Tag: judge abdulla mohamed

Police, army chiefs summoned to 241 committee

Parliament’s ‘241’ Security Services Committee has summoned Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh and Chief of Defence Forces Major General Moosa Ali Jaleel to appear before the committee tomorrow.

A motion to summon the security chiefs was proposed by opposition MPs Ali Azim, Riyaz Rasheed and Yousuf Naeem.

Parliament’s National Security Committee was convened last week following the controversial arrest of Judge Abdulla Mohamed. However the counselor general of parliament advised against proposals to summon the security chiefs as it was in the purview of the 241 committee.

Moosa Jaleel has been asked to appear at 1pm and Faseeh at 2pm.

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SAARC Secretary General attacks government over detention of Chief Judge

The Maldivian government has clashed with the youngest and first female SAARC Secretary General, Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed, over the legality of its arrest of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed.

Speaking at a press conference held by a group of lawyers contesting the legality of Judge Mohamed’s arrest, aired on Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim’s VTV last night, Saeed accused the government of ignoring the law and called for parliament to oppose the ruling body.

The government does not have the authority “to say ‘we will act on this article, and this article does not exist for us’,” Saeed claimed. “This is not something we can pick and choose.”

The government’s rejection of court orders to release the judge could “only be solved by the people”, Saeed said, but added this should be through the parliament “and not by coming out on the roads”.

The government has expressed outrage over Saeed’s television appearance, arguing that her position as SAARC Secretary General demands her political impartiality in the internal affairs of all SAARC nations – including her own.

Article one of the SAARC Charter emphasises “strict adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter and non-alignment, particularly respect for the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, national independence, non-use of force and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States and peaceful settlement of all disputes.”

President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair, said Saeed’s stating her “personal, private position” on VTV “clearly contravened the SAARC Charter”.

“The SAARC charter forbids interference in the matters of any state, including the state she represents,” Zuhair said.

“She should have resigned and then taken her stand, or brought her concerns to us – or someone like the Attorney General. We are her colleagues. This is at best very dishonourable,” Zuhair said.

He claimed that Saeed had pledged her allegiance to the government “and her husband (Abdulla Jabir) is head of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and a senior member of the party,” Zuhair said. “Even should she resign, [her behavior] is still dishonourable and indecent. “

Saeed reacted angrily to Zuhair’s allegations and said his comments were not indecent, and that she had not violated the SAARC Charter.

“I am first and foremost a Maldivian citizen. It is my right [to comment] on whatever happens in my country, and I will not give away that right. As a lawyer I am also a member of the Maldivian bar,” she told Minivan News.

“[The Chief Judge’s detention] is a violation of individual human rights, a violation of the independence of the judiciary, and the violation of the constitution,” she stated.

“The constitution defines how a person should be detained, and this is not an ordinary person, this is a judge. Up until last night no one even knew where he was held.”

If the government contended that Abdulla Mohamed had violated the constitution, “he has to be dealt with within the confines of the law,” she insisted. “The government should not take the law into its own hands.”

“This action is very clearly unconstitutional. If you look at the how the government has acted these last three years you can see a trend. The government thinks any means to an ends is alright,” she said.

Saeed said she did not wish to comment on whether she intended to resign.

The government has meanwhile contended that Abdulla Mohamed’s detention is legal under the President’s mandate to protect “the letter and spirit” of the constitution, arguing that not only had he corrupted elements of the judiciary in favour of the political opposition, but that the constitutional body mandated with overseeing the judges – the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) – had also been politically compromised.

The JSC failed to table or even acknowledge receipt of a report on the judiciary produced by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), which questioned whether the JSC possessed the technical ability and knowledge to investigate complaints and hold the judiciary accountable, as well as its independence.

In May 2011 the JSC abolished its complaints committee. By its own statistics, of the 143 complaints received in 2010 concerning the conduct of judges, none were tabled and only five were ever replied to.

Chair of the JSC’s dissolved complaints committee, former President’s Member of the JSC Aishath Velezinee who was stabbed in the street in January 2011, said at the time that the complaints committee had been unable to operate as the chair of the JSC, Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed,  had persistently scheduled timetable clashes.

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Chief Judge held “in good condition” at MNDF training center Girifushi

The Maldives National Defense Forces (MNDF) last night informed Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed’s wife and parents of his whereabouts and condition, following complaints made by the family.

“The judge is under our supervision at Girifushi in Kaafu Atoll (an MNDF training facility. He has no injuries and is in good condition,” said MNDF Chief Spokesperson Abdul Raheem, discounting local media reports to the contrary as “false messages”.

The Maldives’ famous underwater cabinet meeting was held off Girifushi in 2009, catapulting President Mohamed Nasheed into the environmental spotlight.

This is the first time that an individual has been held in custody at an MNDF training facility rather than Dhoonidhoo detention center. Raheem said the MNDF did not wish to specify why the judge is being held at the training facility.

Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed was arrested by the MNDF on the evening of Monday, January 16, in compliance with a police request. The judge’s whereabouts were not revealed until January 18, and the MNDF has acknowledged receipt but not replied to Supreme Court orders to release the judge.

Prosecutor General (PG) Ahmed Muizz lately joined the High and Supreme Courts in condemning MNDF’s role in the arrest as unlawful, and requesting that the judge be released.

According to the PG, police have to go through the PG’s Office to obtain an arrest warrant from the High Court.

“They haven’t followed the procedures, and the authorities are in breach of law. They could be charged with contempt of the courts”, he said.

PG Muizz added that as MNDF has violated the Constitution he has ordered an investigation by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM), and will evaluate the situation following the commission’s findings.

Raheem said the armed forces did not wish to comment on the PG’s statement.

According to government officials, military assistance was sought for reasons of national security.

In a televised statement on MNBC One on January 17, Home Minister Hassan Afeef said military assistance was sought during the arrest for “fear of loss of public order and safety and national security” on account of Judge Mohamed, who has “taken the entire criminal justice system in his fist”.

Judge Mohamed has been implicated in 14 cases of obstruction of police duty, Afeef alleged. Actions include ordering unlawful investigations, withholding warrants for up to four days, limiting the issuance of warrants to himself exclusively at times, disregarding decisions of higher courts, strategically delaying cases involving opposition members, and barring media from corruption trials, according to Afeef.

The judge has also released suspects detained for serious crimes without a hearing. One murder suspect proceeded to kill another victim.

Afeef further alleged that the chief judge “twisted and interpreted laws so they could not be enforced against certain politicians” and stood accused of “accepting bribes to release convicts.”

Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfan has said police had sent a letter to the armed forces on Monday, January 16, “requesting assistance to carry out its legal duty under article 71 of the Police Act, stating that the Criminal Court was not cooperating with police and that as a consequence of Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed obstructing police work, the country’s internal security was threatened and police were unable to maintain public order and safety.”

MNDF therefore exercised authority under chapter nine of the Constitution and the Armed Forces Act of 2008 to take the judge into custody, he concluded.

Indicating the gravity of the moment, Minister Kaleyfan said, “I assure citizens that at this critical moment the country is faced with, the armed forces will do everything it must to restore national interest and defend the lawful government.”

The public has been protesting for six consecutive nights the detention of opposition party members who last week made statements of “hate speech” against the government, as well as the arrest of Judge Mohamed.

Meanwhile, the  ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is circulating a petition calling for PG Muizz’s removal from office in a stated effort to clean up the judiciary.

“We are calling for a strong and independent judiciary for the people,” party chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik told Minivan News today. “The judiciary will never work without a PG, an AG, police and courts. They have to work closely.

“We have found that cases related to the opposition stay in the PG office. We do not believe the cases are being properly prosecuted,” Moosa said, estimating that the petition currently has 1,000 signatures. “We will be discussing the results in our parliamentary group before submitting it [to a parliamentary committee]”, he added.

Addressing the matter of Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, Moosa said, “this country will not stop for only one judge”, later adding that he holds Criminal Court Judge Abdul Ghazee responsible for the judiciary’s deterioration.

Moosa argued that MNDF’s actions against the judge were accordance with its duty to protect the Constitution. “MNDF are always responsible for the country. They are helping the police because the police currently have so many cases to investigate. The judge did not respect the police summons before, he assumed he was above the police. That’s not fair to the people.”

Speaking in his own capacity, Moosa continued, “If a judge does not respect the Constitution, who does? Article 207 of the Constitution gives the military the power to do what they need to do to defend the law.”

Moosa claimed “we will do anything to bring justice to the courts”, but added “ we don’t want to arrest anybody, we are calling on the people to please respect the country and bring justice for all.”

Spokesperson for former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Ahmed Mahlouf, was not responding to calls at time of press, however yesterday the party accused the government of trying to tip the country “into a state of emergency”.

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Lawyer suspended from court by Judge Abdulla Mohamed

Lawyer Imthiyaz Fahmy, also an MP for the Maldivian Democratic Party, has been found in contempt of court and suspended for six months by Senior Judge at the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed.

Fahmy was defending a man who had been accused of throwing an egg at a DRP supporter in their campaign office next to the former president’s wife’s house Enderimaagu.

Fahmy says before he began with the case, he noticed the defendant’s name was misspelled and his address was not on the charge document.

“The charge document should say who it’s against,” he said.

Fahmy said that due to procedural methods, he felt he needed to correct the matter before beginning the case, and asked the judge if this mistake could be rectified.

“The judge was taken by surprise,” said Fahmy, “and asked the prosecutor to correct the document in court. This is not how a criminal case is conducted.”

Judge Mohamed said Fahmy “did not cooperate with the court” and “just wanted to play.” He added that Fahmy “was not being serious” and was “arguing” with him and the attorney.

Maafanu North MP Imthiyaz Fahmy
Maafanu North MP Imthiyaz Fahmy

Fahmy said he was then asked to leave the courtroom by Judge Mohamed, while his client was told to remain there. Fahmy claims his client later told him that he had been asked to give his statement before another judge in his absence.

The next day, Fahmy found out through the media that he had been suspended.

“I wasn’t even informed,” he said. “I went to the court for the document on my suspension, but was denied [the document].”

Judge Mohamed says Fahmy cannot attend the court on the same case again.

Fahmy said he was “not surprised by the judge’s misconduct in court,” and he intends to make an appeal against Judge Mohamed’s decision to the High Court and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The commission confirmed that Judge Mohamed is currently under investigation for issues relating to conduct.

The case Fahmy would have been defending has been dismissed.

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Crime boosted by lack of witness protection, claims judge

A senior judge at the criminal court has claimed that a lack of witness protection is the main reason the justice system has failed to check rising crime rates.

At a press conference last week, Senior Judge Abdulla Mohamed said many witnesses are bribed or threatened and many fail to testify in court for fear that they or their families will be in some way hurt.

Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizzu agreed the issue was “very serious.”

“Because [the islands of] the Maldives are so small, it makes our job [of protecting witnesses] more difficult,” he said. “In some cases, witnesses are being threatened or intimidated. In other cases they might be bribed or offered rewards.”

Another major concern raised regarding witness protection was the lack of space to hold witnesses and criminals separately, with witnesses and the accused made to sit next to each other in the court houses. Muizzu says that this is something that the courts are trying to address.

He agreed with the judge that witnesses should be allowed to testify anonymously, and said improvements were being made such as allowing witnesses “to testify via video or audio link.”

Muizzu also noted that “there are some issues of witness protection that are pending in parliament.”

The police are also trying to formulate laws to improve witness protection. Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police brought up the issue of witness protection long ago, without response.

“Police get threats as well,” he said. “It’s a major concern for us; we need to give better protection to witnesses.”

Without a witness’ testimony before the prosecution, a case can be dismissed due to lack of evidence. Muizzu explained that “in most cases, confessions made to the police will not have any weight, so it is very important that the witnesses testify for the prosecution in court in order to prove the case.”

Judge Mohamed criticised the lack of cooperation between government institutions, claiming that this was causing delay and even the collapse of many important criminal cases.

The prosecutor general admitted “there have been some instances when there has been delay on our part”, but said he believes that all branches of government are doing their best.

“Our prosecutors do appear in approximately 40-45 cases in criminal court every day, and we do cooperate to the best of our availability of human resources.”

He said there are areas that could be improved, especially witness protection.

“The court will definitely need the cooperation of the police and the prosecution to effectively discharge their duties. And we are prepared for that.”

Shiyam said, “If there is anything police need to be mindful of, judges should tell us what needs to be corrected. They should at least phone senior officers.”

He insisted police are working “hand-in-hand” with other government institutions. “All authorities must come together to provide better security,” he said.

Spokesman for the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair, said the government is “strengthening and improving facilities for all institutions and courts.”

He said issues of space for institutions such as the criminal court would resolved when the ministries move to the new Wellaanage complex, soon to be completed.

He also criticised judge Abdulla Mohamed for failing to take his concerns to the “proper channels.

“I don’t believe people in the judiciary should access media to give political messages,” Zuhair said.

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