Witness: I did not see Adeeb give Is’haaq money

An anonymous State witness in the alleged assassination plot against Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom testified in court on Monday that he had not seen former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Gafoor – one of the defendants – give money to Is’haaq Hussain – another defendant.

State has charged four individuals in the alleged assassination plot: Adeeb, Is’haaq, Fazeel Hameed, and Sri Lankan national – Lahiru Madhushanka – who is accused of being a sniper contracted to assassinate Yameen.

Two anonymous State witnesses provided their testimonies at the court on Monday, one of who claimed that Is’haaq had said he transported money to anyone Adeeb asked him to. And that Is’haaq had told him he gave USD 20,000 to Fazeel – but he didn’t know what it was for.

Witness number 1 had testified that Fazeel had said “It could have been done with one shot” over a coffee, but did not know what he was referring to.

He said that Fazeel had made the comment the day after the explosion onboard presidential speedboat “Finifenmaa”, but that he had not heard him make any direct reference to the incident.

State prosecution has accused Adeeb an Fazeel, and a group of other people of plotting to hire a hitman to assassinate Yameen, last October. And that Lahiru Madhushanka – the alleged sniper – had come to Maldives for the hit as per the plan.

All three have been charged with conspiring to assassinate an individual; while Is’haaq had been charged with being an accessory to a conspiracy to assassinate an individual – for transporting the payment to the hitman as per Adeeb’s orders.