Malé, Maldives – Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has charged four juveniles over the murder of Mohamed Zayan Moosa.
The 21 year old Mohamed Zayan Moosa, Solid, S. Feydhoo died due to injuries from a violent stabbing in the early hours of Thursday, 2 June 2022 which took place in Feydhoo, Addu City.
The attack is reportedly a retaliation due to a drug-related feud between two Feydhoo gangs. A 19 year old was critically injured on Tuesday, 31 May 2022, two days prior to the homicide.
According to PGO, one of the juveniles was charged under Act on Prohibiting Threatening and Possession of Dangerous Weapons and Sharp Objects (Act No. 17/2010) for using a sharp object to knowingly cause the death of another person.
The remaining three were charged under the same Act for knowingly aiding someone in knowingly causing the death of another person.
PGO also revealed that two out the three who were charged in aiding in a murder had confessed to their crimes and the other had requested for a diversion agreement under the Juvenile Justice Act (Act 18-2019) which has been granted.
Diversion, invoking removal from criminal justice processing and redirection to community support services, is commonly practiced on a formal and informal basis in many legal systems. This practice serves to hinder the negative effects of subsequent proceedings in juvenile justice administration, e.g. the stigma of conviction and sentence.
It was also revealed by PGO that five others who are of age are being investigated by Maldives Police for the murder of Zayan and that their investigation was being given extensions based on the works needed to be done.
A total of 9 people were arrested over the murder and are held in remand till the end of trial.
Media reports had previously reported foul play by Maldives Police Service in the investigation of the murder and political influence to prevent the investigation and prosecution of the people involved in the murder.
Reports of the gang to which all the suspects are believed to be from of funding and paying individual police officers and threatening officers during the arrests also surfaced shortly after the homicide took place.
