Tag: pistol

Ex-Defence Minister Nazim found guilty of smuggling weapons, sentenced to 11 years in jail

The Criminal Court has found former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim guilty of smuggling dangerous weapons and sentenced him to 11 years in jail.

At a late night hearing on Thursday, the three-judge panel said Nazim had not been able to demonstrate how he had come to possess a pistol and three bullets found in his apartment during a police raid on January 18.

The weapons did not belong to the state armoury and therefore must have been smuggled into the country, the judges said. Further, since the police had discovered the weapons at Nazim’s home in a raid conducted according to the law, they must be considered to belong to the former defence minister, judges concluded.

Nazim’s defence team have maintained the pistol and three bullets were planted by rogue officers on the orders of Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb, after the pair fell out over Adeeb’s alleged use of police SWAT team for criminal activities.

The Maldives Police Services and the Tourism Minister have denied the accusations as baseless and untrue.

Nazim, as he was escorted out of the courtroom under a police guard tonight, told his distraught family, “We will still gain justice.”

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, defence lawyer Maumoon Hameed said the three judges had not considered the defence’s arguments and said he would lodge an appeal at the High Court as soon as possible.

The Criminal Court last week refused to call all but two of the 37 defence witnesses, claiming some were not relevant while others did not appear to negate the prosecution’s claims.

Following the weapons discovery, Nazim was dismissed from the cabinet. He was then arrested on February 10 under additional charges of terrorism and treason.

State prosecutors in court also claimed documents on a pen drive confiscated along with the weapons revealed that Nazim was plotting a coup d’etat and planning to harm President Abdulla Yameen, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed and the Tourism Minister.

The documents were presented in a closed hearing, allegedly to demonstrate the former defence minister had a motive in smuggling the pistol.

Nazim’s family had previously said “there is no hope for a fair trial” due to a “notoriously politicised judiciary,” and said Nazim had “fallen foul of a political conspiracy, one in which powerful forces within the government have sought to destroy him and prevent him from challenging the leadership of the ruling party.”

Right to defence “obstructed”

At a 4:oopm hearing on Thursday, state prosecutors and defence lawyers presented closing statements.

State prosecutor Adam Arif said Nazim had admitted police discovered the weapons in his bedroom during a search carried out in his presence. Claiming Nazim had failed to explain who the weapons belonged to, Arif said he must be held responsible for the pistol and three bullets discovered under his roof.

Tests carried out by Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) proved the weapons were functioning and dangerous. Further, the MNDF had said the weapons did not come from the state armory, he said.

Police officers had also testified the raid and search were conducted according to rules and regulations, he added.

But referring to the Criminal Court’s refusal to call the majority of Nazim’s defence witnesses, defence lawyers contended the court had “obstructed” Nazim from mounting a proper defence.

Lawyers claimed over 15 SWAT officers broke down the door to Nazim’s apartment on the night of the raid, barged into his bedroom in the dark, pointed a riot gun at his head and escorted him and his wife into the living room.

SWAT officers then spent at least ten minutes unsupervised in the former Defence Minister’s bedroom, during which they planted the bag containing the pistol in a bedside drawer, lawyers suggested.

Police testimony confirmed the search team had arrived approximately 15 minutes after the SWAT officers secured the premises, but state prosecutors had failed to explain the gap, lawyers argued.

The defence team also contended police conduct of the raid and search was unlawful, arguing the resulting evidence was therefore inadmissible in a court of law.

Lawyers said if the defence had been allowed to call its witnesses, it would have been possible to prove police spent time unsupervised in Nazim’s bedroom, and that SWAT officers were previously under investigation for criminal activities.

They would also have been able to prove the pistol was in fact imported by the state for the protection of foreign dignitaries, they added.

Lawyers urged judges not to accept the testimony of police officers, claiming they had lied in court. Lawyers pointed to what they called serious contradictions in testimony, as one claimed the search team had checked the ceiling and above a cupboard in the bedroom, while the others denied doing so.

Some witnesses claimed secret information indicated the weapons were located on either the seventh or eight floor while others said it was just the eighth floor, lawyers said.

The panel overseeing Nazim’s case are the same judges who sentenced former President Mohamed Nasheed to 13 years in jail on March 13.

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Ex-defence minister’s final hearing on illegal weapons pushed back to Thursday evening

The Criminal Court has pushed back the last hearing in former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim’s illegal weapons charge to Thursday evening.

Defence lawyers today requested additional time to listen to recordings of witness testimony from previous hearings before they issued concluding statements.

The three-judge panel gave lawyers until 4:00pm on Thursday to prepare. Judges could deliver a verdict at their discretion afterwards.

Defence lawyers once again requested the three-judge panel to allow Nazim to leave the country, claiming doctors had said the retired colonel faced a potentially life-threatening condition, and had recommended he be flown abroad as soon as possible for medical tests that are not available in the Maldives.

But presiding Judge Abdul Bari Yoosuf contended the phrase ‘as soon as possible’ could be interpreted in various ways, and said the Criminal Court was working to expedite a verdict in the case.

Nazim was charged with illegal weapons possession after police discovered a pistol and three bullets at his home during a controversial midnight raid on January 18. He was subsequently dismissed from the cabinet, and arrested on February 10 on additional charges of terrorism and treason.

Nazim, in his defense, claims rogue police officers planted the weapons at his home on Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb’s orders after the pair fell out over Adeeb’s alleged use of SWAT officers for criminal activities, including the chopping down of all of Malé City’s areca palms in October last year.

Both Adeeb and the Maldives Police Services have dismissed the allegations.

In the last hearing on Monday, judges summoned only two of Nazim’s 37 defence witnesses.

Fabricated evidence?

State prosecutors also claim documents in a pen drive confiscated along with the weapons suggested Nazim was plotting a coup d’état and planning to harm President Abdulla Yameen, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed and the Tourism Minister.

Defence lawyer Maumoon Hameed once again claimed police officers had tampered with and fabricated evidence against Nazim, suggesting coup plans were in fact not even contained in the allegedly planted pen drive.

Hameed, who is also President Yameen’s nephew, said a forensic digital expert, Ameen Abdul Gayoom, in a closed hearing on March 19 said the pen drive had last been accessed in February 2014.

But the alleged plans to harm President Yameen – which were only revealed to judges and lawyers in the closed hearing – were supposedly to be carried out in November or December 2014, he said.

He went on to claim that the then-Assistant Commissioner of Police Hassan Habeeb had printed out the documents in the pen drive and questioned Nazim soon after the raid. He questioned how Habeeb had accessed the pen drive without resulting in the change of date of last access and noted Habeeb’s name was not listed on the pen drive’s chain of custody.

Habeeb was recently promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Police, and according to witness testimony in previous hearings, had commanded the raid on Nazim’s apartment.

State prosecutor Adam Arif denied that the forensic digital expert had made any comments on the date of last access, and said the chain of custody recorded the officers who had handled the physical pen drive, and not the electronic documents contained in it.

Hameed also noted several empty slots on the chain of custody record, saying the broken record suggested possible tampering.

Chain of custody is the record of all individuals who maintained unbroken control over the items of evidence, to establish proof that the items of evidence collected at the crime scene is the same evidence presented in a court of law.

Hameed also said there were gaps of between six and nine hours between when investigating officers had received the evidence and when they had handed evidence over to the forensic departments, arguing the delay amounted to officers flouting police regulations.

Further, while a Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) officer had testified in a previous hearing to having fired the pistol to test if it was functioning, Hameed said the chain of custody record indicated the MNDF only had the weapons for just 15 minutes.

In response, Arif said the empty slots on chain of custody do not mean an unauthorised individual had handled the evidence, and said it did not affect the credibility of evidence presented at court.

Arif claimed the MNDF had possessed the evidence for over an hour, ample time to test the authenticity of the pistol and three bullets.

He also said the long delay in investigating officers handing over evidence to the forensics department did not necessarily mean officers had tampered with the evidence.

If convicted, Nazim faces a jail term between ten and 15 years.

The three judge panel overseeing Nazim’s case are the same judges who convicted former President Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism and sentenced him to 13 years in jail in a trial many observers have called a “travesty of justice.”

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State concludes witness testimony in former Defence Minister Nazim’s trial

Three anonymised police officers provided testimony with serious contradictions last week in former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim’s trial on weapons possession charges.

The three officers were part of a search team during the controversial midnight raid on Nazim’s house on January 18. Their testimony indicated the Maldives Police Services did not follow stringent police regulations in conducting the search.

The search team did not videotape the raid as required, and provided conflicting testimony on whether mandatory photographs were taken. One witness said photos were only taken of the illegal weapons, while a second witness said photographs were taken from the moment the raid began.

Nazim — accused of smuggling illegal weapons — maintains he was framed by rogue SWAT police officers on the orders of Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb.

The three officers said they entered Nazim’s apartment after masked SWAT officers broke down the then-defence minister’s door. Nazim’s wife and two daughters were inside the apartment’s living room with the officers at the time, they said.

Police claimed to have discovered three bullets and a pistol in a black bag in a bedside drawer during the raid. Nazim was subsequently dismissed and arrested on additional charges of treason and terrorism.

If convicted of smuggling weapons, the retired colonel faces a jail term between ten and 15 years.

State prosecutors have now concluded summoning witnesses. A total of six individuals testified in four hearings last week. They included five police officers and one Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officer.

The defence is to call witnesses at the next hearing on Sunday.

Police procedures

The Criminal Court held four hearings on March 17, 18 and 19. Nazim’s defence team questioned the three anonymised police witnesses on procedures followed during raid, search and chain of custody in evidence.

At the March 17 hearing, the chief Investigative Officer (IO) said he had sought a court warrant to search Nazim’s apartment building, Galholhu Enif, on his superior’s orders.

Intelligence information indicated weapons were kept either on the seventh or eighth floor, he said via telephone. The search team entered Nazim’s apartment ten to 15 minutes after SWAT officers entered the apartment and secured the premises, he said.

The police team searched Nazim’s bedroom first, in his presence, when the weapons were discovered, he said. Police officers searched all of Nazim’s apartment and a second apartment on the eighth floor, but did not search the seventh floor, he said.

The IO said Nazim had fully cooperated with the search. The police did not keep a record of observations in a special notebook or issue a list of items confiscated from the former defence minister’s home as per regulations, the cross-examination revealed.

One anonymised witness on March 18 said the search team did not check the ceiling, while the second said the team brought in a chair to check the ceiling and cupboards.

The legal team had previously claimed that the items found at Nazim’s house were planted by the police, saying that officers spent ten minutes inside Nazim’s bedroom unsupervised before the search began. Police have called the claims “untrue” and “baseless”.

On March 19, state prosecutors summoned Sub Inspector Ameen Abdul Gayoom regarding a forensic digital analysis report of a pen drive confiscated from Nazim’s apartment along with the weapons. The state has previously said documents on the pen drive indicate Nazim was plotting to harm President Abdulla Yameen, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed and Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb.

Journalists and observers were barred from the defence’s cross-examination of Gayoom due to the confidential nature of the documents on the pen drive.

Prosecutors then summoned MNDF First Lieutenant Mohamed Nazeem to prove the pistol and bullets were functioning. Nazeem said the a weapons expert had fired the pistol in his presence, but they had not tested the bullets. However, a visual inspection shows the bullets were not dummy rounds, he said.

Defence lawyers have named President Yameen, Commissioner Waheed, Chief of Defence Forces Major General Ahmed Shiyam, Home Minister Umar Naseer and several senior ranking police and military officers as witnesses to prove charges were fabricated in a conspiracy engineered by Adeeb.

The Criminal Court said the court would summon defence witnesses only if they appear to negate the prosecution’s evidence.

On March 7, lawyer Maumoon Hameed claimed Adeeb framed Nazim after the former defence minister alerted President Yameen of the tourism minister using SO SWAT officers to commit criminal acts, including the chopping down of all of Malé City’s areca palms in October last year.

The tourism minister has said he was “shocked” by the allegations, and has dismissed accusations as lies.

Defence lawyers have also called Superintendent of Police Ahmed Nafiz and former head of police’s intelligence directorate, Mohamed ‘MC’ Hameed, to prove a complaint was lodged over SO officer’s alleged criminal activities, and that SO officers had engaged in criminal activity.

The defence has also called senior ranking police and military officers to prove that a Special Protection Group Corporal had lost a 9mm Browning pistol at Shangri-La resort in 2014, that police officers did not follow due process in raiding and searching Nazim’s residence, and that police intelligence had not received any information that illegal weapons were smuggled into Malé prior to the raid.

The MNDF promptly dismissed allegations of missing weapons.

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PG threatens legal action against Nazim’s lawyers

The Prosecutor General’s Office has threatened legal action against former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim’s lawyers over alleged attempts to unduly influence the retired colonel’s ongoing trial.

In a press statement issued Thursday night following a press conference by Nazim’s legal team, the PG office contended that making “indirect allegations” and public statements that undercuts evidence before it is presented at trial was tantamount to obstruction of justice.

“Therefore, we notify that we will be taking necessary action through the relevant institutions concerning statements by representatives of [the defendant] outside of court that directly influences an ongoing case in a court of law,” the PG office warned.

The statement added that the PG office could not respond to “every accusation repeatedly made through the media in a way that brings this institution into disrepute.”

Nazim is currently on trial on charges of illegal weapons possession after police raided his apartment on January 18 and discovered a pistol and three bullets in a bedside drawer. He was subsequently dismissed from the cabinet and arrested on additional charges of treason and terrorism.

At a press briefing yesterday, Nazim’s lawyer, Maumoon Hameed, revealed that a police forensic report shared with defence lawyers stated that fingerprints lifted from the weapon did not match either Nazim or any of his family members.

Moreover, at last week’s hearing of Nazim’s trial, lawyers objected to witness statements from 13 anonymised police officers submitted by the prosecution.

Noting that the PG office has redacted the names of the witnesses as well as other details, Hameed told the press yesterday that defence lawyers could neither rebut nor impeach anonymous witnesses as it would be impossible to determine if the officers had been present during the midnight raid.

The state prosectors’ claim that anonymising the police witnesses to ensure their safety was not a reasonable justification without establishing that either Nazim, his family, or supporters have threatened or intimidated witnesses, Hameed argued.

The justification was “laughable” as police have said the SWAT team officers involved in the raid were the most highly-trained in the force, he added.

However, the PG office statement insisted that anonymising witnesses out of fear they might face physical harm was an established legal norm in the Maldives.

Nazim’s legal team maintains that the former defence minister was “framed” and that the pistol was planted, allegations denied by police who insist that “nothing was done in violation of procedures, regulations and laws in the investigation of the case.”

Maumoon Hameed and Muhthaz MuhsinAt Thursday’s press briefing, Hameed also accused PG Muhthaz Muhsin of dereliction of duty and failing to protect Nazim’s fundamental constitutional rights.

In July 2014, parliament approved Muhsin as PG after MPs of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) decided to endorse the former Criminal Court judge despite the party’s leader, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, urging ruling party MPs to vote for his nephew Maumoon Hameed.

Hameed subsequently criticised the PPM MPs’ decision on his Facebook page.

“The reasoning behind the decision of the PPM parliamentary group this afternoon apparently went something like this: ’He won’t do as he’s told!’” he wrote.

“Given this reasoning, and the evident desire to install a puppet instead of someone who will uphold the law without fear or favour, I applaud the decision to endorse someone (anyone!) other than me.”

Related to this story:

Fingerprint on confiscated pistol did not match Nazim’s, lawyers reveal

Evidence against Nazim consists only of 13 anonymised police statements

Ex-Defence Minister calls for an open, public trial

No hope for fair trial, says former defense minister’s family

Nazim accused of conspiring with Villa group to harm state officials

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Fingerprints on confiscated pistol did not match Nazim’s, lawyers reveal

Fingerprints lifted from a pistol confiscated from Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim’s residence did not match the former defence minister’s print, Nazim’s legal team has revealed.

At a press briefing this afternoon, Nazim’s lawyer, Maumoon Hameed, explained that a police forensic report shared with defence lawyers stated that “latent prints” from the weapon did not match either Nazim or any of his family members.

“This proves that their evidence has no connection to Colonel Mohamed Nazim,” Hameed contended.

Nazim is currently on trial on charges of illegal weapons possession after police raided his apartment on January 18 and discovered a pistol and three bullets in a bedside drawer. Nazim was subsequently dismissed from the cabinet and arrested on additional charges of treason and terrorism.

Hameed noted that the fingerprints must belong to a “third party” but police have not made any attempt to identify the source of the prints during the investigation after receiving the forensic report on January 20.

Police hastily concluded the investigation on February 9 and forwarded the case to the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office, Hameed added.

Police have so far not responded to requests for an independent forensic examination of the evidence and other information relating to the case, he noted.

In a statement last month, police denied allegations made by Nazim’s legal team that police planted the pistol in the then-defence minister’s apartment to “frame” him, insisting that “nothing was done in violation of procedures, regulations and laws in the investigation of the case.”

Jumhooree Party MP Abdulla Riyaz, a former police commissioner and member of Nazim’s legal team, meanwhile questioned why police did not take video footage of the “forced entry” and midnight raid on January 18.

Riyaz also alleged that police did not take fingerprints from Nazim’s bedside drawer.

Riyaz urged President Abdulla Yameen to initiate an independent inquiry into the incident, contending that Nazim should be immediately released in light of the forensic evidence.

Riyaz reiterated that Nazim was being “framed” by political rivals to “destroy his political career,” adding that Nazim’s “unlawful arrest” would be investigated “some day” in the future.

Adhaalath Party Spokesperson Imran Zahir expressed concern over “obstacles to a free and fair trial” for Nazim due to several irregularities in the trial.

Zahir called on the PG office and Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to arrange for an open and public trial at a larger venue as only six members of the public were allowed into the Criminal Court to observe proceedings.

While Nazim has offered to bear the expense for a public trial at the Dharubaaruge Convention Center in Malé if the state was unable to do so, judges refused the request at a hearing earlier this week.

Anonymised witnesses

At this week’s hearing of Nazim’s trial on illegal weapons possession, lawyers objected to witness statements from 13 anonymised police officers submitted by the prosecution.

Noting that the PG office has redacted the names of the witnesses as well as other details, Hameed said defence lawyers could neither rebut nor impeach anonymous witnesses as it would be impossible to determine if the officers had in fact been present on the scene during the raid.

The state prosectors’ claim that anonymising the police witnesses to ensure their safety was not a reasonable justification without establishing that either Nazim, his family, or supporters have threatened or intimidated witnesses.

The justification was “laughable” as police have said the SWAT team officers involved in the raid were the most highly-trained in the force, he added.

Hameed questioned the officers’ training “if any of them are trembling with fear of Colonel Nazim, or his wife”, adding that it was more likely that they want to remain anonymous to “impede assessment” of their testimony.

Moreover, police and military officers have openly testified at former President Mohamed Nasheed’s trial, Hameed noted, adding that the opposition leader has the support of 45 percent of the electorate.

Hameed accused PG Muhthaz Muhsin of dereliction of duty and failing to protect Nazim’s fundamental rights.

At a High Court hearing on the legitimacy of the search warrant authorising the raid, Hameed said the PG office suggested that the Criminal Court should rule on the legality of the warrant during the trial and the High Court had concurred.

However, Hameed said prosecutors remained silent when Nazim’s lawyers raised the issue at this week’s Criminal Court hearing, after which  Judge Yoosuf Abdul Bari Yousuf had said the defence’s request had been noted and asked Hameed to speak on the evidence itself.

“This goes to show that the Prosecutor General does not want to afford these rights. It shows that the Prosecutor General is attempting to impede Colonel Mohamed Nazim from raising these legal points. We note our concern over this and appeal to [PG] not to act like this,” he said.

Related to this story:

Evidence against Nazim consists only of 13 anonymised police statements

Ex-Defence Minister calls for an open, public trial

No hope for fair trial, says former defense minister’s family

Nazim accused of conspiring with Villa group to harm state officials

Ex defense minister’s wife charged with illegal weapons possession

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Pistol and explosive device found at Nazim’s home, says Police Commissioner

The Maldives Police Services has revealed that it found a pistol and a makeshift explosive device at the home of former defence minister Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim, during a raid on January 18.

Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed told media today that, after searching Nazim’s home using “forced entry”, the police found a 9mm handgun, an improvised explosive device, 3 bullets, and a magazine.

“We did not arrest Nazim at the time because we did not see it as the best course of action to proceed depending on his profile,” said Waheed.  “However as you can see we have prevented him from leaving abroad.”

According to media reports yesterday (January 28), the former minister’s passport was being held by the department of immigration after a court order was issued.

Nazim’s lawyer Maumoon Hameed – who replaced former Attorney General Azima Shukoor this week – has released a statement this evening denying that the items were there with his client’s knowledge.

“The items claimed to have been found at Colonel Mohamed Nazim’s residence by Police Commissioner Hussein Waheed do not belong to Colonel Nazim or his family, and if there were any items were present at the house, they were there without Colonel Nazim’s or his family’s knowledge,” read the statement.

Commissioner Waheed said this afternoon that the MPS had written to the Maldivian National Defense Force to verify ownership of the weaponry, but was informed that no items were missing from the military’s inventory.

He added that the weapons were “very dangerous” and that while the handgun could be lethal, the explosive device when matched with another component could cause “large scale destruction”.

The commissioner also revealed that a pen drive had been confiscated during the search, containing information that could help the investigation.

“We are still proceeding with the investigation of the case, but we plan to file it with the Prosecutor General’s Office as soon as the investigation is done,” said Waheed.

He maintained that the service was not aware that it was Nazim’s home until after entering, but noted that they had adhered to international best practices and that Nazim was present during the search.

Nazim – who was also acting health minister and head of immigration – was dismissed from his post on January 20, three days after police raid.

Speaking to the media at the time, Nazim said that events had shown no Maldivian was assured of safety and security.

“This gives an alarming signal that entering any house, at any time and to do anything is possible. The defence minister is the most senior official standing beside the president,” he told the press immediately following his dismissal.

Police have since suggested that Nazim was questioned regarding the weapons but that he had failed to adequately respond to the questions.

Nazim is currently being represented by lawyer Hameed – nephew of President Abdulla Yameen – after Azima Shakoor dropped the case yesterday citing “personal reasons”.

*Original article updated at 8:10pm to include a statement from Nazim’s lawyer


Related to this story

Dismissed Defence Minister’ passport held by authorities

Items confiscated by police do not belong to Nazim or his family, say lawyers

Police raid Defence Minister Nazim’s home in early hours

Opposition condemns Defense Minister Nazim’s apartment raid

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