Criminal Court Judge Dheebanaz Fahmy has been appointed to lead the judges’ bench overseeing the trial of the alleged perpetrators of the terrorist attack against Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed on May 6, 2021.
Judge Dheebanaz was appointed to lead the bench after Judge Adam Mohamed withdrew from the trial on June 12. Judge Adam Mohamed withdrew from the trial citing a letter submitted to the court by one of the suspects, Ishaq, which revealed the suspect’s 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.
Judge Dheebanaz Fahmy was appointed to the Criminal Court in September 2020. She is the first female judge to be appointed to the Criminal Court.
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.