Yaamin's murder: Questions posed regarding VA report

The defense lawyers in the case of murdered blogger Yaamin Rasheed posed questions to the police officer who conducted the video analysis reports in the case in yesterday's hearing.

Yaamin Rasheed was found brutally murdered on April 23, 2017, and a total of six people were charged in his case. They are Ismail Hasiham Rasheed (H. Annaarumaage), Ahmed Zihaan Ismail (M. Iraasmikuge), Mohamed Dhifraan (G.Dh Gadhdhoo, Sindhubaadhuge), Hassan Shifaz (M. Kudhehige), Ismail Rasheed (M.Thaaif), and Hussain Ziyaadh (M. Kolhufushi, East).

These men were identified by the video analysis report formed by police officer Adam Mohamed, who stated that he used a specialized software named Amped Five. Adam also stated that he analyzed the video based on a request from an IO who had suspicions about the identity of the men in the video. He identified the men based on his judgment from the video analysis.

Adam was posed questions of bias by the defense attorney of Mohamed Dhifraan in the case who argued that the similarities to one of the suspects in the case could be found in many Maldivians. The defense attorney also stated that since the IO of police had a certain suspect in mind, how Adam could carry out the analysis of the video unbiased.

The defense attorney of Hassan Shifaz focused his questions on how sure Adam was whether the person seen in the video is his client. Adam answered that even though the software did not provide a match percentage, his experience and expertise led him to conclude that it was Shifaz in the video. 

The next hearing in the case will be on September 17.