The police revealed Adhuham Mohamed, 21, had confessed to the crime.
The police further revealed that Adhuham voluntarily offered the details of the murder following his arrest. According to Adhuham, when he attempted to rob Gasim at knife-point, he resisted and grabbed onto the knife with both hands and screamed, and attempted to exit the vehicle. It was then that Adhuham panicked and attacked the driver with the knife, he had confessed.
Charges were raised against Adhuham Mohamed under the Prohibiting ‎Intimidation and Possession of Dangerous Weapons and Sharp ‎Objects Act, for threatening and murdering a person with intent using a sharp object. The penalty for the crime is death penalty. Adhuham also confessed in court that he murdered Gasim, gave the details of the incident and sought forgiveness from the victim's family. He further revealed that he repented for his crime once he became aware of what he had done.
While Adhuham had confessed to the crime even during investigation, a plea deal was made between Adhuham and the state. Under the arrangement, if the victim's family agrees to forgive Adhuham, he would receive concession, decreasing his sentence to 17 years in jail. Adhuham agreed to the plea bargain at court.
Therefore, the presiding judge had decided that the case will be fast tracked. However, in a surprising turn of events, Adhuham at his sentencing hearing held Tuesday retracted his previous confession and said he denied the charges against him. He had confessed to the crime under the influence of drugs, said Adhuham.
Adhuham went on to allege that he was given drugs by the police before being taken to the court. He only became 'aware' of the events taking place after he was recently transferred from police custody to Maafushi prison and placed under the custody of Maldives Correctional Service, said Adhuham.
After Adhuham denied the charges against him, the State requested the judge to continue the trial. Therefore, preliminary hearings will be scheduled and held once again and other legal proceedings will be restarted.
Adhuham, who has a criminal record, was assigned a defense attorney by the Attorney General's Office. During Tuesday's hearing, Adhuham's attorney said he was not aware that Adhuham intended to backtrack on his confession. While Adhuham's allegations must be further investigated, no such claims regarding the police were previously made by Adhuham, said the defense attorney.
However, the police on Tuesday denied Adhuham's claims, and said that the investigation found enough evidence against Adhuham to convict him. The police denied to drugging Adhuham, and said Adhuham's statements were untrue.
