The main ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), has called on the relevant authorities to expedite the trials of the suspected perpetrators of the May 6 terrorist attack against Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed.
In a statement released on June 13, MDP expressed concern over the additional delays on trial proceedings, forced by the withdrawal of Judge Adam Mohamed who was leading the judges’ bench overseeing the case. Judge Adam Mohamed announced his withdrawal from the trial on June 12, citing a letter submitted to the court by one of the suspects, Ishaq, which claimed that his son is under investigation for threatening Judge Adam Mohamed amid the trial of the individuals charged over the murder of blogger Yameen Rasheed. Therefore, the judge announced he would be withdrawing from the case to avoid a conflict of interest.
MDP stated while the withdrawal of Judge Adam Mohamed from the case was a necessary move to ensure a just and fair trial, it is equally important to ensure the trial proceeds without interruptions and delays. MDP said further delays would enable perpetrators to issue similar threats against judges, attorneys and witnesses involved in the case. Therefore, MDP requested the Criminal Court to form the new judges’ bench quickly and expedite proceedings of the trial.
Criminal Court is currently conducting the trials of eight suspects of the May 6 attack, including Thahumeen Ahmed, Mujaz Ahmed, Ali Haisham, Mohamed Nazim, Ishaq, Fahumee Ali, Mohamed Thasleem, and Abdulla Ali Manik. The court had earlier sentenced one other suspect, Ahmed Adhuham Rasheed, to 23 years in prison for plotting and attempting the assassination of Speaker Nasheed.