Salim asks the court for a Bangladeshi interpreter

Shah Alom Mia (Salim), who was sentenced to death in the murder of Mahmood Aboobakuru, a businessman from Alif Dhaalu atoll Dangethi, has expressed his dissatisfaction with his interpreter and asked the High Court to hire a lawyer at state expense.

Salim, a Bangladeshi national, was given the death penalty by the Criminal Court in October 2021, for brutally murdering Mahmood and attempting to dispose of his body in an abandoned plot on the island.

The prosecution moved to confirm the validity of the verdict as Salim did not appeal against it.

At the High Court hearing held on Tuesday when asked if he required a lawyer, Salim heatedly replied in a mix of Dhivehi and Bengali, that he was not financially capable of hiring a lawyer by himself.

Salim said he was unhappy with his current interpreter and wanted to appoint a Bangladeshi. Salim said his translator had told him that he would be deported if he confessed to the crime.

"I did not say that, Honorable Judge," said the local translator, who was also Salim's interpreter and spokesperson at the lower court.

The prosecution said another individual had been Salim's spokesperson in the Dangethi Court during the investigation. Therefore, it is unclear which spokesperson Salim was referring to.

If the conditions are met, the prosecution said it would not refuse to appoint a Bangladeshi interpreter. The bench said it would decide on the matter at a later date.

Salim said he wanted to hire a lawyer at state expense.

"My mother and father back home are living in very poor conditions. I want to appoint a lawyer at the expense of the state," the spokesperson said, interpreting Salim's response.

Therefore, he was given the explanation of how to arrange lawyers at state expense.

The case is being heard by Justices Hassan Shafeeu, Mohamed Niyaz and Fathimath Faruheeza. The bench was presided over by Justice Shafeeu.

The death penalty is carried out after the Supreme Court decides the case. Although three people are on death row, the death penalty was last carried out in 1953 in the Maldives.