Afrasheem murder trial: Hearings against Humaam concluded

The Criminal Court has concluded its hearings against Hussain Humaam Ahmed of H. Lobby, charged by the State with the murder famous religious scholar Dr Afrasheem Ali.

Concluding statements were presented by Humaam as well as the State at the hearing held today.

Presenting the concluding statement, the State Prosecutor said that Humaam was charged for the murder of attacking and murdering Dr Afrasheem at his residence H. Funvilu using a sharp object between 11.30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on the night of 1 October 2012.

She said that Humaam confessed to the murder in front of a judge at Criminal Court on 7 December 2012, when he was taken to court for the extension of this detention period.

She said that Humaam however denied the charges against him in court on 20 January 2013, and said that he wanted to appoint a lawyer with the assistance of the State, to represent him in court.

She said that the lawyer appointed by the State failed to show up in court for the next hearing.

She said that Humaam said at the trial held on 22 January that he wanted to appoint a lawyer himself, following which the court gave him ten days to do so. At this hearing, Humaam also said that he was ‘not thinking straight’ when he asked for a State lawyer earlier.

She said that at the hearing held on 6 May 2013, Humaam presented his defence without a lawyer, and said that he did not murder Dr Afrasheem, however, had been involved in stabbing people, assault, and theft earlier.

She said that Humaam’s lawyer Ahmed Haseen was present in court on that day, but Humaam said that he wanted to proceed with the hearing without a lawyer.

She said that on 22 May 2013, at the fourth hearing against Humaam, he again confessed to murdering Dr Afrasheem.

She said that on that day, Humaam confessed to the murder repeatedly when asked by the judge, and also confessed to all the statements made by him at the hearing held to extend his detention period on 7 December 2012.

During the hearing on 7 December 2012, Humaam said that he swung a machete at Dr Afrasheem, and Dr Afrasheem was surprised and raised his arm to block the attack, but the machete hit him first on the arm then the nape of his neck, following which he fell down.

Humaam said that he attacked Dr Afrasheem on the head as he fell down, while Ali Shaan of H. Hicoast stabbed Dr Afrasheem at the same time.

The State also presented photos of the injuries sustained by Dr Afrasheem in the attack. The photos showed the injuries caused by the machete to his arm, neck, and head.

She claimed that the description of the attack given by Humaam matched the injuries on the photos.

Presenting Humaam’s concluding statements, his lawyer Haseen said there were no eyewitnesses among the witnesses presented in court by the State.

Haseen said that the court should not consider a statement given during a hearing regarding detention period, as the constitution states that the court should only consider confessions made during the trial.

Haseen said that since Humaam had withdrawn his confession, he should not be convicted based on that confession.

Adjourning today’s hearing, the judge declared that the hearings are now completed, and that a date will be announced later for delivering the verdict.