The High Court today ruled that conditions cannot be imposed on the release of two men acquitted in the case involving the fatal stabbing of a man inside a store in Malé.

In the case where Mohamed Ahmed Didi (Nautte), of Irumeezuge, S. Hithadhoo, was stabbed and killed while inside a shop on Muranga Magu in Maafannu in February 2023, the state charged Ibrahim Faiq Nizam, of S. Maradhoofeydhoo, and Sirhan Ali, of Th. Gaadhiffushi.

According to the Criminal Court's verdict issued last April, which found the two men not guilty, the state's case against them was based generally on circumstantial evidence alone. The verdict stated that in the absence of direct testimony, the state submitted points from which an inference of guilt could potentially be drawn, but the links in the chain of evidence were not connected.

Following the Criminal Court’s verdict acquitting the two men, the state appealed the judgment at the High Court. The state also requested that the two individuals be held in custody pending the outcome of the appeal.

This request was submitted on the grounds that both individuals stand accused of a dangerous crime, and that evidence sufficient to establish their guilt had been presented. The state further highlighted that the two posed a danger to society.

After requesting detention pending the outcome of the trial, the state later asked for restrictions to be placed on the two accused individuals who were out of custody, noting that the proceedings might draw out.

In the decision issued today by the High Court, two judges on the presiding bench, Judge Ismail Shafeeu and Judge Ibrahim Mahir, decided not to issue the order requested by the state.

The ruling noted that because the state had withdrawn its request for detention pending trial, and because the state failed to demonstrate any legal basis under which a person not held in custody under accusation of a crime could be released subject to conditions, no grounds existed to grant the order requested by the state.

However, in a dissenting opinion, Judge Abdulla Rauf Ibrahim, who also sat on the bench, stated that in a case where the state appeals a lower court judgment finding an accused not guilty in a criminal matter, the respondent in the appeal is not entirely exonerated from the accusation of crime.

The judge stated that imposing conditions on respondents during the appeal stage is not prohibited by law, and therefore found it appropriate to issue such an order. However, his opinion did not gain majority support.