High Court decides against holding Haris' alleged murderer in remand

High Court of Maldives has decided against remanding Yameen Rasheed (Gn. Fuvahmulah), who stands accused of murdering Haris Abdul Ghafoor in Hulhumalé by attacking him with a sharp object.

In 2022, the Criminal Court ruled that Yameen was not guilty of the 2017 murder. Prosecutors appealed the decision in High Court, and requested him to be remanded pending the outcome of the appeal.

The state claimed that there is sufficient evidence again Yameem and that they fear he may temper with it if released. However, all three judges presiding on the High Court bench were of the opinion that Yameen should not be held in custody.

The High Court's ruling said that Yameen is currently employed and that he has not been accused of doing or attempting to do anything that endangered the society in recent time.

The decision also highlighted that Yameen also does not have a criminal record other than the case in question.

Further, the court also noted that prosecutors did not support their claim that Yameen may intimidate witnesses, or that he may post a danger to society.

Based on this, the High Court ruled against a remand.

Although there were anonymous witnessed in the murder case, many did not attend court to testify. According to Police statements at the time, Haris was murdered as revenge for a previous altercation.