Civil Court judge reveals she was offered US$5 million bribe

Civil Court Judge Aisha Shujoon has revealed she was offered a bribe of US$5 million by a party to a case she was presiding over.

Appearing on state broadcaster Television Maldives’ (TVM) variety show ‘Heyyambo’ on Friday, Shujoon said that was the only time she was offered a bribe.

“I didn’t accept and raised my voice. So [the person] left,” she said.

Asked if she knew of cases where judges have accepted bribes, Shujoon said she was personally not aware of an instance.

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MDP to hold ‘national protest’ against corruption

The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has announced it will conduct a special protest today to eliminate corruption and bring “justice and balance” to the Maldives.

Spokesperson for the MDP, Ibrahim Haleem, said the party called on the “whole nation to take part in this protest”, but did not encourage any more people living in the islands to come over to Male’.

”A lot of people from the islands have arrived Male’ to participate in this event,” said Haleem. ”We are expecting at least 10,000 to participate in this protest.”

Haleem said the protest was to “eliminate corruption and to establish justice in the country.”

”MDP has made more than 27 pledges to the people of the Maldives. One of them is to eliminate corruption from the country and to establish justice and peace,” Haleem said. ”Today we will erase the civil unrest caused to the country due to the disgusting act of corruption and bribery for eternity.”

Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim and People’s Alliance (PA) leader Abdulla Yameen, both high-profile businessmen, were recently taken into police custody on charges of corruption and treason. Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim was also taken into custody.

On Sunday the Supreme Court ruled the pair be released from custody, as evidence against them was deemed insufficient. The major opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) denounced the arrests as political at a rally held Tuesday night, where it promised to deliver a “shocking message” to the government.

Today Haleem said protesters will call on judges “to judge fairly and to be impartial.”

”Judges should remember that they also shall work according to the laws, and the protesters will call on the judges to bring justice and peace to our country,” he said. ”We do not have any personal issues against any individual judge.”

He said the protest would start in front of the social centre at 4:00pm, “and God knows when or where we will conclude.”

”Our acts will be strong and voices will be loud today,” he suggested.

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