34-year-old Rizwan Ali is a free man today after High Court Judge, Justice Chamath Morais overturned the assessors’ unanimous guilty opinion and found Ali not guilty of murder.
It was alleged that Ali murdered Sela Degei on 12th June, 2017 in Sigatoka.
Ali was represented by lawyer, Iqbal Khan.
The court was told that Degei had confronted Ali after suspecting that Ali was in a relationship with his cousin.
The court was told that Degei was angry and started punching Ali. Degei later passed away after sustaining stab wounds.
Justice Morais says it would be dangerous to rely on the evidence of the second prosecution witness as there is no evidence to support in relation to major issues and it gives rise to reasonable doubt regarding the prosecution version of the way the incident occurred.
The Judge says Ali’s version may not be true but in absence of any reliable evidence by the prosecution, it creates a huge doubt in the prosecution case.
