The lawyer for a 15-year-old student accused with many counts of murder in connection with the May 22 fire that killed 19 pupils at the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory is requesting that the charges be dropped.
Attorney Dr Dexter Todd stated in a letter to the Director Public Prosecution (DPP) that based on the admissions made in the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court throughout the hearings, it is evident that there is no possible evidence to substantiate the allegations against the youngster.
“Our suspicions in this situation were verified after reviewing all of the statements and other materials served on our clients…”There is no potential evidence that could support a murder charge, let alone secure a conviction against our client,” Todd stated in his letter.
Given the facts shown in court, the attorney is pushing the DPP to review the case and remove the charges, warning that failing to do so might result in civil action against the state.
“Please be advised that if this charge against our client is not withdrawn and proceeds to trial, we will be forced to institute civil and constitutional proceedings against the Office of the DPP and the State, seeking certain orders, declarations, and substantial damages.”
The 15-year-old schoolgirl, who is being imprisoned at the Juvenile Holding Centre, is accused of setting fire to the dormitory, killing 19 other students aged 12 to 17 and a five-year-old boy. She did not have to enter a plea.
Todd stated that the evidence before the court is circumstantial and very poor, and does not fulfill the threshold for murder charges when full disclosure was finished on July 20.
He stated that several of the witnesses in the case stated that his client was unhappy with the hostel caretaker for taking away her cell phone and threatened to burn the facility down.
However, the attorney stated that, aside from the words of a teenager, nothing else connects his client to the deadly fire, and that one of the witnesses told the court that the accused, after purportedly giving the threat, indicated it was a joke.
“We certainly cannot get into our client’s mind to know what she meant or if it was a joke, and neither can the court,” he said, adding that none of the witnesses placed the accused in the area where the fire began.
“None of them claimed to have seen her light the fire, none claimed to have seen her accept responsibility for the fire, and none claimed to have seen her walking or running from the area where the fire allegedly started prior to the great blaze.” “There is no forensic evidence that incriminates our client in any way,” he stated.
He stated that the court only has witness reports that the accused threatened to burn down the hostel and stole a lighter and perfume from two pupils.
“All we have is an alleged statement by the accused, a statement that could have been exploited by anyone who heard it.” “It’s worth noting that some witnesses confirmed that other students from the dorm were smoking marijuana that day,” Todd told the DPP.
President Irfaan Ali told reporters on Monday that members of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) examining the catastrophic incident would be sworn in by the end of the week.
“I intend to name the entire complement of COI numbers by the end of this week and have them sworn in by the end of this week,” he told reporters.
Ali announced in June that retired Major General Joseph Singh will lead the investigation.