High Court Overturns Lower Court Decision on Key Defense Witness in Adhadhu Qazf Case

The High Court has ruled that the Criminal Court was wrong to decide that S. Meedhoo Sheesha, Aishath Eesha Ashraf, could not be accepted as defense evidence in the qazf case filed against Adhadhu newspaper's Editor Hassan Mohamed and Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Hussein Fiyaz Moosa. The two had appealed to the High Court, arguing that the decision on a pre-trial submission in the qazf charge filed by the state was contrary to Shariah or legal standards. The qazf charge against Hassan and Fiyaz was filed on 10 May 2026. During the evidence disclosure stage, defense evidence was submitted on behalf of the two individuals, and at the pre-trial submission stage, the state filed a submission requesting that certain evidence be determined as evidence that cannot be accepted by the court under the Criminal Procedure Act. In the appeal form submitted to the High Court, arguments were presented concerning the lower court's decision on three pieces of evidence. At the High Court hearing, following the statement by the appealing party that the argument concerning one of the three pieces of evidence be withdrawn, the case proceeded with the matter of two pieces of evidence: witnesses nine and 10. Witness 10 is S. Meedhoo Sheesha, Aishath Eesha Ashraf. She submitted as evidence seeking to prove that the voice of the woman heard in the documentary is her voice, that while she was questioned in the investigation of the case under suspicion of qazf the statements of the woman speaking in the documentary do not contain an allegation of zina, and to deny the matters stated in the charge. In its judgment issued yesterday, the High Court ruled that, based on the points submitted on behalf of Fiyaz and Hassan seeking to appeal the decision made regarding the pre-trial submission, the lower court's determination that Eesha Ashraf cannot be accepted as defense evidence is nullified by a majority of the judges.