Criminal Court has scheduled a hearing for conspiracy to commit murder allegations put forth against an alleged sniper, after an 11-month hiatus in the judicial proceedings.
The hearing is scheduled for Sunday.
Lahir Madhu-Shankar, native to Sri Lanka, was arrested on 24th October, 2015. He was detained at a prison in Dhoonidhoo island before the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office brought forth said charges against him.
In August of 2016, the Criminal Court had ruled to remand the ‘sniper’ until sentencing. The last hearing for the case was held on 22nd September.
The charges claim that he brought to the Maldives in order to assassinate incumbent President Abdulla Yameen. The case also implicates former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, Fazeel ‘Lorripe’ Hameed, and Ihsan ‘Saage’ Hussein.
The three men are accused of having hired Madhu-Shankar and financed the alleged assassination attempt.
At the last hearing against him, which judges ruled to be conducted in behind closed doors, Madhu-Shankar’s defence had said that police officers had coerced a confession. One of the two witnesses presented by the prosecution had supported this claim, having attested to officers subject Madhu-Shankar to duress.
While the Sri Lankan government has stated that they have asked the Yameen administration to expedite the proceedings, while several newspapers have reported that officials from Sri Lanka had in March met with counterparts in the Maldives to discuss the case.
