Committee investigating supreme court judge’s sex-tape requests suspension

The sub-committee formed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to investigate the alleged sex-tape scandal of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed has again requested for the suspension of the judge after his refusal to cooperate with the investigation.

“We have sent the request to the JSC to suspend Ali Hameed after the members of the committee found the need to suspend him. We don’t know whether commission would do it or not,” a member of the committee was quoted saying in the local media.

Speaking to Minivan News, a JSC member confirmed that a request had been received to the commission but had not yet made a formal decision regarding the request.

Local newspaper Haveeru has reported that the committee’s request for suspension of the judge was also due to challenges facing the commission – from both the JSC and the Supreme Court – due to Hameed remaining as sitting judge.

Furthermore, local media claimed that Judge Hameed had turned down requests made by the commission to come in for questioning.

Previous call for suspension

Last July, a similar call by the same committee to suspend the disgraced judge was disregarded by the full commission, who questioned the committee’s basis for such a request.

Judge Hameed was able to survive the committee’s attempt to suspend him after four JSC members voted against the recommendation.

The four members included President Mohamed Waheed’s Attorney General Azima Shukoor and his representee Latheefa Gasim – a member of the committee who supported the suspension in committee before later changing her mind.

The other dissenting members were then-parliament’s representative to the commission, resort tycoon and MP Gasim Ibrahim – who later lost his seat at the JSC following his decision to contest the 2013 presidential elections and then-Chair of the Civil Service Commission, Mohamed Fahmy Hassan. Fahmy had been dismissed by parliament in a late 2012 no-confidence motion over allegations of sexual harassment, before being reinstated by the Supreme Court in March 2013.

All four members defending Hameed said that there was “lack of sufficient evidence” to suspend him.

Police Investigation

Earlier this December, local media reported that police had sent a letter to the JSC in which it claimed the sex-tape probe had been stalled due to Criminal Court’s failure to provide key search warrants central to ascertaining Judge Hameed’s depiction in the videos.

The police had allegedly sought two warrants, one being an authorisation from the court allowing police to take a facial photograph of Judge Hameed for comparative analysis, and the second being a search warrant of Hameed’s residence.

Neither the police nor the JSC have confirmed the existence of this letter, though the police have publicly noted similar difficulties in its investigation without mentioning warrant requests.

Superintendent Abdulla Nawaz told media earlier this month that the police had been awaiting some key information from abroad regarding the case.

“We believe once we get this information [from abroad], more doors will be opened and more clues to the case will be revealed, to enhance our investigations,” Nawaz said at the time.

In sum, Nawaz admitted that efforts had not been fruitful in determining the participants, let alone whether it was Hameed seen fornicating with multiple foreign women inside the hotel room.

The sex-tape

Spy-cam footage allegedly depicting the Supreme Court Judge indulging in different sexual acts with multiple foreign women surfaced on local media last July.

In one such video, time-stamped January 24 2013, showed the judge fraternising with a topless woman with an eastern European accent. At one point the figure alleged to be the judge – who was only wearing a white underwear –  leans into the camera, making his face clearly visible.

Afterwards, the woman repeatedly encourages the man to drink wine from a mini-bar. “If I drink that I will be caught. I don’t want to be caught,” the man insists, refusing.

The case rose to prominence once more after the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the first round of the presidential elections in October.

Images and symbols depicting scenes from the sex-tape formed a prominent part of protests against the court’s repeated interference in the election.

The videos appeared shortly after a film – also involving Judge Hameed – began circulating on social media in which the Supreme Court Judge appeared to be discussing political influence in the judiciary with a local businessman.

The appearance of the videos also coincided with the arrest and release of Ahmed Faiz – a council member of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party and the then-project advisor at the Housing Ministry – while he was allegedly trying to sell a sex-tape of the judge.

As of yet, despite public circulation of the videos and widespread media coverage on the scandal, Judge Ali Hameed still continues to sit in the Supreme Court.

He had been one of the four judges who formed the majority ruling in the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the initial first round of the 2013 presidential election as well as the ruling that unseated two opposition MPs over a controversial case of undecreed debt.

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Depiction of Supreme Court Judge in sex-tape remains an uncertainty, says police

The Maldives Police Service has said that it still cannot ascertain that the sex-tapes allegedly depicting Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed are genuine.

Despite the claims made by police regarding the haziness of the characters seen in the videos, both social media networks and local media have pointed the finger at Judge Hameed when reporting on the videos.

The accusations towards Hameed were supported by an earlier film – apparently taken in the same hotel room as that of the sex videos – in which he was seen discussing the ‘politicization of the Maldivian judiciary’ with a local businessman whom the media identified as Mohamed ‘Golden Lane’ Saeed.

During a press conference held by the police yesterday (December 4) evening, Superintendent Abdulla Nawaz told the press that the police have put huge efforts in identifying the characters seen in the video by utilizing on several forensic tests.

However Nawaz admitted that efforts had not been fruitful in determining the participants, let alone whether it was Hameed seen fornicating with multiple foreign women inside the hotel room.

“Nevertheless, some work regarding the investigation of this case is still proceeding. Also, we would like to inform that work will be done in the future to ensure the investigation leads to success,” Nawaz told the press.

The Superintendent also said that the police had sought “assistance from a country” – that had some relevance to the case – in the investigation process and that it was awaiting reception of some key information regarding the videos that would prove central to their investigations.

“We believe once we get this information [from abroad], more doors will be opened and more clues to the case will be revealed, to enhance our investigations,” Nawaz said.

Although Nawaz did not mention the name of the country, nor what part of the investigation in which assistance had been sought, it has been reported that the video-footage showed a hotel room in Cinnamon Grand Hotel located in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Given the large number of Maldivians traveling to Sri Lanka, it has been widely speculated that many get involved in prostitution and gambling.

Police determined to prosecute

Last August, a photograph leaked on social media showed the former Deputy Minister of Transport Ibrahim Nazim inside a casino playing roulette. The photograph clearly showed a television screen behind Nazim displaying the words “welcome to Bellagio”, suggesting the location to have been one of the Bellagio franchise casinos in Colombo.

Meanwhile, Nawaz said that the case primarily involved two criminal offences. The first offence was fornication – which under the Maldivian penal law is punishable by 100 lashes and banishment. The second was the use of video for blackmail.

Last June police arrested Ahmed Faiz – a council member of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP) and the then-Project Advisor at the Housing Ministry – on  blackmail charges while he was allegedly trying to sell a sex-tape of the judge.

Yesterday, local newspaper Haveeru reported that police had been unable to proceed with the investigations, due to Criminal Court’s failure to provide two key court warrants requested three months ago.

Quoting an official from the Judicial Service Commission – constitutionally mandated to oversee the judiciary – the paper claimed police had sent a letter to the commission informing it of the Criminal Court’s failure to provide the required warrants. Neither the police nor the Criminal Court confirmed the claim.

However, Nawaz implicitly denied Haveeru’s account, telling the press yesterday that police had not come across major barriers in proceeding with the investigations. He maintained that in an investigative perspective the enhancement and analysis of video and audio never was an easy thing to do.

He also reiterated that the police were committed and determined to ensuring the investigation still succeeds, and that they wished to successfully prosecute all those involved in the videos as soon as possible.

Although fornication and adultery remains a criminal offence under the Maldivian law, a successful conviction only arises from either a confession or evidence given by four male eyewitnesses, as prescribed under Islamic Sharia’.

Videos and photographs will only amount to circumstantial evidence and would not suffice a conviction.

Subsequently, regardless of the public circulation of the videos, all parties seen in the video will remain ‘innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt’, as per the article 51(h) of the constitution.

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Supreme Court Judge’s sex-tape probe stalled as Criminal Court fails to provide warrants

The police have been unable to proceed with the investigation into the alleged sex-tape scandal of the Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed, after the  Criminal Court failed to respond to police requests for warrants, reports local newspaper Haveeru.

An official from the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) – which is constitutionally mandated to oversee the judiciary – was quoted in the paper as stating that it had received a letter from the police noting that the Criminal Court’s failure to respond to requests for two warrants – made three months ago – had forced them to halt the investigation.

According to the unnamed official, the warrants sought by the police included authorisation for the police to take a facial photograph of Judge Hameed for comparative analysis with the videos relating to him, and a second warrant requesting the court’s permission to search his residence.

In a bid to verify the claim, Minivan News contacted the Criminal Court’s Media Official Mohamed Manik. When asked about the case, Manik told Minivan News that he would call back after reading the Haveeru article, though he not responding to further calls at the time of press.

Spy-cam footage allegedly depicting the Supreme Court Judge indulging in different sexual acts with multiple foreign women surfaced on local media last July.

The case rose to prominence once more after the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the first round of the presidential elections in October. Images and symbols depicting scenes from the sex-tape formed a prominent part of protests against the court’s repeated interference in the election.

The videos appeared shortly after a film – also involving Judge Hameed – began circulating on social media in which the Supreme Court Judge appeared to be discussing political influence in the judiciary with a local businessman.

The videos came after the arrest of Ahmed Faiz – a council member of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP) and the then-Project Advisor at the Housing Ministry – while he was allegedly trying to sell a sex-tape of the judge.

The public circulation of the videos and widespread media coverage on the scandal prompted both a police and a JSC investigation into the matter.

The then-Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has previously confirmed to local media that the police had been probing the case.

Police subsequently summoned Judge Hameed for questioning in the same month as part of its investigation into the video.

“We are currently investigating two cases concerning the video. One is the case of those who had been using the video to blackmail the people in it, and the other concerns the content of the video,” the spokesperson said at the time.

However, apart from the summoning the police remained largely silent on the matter.

The JSC – whose mandate includes looking into the disciplinary issues and ethical conduct of Judges – also formulated a five member sub-committee to probe into the matter.

The initial members of the committee included JSC Vice-Chair Abdulla Didi, commission members Latheefa Gasim, Ahmed Rasheed and two lawyers outside the JSC – Mohamed Anil and Hussain Siraj.

However, following Anil’s appointment to cabinet as the new Attorney General, he was promptly replaced by veteran lawyer and President of Maldives Bar Association Husnu Al Suood.

Minivan News attempted to contact Police Media officials and the JSC Spokesperson but they were not responding to calls at time of press.

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Suood to investigate Justice Ali Hameed’s ‘sex tapes’

Former Attorney General Husnu Suood has been appointed to a Judicial Services Commission (JSC) committee to investigate Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed’s alleged involvement in a series of leaked sex tapes.

The JSC set up a five member sub committee in July following the circulation of several videos in which an individual believed to be Judge Ali Hameed has sex with several unidentified foreign women in a Colombo Hotel room.

Suood was appointed to the seat previously occupied by Mohamed Anil who resigned from the committee following his appointment as the state’s Attorney General.

The remaining members on the committee are JSC Vice President Abdulla Didi, President’s representative to the JSC Latheefa Gasim and lawyers Ahmed Rasheed and Hussain Siraj.

The committee in July recommended the suspension of Ali Hameed, but the JSC decided against any action citing lack of evidence and asked the committee to conduct further investigations into the case.

Abdull Didi and Latheefa Gasim then tendered their resignation from the committee, but the JSC voted not to accept their resignations.

The Supreme Court suspended Suood in September for alleged contempt of court.

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JSC votes not to accept resignations of sex tape probe members

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) has reportedly refused to accept the recommendations of two members of the subcommittee investigating the leaked sex tapes of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed.

According to local media, the JSC refused to accept the resignation of the watchdog body’s deputy president Abdulla Didi and presidential representative Latheefa Gasim.

Their resignations followed the JSC voting to disregard the subcommittee’s recommendation to suspend the judge pending investigation.

According to local media, the commission voted not to accept the resignations. Media officer Hassan Zaheen told Haveeru the two members would resume their duties following the vote.

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