High Court upholds death sentence against Humaam

High Court has upheld the death sentence against Hussain Humaam Ahmed, issued by Criminal Court after he was found guilty of the murder of Dr Afrasheem Ali.

Dr Afrasheem Ali was murdered between 11:30 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. on the bight between 1 and 2 October 2012 in H. Funvilu.

Criminal Court delivered the guilty verdict against Humaam and sentenced him to death on 16 January 2014.

The Criminal Court verdict stated that Humaam had repeatedly confessed in court to killing Dr Afrasheem, in addition to providing a confession in writing during an extension of detention hearing held at the Criminal Court on 7 December 2012.

The High Court verdict issued today on the appeal case stated that the judges presiding over the case unanimously agreed that Humaam was guilty of murder, and also highlighted that Humaam was allowed all his rights in the court process as required.

The court noted that Humaam had confessed to the crime in court on multiple occasions, and confessions in court by the suspect are considered valid by Islamic scholars.

Moreover, the fact that Humaam’s version of how the murder was carried out matched witness testimonies, add credence to witness testimonies, the court said.

The judges presiding over this case are Judge Ali Sameer, Judge Abdulla Hameed, Judge Abdul Ghanee Mohamed, Judge Abdul Gafoor Ibrahim, and Judge Sujau Usman.

Humaam’s family members including his mother protested in court following the issuance of the verdict today.