MALDIVES: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING PARLIAMENT MEMBER

January 17, 2014: A Maldives court has passed the death sentence on a man convicted of stabbing to death a member of parliament (MP), local media reported.
According to report, the Maldives Criminal Court sentenced to death Hussain Humam, the prime suspect in the murder of former MP Dr. Afrasheem Ali.
Issuing the verdict, Judge Abdulla Didi said Humam's confession and witness statements find him of guilty of murdering Ali, local media outlet Haveeru reported.
Humam had denied the charges despite confessing to the crime in a previous hearing.
His lawyer quoted Humam as saying that he had earlier confessed to the murder due to police coercion. They noted that police had told Humam that he would not be executed if he confessed.
If he did not, the police would investigate other cases against him, the lawyer had said.
At an earlier hearing, Humam had said the fatal attack was carried out by "Shan," the underage suspect in the case and himself. They were paid to attack Dr. Afrasheem by Abdulla Jawid -- son-in-law of opposition MP Moosa Manik -- and his brother, he had said.
Humam had said the attack was planned by Azlif Rauf, a soldier who was arrested for the murder and later released.
Dr. Afrasheem was found stabbed to death on the stairway of his apartment building on the night of 1 October 2013. (Sources: Xinhua, 17/01/2014)