High Court Orders Retrial in Yameen Rasheed Murder Case, Remands Defendants

The High Court has overturned the 2022 murder convictions of Ismail Haisham Rasheed and Ahmed Zihan in the Yameen Rasheed case, ordering retrials in the Criminal Court. Both defendants have been remanded in custody pending the new trials. The High Court also reversed acquittals of two other individuals, Mohamed Dhifran and Ismail Rasheed, and ordered their cases to be retried. Yameen Rasheed, a prominent blogger and social media activist, was stabbed to death in April 2017, an incident that shocked the nation. The Criminal Court had initially convicted Haisham and Zihan, but the High Court, following an appeal, unanimously set aside the verdict and directed fresh trials. The Prosecutor General's Office confirmed the case relates to Yameen's murder and requested the suspects remain in custody until the conclusion of the retrials.