Audit report flags irregularities in Elections Commission finances

The audit report of the Elections Commission (EC) for 2011 has flagged several expenses in violation of public finance law and regulations.

The report (Dhivehi) made public on Wednesday listed 20 cases of expenditure made by the EC ostensibly in violation of the Public Finance Act and regulations under the law.

Of MVR 19.2 million (US$123,216) sent by the commission to atoll offices for the local council elections in February 2011, the audit found that MVR 1.4 million (US$90,791) was entered into the EC’s financial statement despite not receiving either confirmation or details of the how the funds were spent.

Moreover, while a contract was awarded to a local company for MVR 4.9 million (US$317,769) to print ballot papers following a public announcement by the EC, the audit noted that the commission did not propose it to the tender evaluation board as required for projects exceeding MVR 1.5 million (US$97,276).

The audit also uncovered that the commission paid MVR334,700 (US$21,705) to a company contracted to provide sea transportation during the council elections, for trips not included in the agreement.

While MVR 536,803 (US$34,812) was agreed upon in the contract for 56 trips, the EC ended up paying the company MVR871,503 (US$56,517) due to a number of additional trips.

Agreements made with private parties to hire temporary staff as well as vehicles for use during the council elections could not be found among the EC’s documents, the audit report noted.

A total of MVR 183,238 (US11,883) was however paid for vehicles and short-term staff for the elections in February 2011.

The audit meanwhile could not verify whether deposits from 91 candidates for the council elections, who either received less than 10 percent of the vote or whose candidacies were invalidated, were entered into the state income account.

Based on documentation at the EC, the audit was also unable to verify whether deposits for 1,254 candidates were ever returned.

Phone expenses

Among the other cases highlighted in the report, the audit discovered that commission members spent extra days overseas during official trips to attend seminars and workshops.

The cost of the extended stays during such trips between January 2010 and April 2012 amounted to MVR50,438 (US$3,270) for food, incidentals and pocket money.

The audit also found that commission members transferred phone credit worth MVR5,585 (US$362) from their mobile phones, the bills for which are paid out of the EC budget.

An examination of international calls by commission members showed that a number of such calls were not related to official business.

The audit further revealed that from April 2010 to April 2012, MVR 92,009 (US$5,967) was spent out of the EC budget to pay mobile phone bills of commission members.

A total of MVR 116,954 (US$7,584) was meanwhile paid to EC employees as phone allowances in 2011.

The audit discovered that between December 2007 and August 2011, the commission spent MVR 248,790 (US$16,134) to buy 30 mobile phones for senior staff.

Based on a decision by the former Elections Commissioner in December 2007, 13 phones were to become personal property of the chosen senior staff after one year, the audit revealed.

“We note however that no law or regulation authorises giving away state property,” the report stated.

Moreover, most of the mobile phones were “the most expensive phones on the market at the time [of the purchases],” the audit report noted.

“In addition to the 13 mobile phones that were given to employees according to documentation at the commission, the records showed that five mobile phones worth MVR 49,135 (US$3,186) were lost,” the report stated, adding that no employees were held responsible and “compensation in any form was not sought” for the losses.

Some of the phones were discovered missing when “commission employees who were given the phones informed auditors that they were lost.”

A senior staff given a mobile phone worth MVR 14,195 (US$920) bought in 2008 did not return it when he or she left the commission, the audit noted, adding that corrective measures had not been taken on the issue despite recommendations in the EC’s 2010 audit report.

Other cases

The audit found that the EC did not sign agreements for work valued under MVR25,000 (US$1,621), despite public finance regulations stating that agreements must be signed for all government projects.

A total of MVR 249,494 (US$16,179) was paid out in 2011 without formal agreements.

The EC also hired a local company to service four photocopy machines for MVR40,000 (US$2,594) a year without a public bidding process and made an advance payment in violation of public finance regulations.

The audit noted that documentation did not show that the EC was receiving the company’s services each month as stipulated in the agreement.

Moreover, the commission did not seek quotations or estimates from three parties as required by regulations for procurements amounting to MVR 251,148 (US$16,287) in 2011, the audit discovered.

A number of expenses were meanwhile made out of the wrong budget code or item, the audit noted.

The audit report also noted that the EC made unnecessary purchases, such as a coffee maker for MVR 67,000 (US$4,345) in 2007, a Nikon D200 camera for MVR 233,298 (US$15,129) in 2008, six TV decoders, 16 TVs, 16 shredders, two washing machines, irons, a deep freezer, a mixer, a blender and a gas cooker.

Of 60 fax machines bought by the commission, 50 were kept unused in storage.

Moreover, items worth MVR 231,193 (US$14,993) were not entered into the registry of the EC’s stock inventory, the audit report noted.

The EC meanwhile failed to collect MVR 469,500 (US$30,447) owed as fines and deposits in 2011 and did not file cases at court as required by regulations.

As of December 2011, the audit revealed that the commission was owed MVR 260,000 (US$16,861) from seven political parties for failing to submit annual audit reports during the past five years.

Lastly, as of the report’s publication, the EC had not recovered MVR 12,999 (US$843) paid to staff in excess of their salaries and allowances.

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Statistics show just MVR 45 million left in Aasandha’s budget

Universal health insurance scheme Aasandha has MVR 45 million (US$2.9 million) left of its MVR 720 million (US$46.7 million) budget since its introduction on January 1 2012.

Records from the company show that from 1 January to 31 October 2012, MVR 675 million was used by 261,410 people – over 80 percent of the population.

Forty-five percent of the MVR 675 million was spent on government hospitals, whilst 22 percent went to private clinics and hospitals, and 9 percent to foreign clinics and hospitals.

Fifty-five percent of Aasandha’s budget was spent on the public sector, while 36 went to the private sector.

Free health care of up to MVR 100,000 was initially available to citizens under Aasandha.

Changes to the system were made by the government in August for the private sector, after concerns the scheme would run out of money.

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Parliament spent US$45,400 on food: Auditor General

Parliament spent MVR 700,000 (US$45,400) catering for parliament members and employees for the year 2010, Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim has revealed.

According to the 2010 audit report of the parliament, there have also been changes made in the agreement with the catering company violating the Finance Act.

The report states that changes to the price cannot be brought after an agreement has been reached in accordance with the Finance Act. The price of catering for parliament was however amended, thus violating the act.

The report states that the parliament paid the company MVR 766,601 to cater meals, and that catering for the meetings held is carried out without ensuring the presence of members and staff.

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Gangs using children aged seven to nine: Dr Aishath Ali Naaz

A survey has shown that children as young as seven are being used by dangerous gangs in Male’, Clinical Psychologist Dr Aishath Ali Naaz has revealed.

Speaking at a meeting held to brief police on gang violence, Dr Naaz explained the results of the survey, showing that there are 20 to 30 active gangs across five districts in Male’.

She told police that these gangs consist of 50 to 400 members and include children and youth, most below the age of 25.

Dr Naaz, who met gang members to gather information required for the survey, said that the children not only obey orders from older gang members, but also get involved in crime.

“They get involved in gang activities as they do not have anything to do and have the time to spare. They obey older gang members, this is something I was saddened about,” Dr Naaz added.

According to Dr Nazz, political parties and businessmen funded gang activities, and that most of the youth involved in these gangs do it to earn a living.

The meeting was attended by Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Sodig, Assistant Commissioner of Police Hassan Habeeb, police commanding officers and several police officers.

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Parliament’s food found to contain high levels of histamine

Histamine levels in the chili fish served for parliament members last week were over eight times the normal amount, the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (FDA) have revealed.

The fish were served for breakfast before an MP, some parliament employees and military personnel were taken ill with food poisoning.

During the sub-general committee meeting probing the food poisoning, Director General of the FDA Shareefa Adam Manik explained that histamine is detected in rotten fish.

“Based on the information we have received, it looks like histamine poisoning. We think the fish is the contributor,” she said.

As of last night It has not yet been determined whether the market or the caterers were responsible for the rotten fish used in the dish, Shareefa said.

The histamine level recorded in the dish was measured at 1,774.8, whereas the normal amount should be under 200. Shareefa added: “we haven’t detected such a level of histamine in the recent past.”

FDA revealed that more tests still need to be done and the results would not be ready before Monday.

It was explained by FDA that histamine is a poison created within the fish tissue after it is caught. To avoid this, fish must be stored at a temperature of five degrees Celsius as anything higher can trigger the growth of micro organisms and lead to histamine in the fish.

Caterer South Beach’s Managing Director Mohamed Thaufeeg told Haveeru Online that the fish is bought from the market on a daily basis, sufficient for the meals catered to the parliament.

Thaufeeg added that no issues were noted with the fish from the local market yesterday, however he raised concern over the quality of fish sold in the market.

The police revealed that the complaint had been lodged with them as an “intentional” attempt to poison the MPs.

Inspector of Police Mohamed Dawood confirmed that no arrests had been made, but four parties have been questioned over the case.

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Comment: The price of an expat life in the Maldives

As a Bangladeshi colleague was wheeled into the operating theatre of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital for emergency life-saving treatment, I knew where my thoughts should have been.

We seek to assure ourselves that even in a cynical commercial world, you cannot put a price on life. Is such a phrase anything more than sound logic for those in the privileged position to afford the finest Singaporean inpatient treatment, or the insurance to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars of emergency medical evacuation to tax-payer funded Western healthcare?

Life after all is precious. Yet all too often, the true value of precious things is rarely understood until it, or in this case they, are threatened or lost.

The introduction of the complex and troublesome Aasandha universal health insurance program this year by the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed, so far retained by President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, has started a new era in Maldives healthcare.

Maldivians can now obtain treatment and surgery in their own country without relying on the vastness of their own wealth or savings, the kindness of friends, or the mercy of elected politicians and wealthy resort tycoons.

While the execution of such a system should always be open to scrutiny, there is much to be admired in the concept of ensuring every person in the country will be cared for when at their weakest.

But what of the country’s immigrant population? How are an ever-growing group of people in the Maldives – mainly in the form of unskilled workers from Bangladesh trafficked into the country – to be cared for?

For many of the foreign workers who make up a third of the country’s population, and are expected in coming years to equal the number of indigenous employees, the price of life can be counted down to the very last laari.

This is no more apparent when insurance companies can only reimburse treatments for foreign workers that have already been paid for – no matter the level of upfront expense.

What happens when companies or employers, whether out of negligence or limited finances, are unable to bare the initial costs needed for a life saving operation?

Who is there to purchase and provide these patients with the medicines and saline drips from for hospital staff to administer? In the absence of close friends and family, where is the assistance in journeying to a hospital toilet and what alternate options does a low-income expatriate have? In short, who is there to care?

The concern was born – not altogether altruistically – whilst spending Tuesday night sleeping on the floor of a post-operation ward at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’, in case a signature or saline drip was required.

Thankfully, he is well.

Barring “unexpected complications”, he will recover, as will the company’s finances once it is reimbursed from the employee’s insurance policy – only a recent mandatory requirement for obtaining a visa for foreign workers.

As a company representative, the initial costs for vital surgery, though not insignificant, can be reclaimed and more importantly, have to be met.

As an individual and friend, without the financial capabilities and resources of a company, the alternatives would otherwise be unthinkable.

A friend and room-mate of my colleague later explained that over half of his month’s wages were spent Tuesday morning on emergency medicines, scans and x-rays alone – all just to identify the scale of the problem – even before an operation. The price of life, I realise, is appallingly low for the wrong person.

In the wards, visiting hours are 24/7. Family members must maintain constant vigil over their bedridden loved-ones, taking full responsibility for everything from toilet assistance to buying and supplying hospital staff with needed medicines.

It is anyone’s guess how foreign workers – many of them far from home and family and unable to even afford the upfront deposit for treatment – are able to survive the system.

Ultimately my friend appears lucky. As the days pass, colleagues and acquaintances have, in either desperation or adversity, been transformed into an unusual though much appreciated surrogate family of makeshift nursing staff in the ward.

They have become well acquainted with pharmacies and their respective costs, and learned to recognise when saline solutions for drips are urgently in need of replacement. Some have even had to contemplate how best to preserve a friend’s dignity in toilet situations, that are not “always ideal” in maintaining a professional relationship.

Small blessings indeed.

Contemplating such a situation after days spent outside the operating theatres and waiting rooms of IGMH, perhaps there is much to be said for the hospital prayer room.

We are only human after all, but surely there are few times of feeling as completely powerless than when watching another person’s suffering.

Is it right then, that a person – regardless of skills or social standing – should amidst moments of extreme fear and anxiety have to pray for their economic, as well as physical well-being?

Surely some great deeds are not beyond human intervention.

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Arrests of MPs with liquor, drugs, “politically motivated”: Human Rights Minister, MDP

Additional reporting by Ahmed Naish

Parliament’s Privileges Committee held an emergency meeting on Friday following the arrest of two MPs and senior figures in the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), for the alleged possession of drugs and alcohol.

In a statement, police said 10 people were arrested on Thursday night during a ‘special’ operation on the island of Hodaidhoo in Haa Dhaal Atoll.

In addition to ruling coalition Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Jabir and MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor – also the party’s international spokesperson – those arrested included former SAARC Secretary General and Special Envoy to the former President, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, former Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair and his wife Mariyam Faiz.

The others arrested were Jadhulla Jaleel, Hamdan Zaki, two Sri Lankan nationals named Raj Mohan and Anoor Bandaranayk as well as a Bangladeshi named Suhail Rana.

Police said they found large amounts of “suspected” drugs and alcohol upon searching the island with a court warrant.

The arrests were made “based on information received by police intelligence,” police said. Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Haveeru that the suspects were arrested with alcohol and “hash oil”.

Following the arrests around midnight, the suspects were taken to Kulhudhufushi in Haa Dhaal Atoll, and Zaki was hospitalised.

Despite a police attempt to extend the detention periods all suspects including the two MPs have now been released by the Kulhudhufushi Magistrate Court, with the exception of Hamdan Zaki.

The island of Hodaidhoo was leased to Yacht Tours for resort development in January 2003. According to Haveeru, it was previously inhabited but the population was relocated to Haa Dhaal Hanimadhoo in 1997. Kaashidhoo MP Jabir is Chairman of Yacht Tours.

“Politically motivated”

The MDP has alleged the arrests were a politically-motivated attempt to disrupt parliament ahead of a no confidence motion against President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, and an amendment to voting procedure to make such votes secret. A second no-confidence motion against Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel was withdrawn this week pending the outcome of the secret vote amendment.

“It is such a coincidence that whenever the Waheed Government wants to frame those critical of their government, they come up with trumped up charges and very often it is something to do with alcohol,” said former MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi, in a statement.

“Such accusations have led one of our MP’s to submit a bill to parliament totally banning its importation,” she added, calling on the government “to stop harassing senior politicians and MPs and have early elections in the country so as to get the country on track to democratic governance.”

Following the arrests, former President Mohamed Nasheed alleged in a tweet that the arrests were made the same day Waheed had “threatened” parliament during a speech on Kinolhas in Raa Atoll.

“Less than 24 hours after my former deputy threatened the parliament, police have arrested MP Hamid, Jabir and my press secretary. They must be freed immediately,” Nasheed said.

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz has stated that the MPs were arrested “at the scene of the crime” and that it was up to a judge to release them.

Emergency meeting

Section 102 of Parliament’s rules of procedure states that MPs cannot be arrested while there is a no-confidence motion before parliament to impeach the president or remove a cabinet minister, judge or member of an independent commission from his or her post.

The Majlis secretariat released a statement on Friday afternoon stating that Speaker Abdulla Shahid had instructed police to abide by parliament’s rules of procedure after he was informed of the arrests.

“Currently, the approval of dismissal of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan and the Civil Service Commission President Mohamed Fahmy Hassan have been sent to the Parliament,” read a statement from the secretariat.

Meanwhile, at an emergency meeting of the Priviliges Committee, Jabir’s wife and Minister for Gender and Human Rights, Dhiyana Saeed, alleged police brutality during the arrest and argued that they were a politically-motivated attempt to disrupt Monday’s vote.

Saeed said she had received a text message from President Waheed stating as much, which she said she would share with parliament.

“Abdulla Jabir didn’t get the opportunity to call his family. But when we sent people over there [to Kulhudhufushi] and spoke to him [on speakerphone], members of our family heard him say that he was severely brutalised,” she told the committee.

“[Jabir said] he was struck on the face, hit on the head from behind after they came from the sea while he was walking on the beach, thrown down on the beach and handcuffed from behind and dragged away. [He said] his feet and body were bruised in several places as a result.”

Dhiyana said she was told by the lawyers that they have seen signs of injury on Jabir’s body. A journalist from Haveeru, another “eyewitness”, had corroborated the lawyer’s account, she said.

According to the lawyers, police refused to allow photographs of the injuries to be taken, she added.

While “even MPs” should be investigated if they were suspected of committing a crime, Saeed said she found it “hard to believe today” that this was the case.

“If it was a case of alcohol, it is not today that this should be investigated. This happened before a very important vote by the People’s Majlis on Monday,” she said.

“I have a very strong reason for making this allegation. That is, in a text message to me, the President has alleged that this happened with a different motivation. He directly connects his accusation with Monday’s vote. I believe this is something that the Majlis should be very concerned about and investigate in depth.

“The leader of the country is saying that he himself is questioning the motivation behind this and who it was that did this. Police made the arrests, right? So this is an allegation against police by the President. And he said in the SMS that there is a possibility that some people might have done this to antagonise people against [the President] with regard to the vote on Monday.”

Saeed offered to share the text message with parliament, adding that it “should be very relevant.”

She claimed that Jabir was arrested on the beach without any drugs or alcohol, and questioned as to how the whole island could be considered a scene of crime.

Under Islamic Shariah, she explained, four witnesses are required to prove intoxication. If there were witnesses to the crime, she argued that there would be no need to either keep the suspects detained or extend their detention.

She suggested that the attempt to extend the detention was “very much connected to Monday’s vote.”

Concluding her statement to the committee, Dhiyana said the issue was “larger than arresting Jabir” as police had violated the Majlis rules.

She noted the Majlis rules or regulations derived authority directly from the constitution and that that the Supreme Court had “on many occasions upheld the regulations as valid”.

“Therefore, police have breached a very clear article [in the house rules] and this is really a very serious problem,” she said.

The Privileges Committee passed a motion to ask the Prosecutor General to press charges against Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz for arresting the MPs in violation of the law, and disregarding the Speaker’s instructions to release them.

The committee also passed a motion to ask the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) to investigate allegations of police brutality against the MPs.

Indian government expresses concern

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has issued a statement expressing concern at continuing political instability in the Maldives, observing an “urgent need for dialogue and reconciliation among all political parties in Maldives in a peaceful and democratic manner.”

“We have seen reports related to the arrest of former Secretary General SAARC and other members of the Majlis in the Maldives earlier today,” said the MEA’s spokesperson.

“India urges the government of Maldives and all political parties to adhere strictly to democratic principles and the rule of law thus paving the way for the holding of free, fair and credible elections. Violence and coercive measures are not conducive to this end,” the MEA said.

“India has also been concerned at the occurrence of anti-India demonstrations and statements by a section in Maldives. A senior official of the government of India visited Maldives recently and conveyed our concerns in regard to recent developments in the country.

“The situation is being monitored closely keeping in view the need to ensure safety and security of Indians in Maldives and Indian interests in that country,” the statement concluded.

Coalition impact

The arrest of one of its MPs, Jabir, is likely to further strain the ruling coalition, particularly the executive’s relationship with the JP.

President Waheed last week sacked one of the JP’s cabinet ministers, Transport Minister Ahmed Shamheed.

The sacked minister, who on local media claimed he had “several differences” with the President, was removed from cabinet following the announcement of the extension of his party leader’s Maamigili Airport lease for 99 years.

Dhiyana Saeed – the Human Rights Minister, Jabir’s wife and another former SAARC Secretary General – is the JP’s other cabinet minister.

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Parliament accepts bill potentially banning pork and alcohol from resorts

Parliament has narrowly voted to accept a bill that would potentially ban pork and alcohol completely from the Maldives, requiring resorts to cease serving haram (prohibited) products to foreign tourists.

The proposed amendment to the Contraband Act was initially submitted by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Nazim Rashad, who after the vote praised MPs’ “willingness to serve Islam”.

When presenting the bill, Nazim argued that the import of these products violated article 10(b) of the constitution which states that “no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.”

“We often hear rumours that people have alcohol at home in their fridge, available any time. We’ve heard that kids take alcohol to school to drink during their break. The issue is more serious than we think, it should not be ignored,” Nazim told the media, presenting the bill last week.

The vote was level with 24 MPs voting to accept the bill, and 24 to reject it, while 11 MPs abstained. Speaker Abdulla Shahid cast the deciding vote, in favour of accepting the bill.

The bill will now be sent to Parliament’s National Security Committee, which will assess it and potentially forward the proposal to parliament for a final vote on the matter.

Regulation permitting the sale of pork and alcohol in tourism establishments was passed by the Ministry of Economic Development in 1975. Parliament did not reject the regulation on the sale of pork and alcohol in 2009 following the introduction of the new constitution, thus allowing it to stand by default.

However the 2008 constitution explicitly states that no regulations against a tenet of Islam may be passed in the Maldives, in apparent contradiction of those laws allowing the import and sale of haram commodities.

After being asked in January for a consultative opinion over whether the Maldives could import pork and alcohol without violating the nation’s Shariah-based constitution, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the case on the grounds that the matter did not need to be addressed at the Supreme Court level.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mariya Ahmed Didi this week told Minivan News that the issue of alcohol needed to be “clarified” and “addressed”.

“If this is a religious issue, that is if Islam bans sale of alcohol, it should not be sold in the Maldives as we are a 100 percent Islamic nation. If the sale is allowed, then the question to ask is whether alcohol is needed for the tourist trade to flourish,” she said.

She added that if alcohol proved to be a vital element in the tourism sector, then the sale of alcohol should be allowed for “registered places” to which a permit is given to accommodate tourists including resorts, safari boats and guest houses.

“If the objection to the sale of alcohol is on [religious] grounds, it should not be sold in places where Maldivians reside. But Maldivians do reside on resorts as employees. If we deny Maldivians the employment opportunities in the resorts, then the income from resorts will be restricted to those who own resorts, that would give way to increase in expatriate workers and foreign currency drainage,” she explained.

Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem – who voted in favour of accepting the bill – was reported by Sun as stating that as alcohol was banned under Islam, it was illegal in the Maldives to create laws and regulations concerning it.

The JP is headed by local resort tycoon, Gasim Ibrahim, who owns the Villa Hotels chain. According to customs records for 2011, those properties – including the Royal, Paradise, Sun, and Holiday Island resorts, in 2011 imported approximately 121,234.51 litres of beer, 2048 litres of whiskey, 3684 litres of vodka and 219.96 kilograms of pork sausages.

Gasim abstained on the vote, as did fellow resort owners Abdulla Jabir and Ahmed Hamza. Resort owner ‘Sun’ Shiyam voted in favour of accepting the bill.

Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali voted against accepting the bill, as did Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed and Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Parliamentary Group Leader, Abdulla Yameen.

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Hulhumale Court legitimacy case scheduled for Sunday

The first hearing in the legitimacy case of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court is scheduled for Sunday at the Supreme Court.

The case is being examined by a seven-judge bench including the Chief Justice and is scheduled for 2:00pm.

The case was previously filed by lawyer Ismail Visham at the Civil Court, however a request for the case to be tried at Supreme Court was made by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).

Originally submitted at the lower court about a year ago, the case had been delayed due to the Supreme Court order to halt the case until the Supreme Court decided on the matter.

All documents and files of the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court that were previously filed with the lower court have been forwarded to the Supreme Court.

Procedural points regarding the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Court had also been raised by former president Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team. Claims over the courts legitimacy were however dismissed by Hulhumale Magistrates Court.

The High Court earlier ordered a temporary halt of former president Nasheed’s trial until the court decides on the appeal of the procedural points raised by Nasheed’s legal team.

An order over the High Court to cease its cases regarding the legitimacy issue of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court was later issued by the Supreme Court until a decision over the matter has been reached.

Therefore former president Nasheed’s case can only resume after the Supreme Court and the High Court decide on the matter respectively.

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