Tag: Mohamed Nasheed

High Court resumes Hulhumalé Magistrate Court appeal case

The High Court has scheduled a hearing for January 28 in former President Mohamed Nasheed’s appeal case into the legitimacy of the Hulhumalé Magistrate Court.

The case, which challenges the legality of the bench assembled to try Nasheed for the January 2012 detention of Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed, has been stalled since April 2013.

Hisaan Hussain from the opposition leader’s legal team said that the former president and his representatives have received the chits from the High Court regarding the hearing.

“The chits from the high court said it was a preliminary hearing,” said Hisaan.

“However these kind of meetings are usually where documents are exchanged and do not happen in the middle of an ongoing trail, therefore we are regarding this as a hearing.”

Meanwhile, in a press statement today the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that Nasheed has been “receiving threats that he will be arrested as soon as he returns to the Maldives” from his visit to Abu Dhabi.

Nasheed – who has recently urged the government to expedite the trial – tweeted today that he will be cutting his trip short after hearing of the government’s intentions to arrest him and will arrive tomorrow afternoon.

The former president was arrested in October 2012 after the Hulhumale Magistrate Court issued a warrant following his failure to adhere to court summons.

Also charged with the detention of Judge Abdulla Mohamed were prominent figures from the Nasheed government, including Major General (retired) Moosa Ali Jaleel.

Jaleel was appointed as minister of defence yesterday following the dismissal of Mohamed Nazim, who is being investigated on suspicion of keeping illegal weapons in his home.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has subsequently said it will not be withdrawing with the charges against the new defence minister, while President’s Office Spokesman Ibrahim Muaz told Minivan News that the cases of Jaleel and Nazim are not comparable.

“There is a massive difference between security services finding dangerous weapons and an ongoing case intiated by a previous administration. The president has decided to trust Jaleel even with the pending case,” said Muaz.

Stalled case

In a statement today, the MDP noted that the threats to arrest Nasheed come at a time when “President Yameen’s government has been threatening various political figures while undermining the Constitution”.

Chief among the complaints levelled against the government are recent amendments to the Judicature Act which saw the removal of two of the Supreme Court’s seven judges.

Also included in the amendments was the division of the nine-member High Court into three regional branches, with only the Malé branch allowed to hear challenges to laws and regulations.

Speaking at a party rally last weekend, Nasheed suggested the president had been attempting to strike a deal regarding the charges related to Abdulla Mohamed’s detention. “I am the bad guy,” he reminded the president.

Last November, Nasheed also told the press that the judge’s detention had been wrong, blaming his former defense minister Tholhath Ibrahim for the decision.

Nasheed has appealed at the High Court against the legitimacy of the Hulhumalé Magistrates bench – assembled by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) – saying that judges on the bench on cases must be appointed by the senior judge of the court, arguing that such decisions were beyond the remit of the judicial watchdog.

He has also questioned the establishment of a Magistrates Court in the Malé suburb, arguing that Hulhumalé is considered to be part of Malé City under the Decentralisation Act and therefore require a separate Magistrates Court.

Other critics of the court included then-JSC members Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman and former Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid, who argued that the judicial watchdog had acted unconstitutionally in assigning magistrates to a particular case.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul, noted at the time that the  “appointment of judges to the case, has been set up in an arbitrary manner outside the parameters laid out in the laws”.


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Opposition condemns Defense Minister Nazim’s apartment raid

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has condemned the police raid on defense minister Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim’s apartment in the early hours of Sunday morning (January 18).

In a press statement released yesterday, the party expressed concern over the lack of information made available regarding the raid, noting that a “police raid on a defense minister’s house is not an issue which can be taken lightly”.

Media reports suggested that masked officers forcefully entered the premises in the Galolhu ward of Malé at around 3:30am, searching the apartment of Nazim’s wife and the apartment opposite.

After the President’s Office had expressed its continued confidence in Nazim yesterday, the minister announced via twitter that he was unaffected by the incident.

Meanwhile, former President Mohamed Nasheed has alleged that Nazim’s house was searched in order to confiscate a letter written by Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb to the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

“I have received information that one of the items police was looking for was a letter written by Adeeb when he was temporarily in charge of the ministry when Nazim was on holiday,” said Nasheed before departing to Abu Dhabi to take part in Zaid Future Energy prize last night.

Nasheed said the letter had requested the immigration department allow some individuals to travel to Syria for Jihad, and that Nazim had obtained the documents after arriving back at the ministry.

However, Adeeb told Minivan News today that there was no such letter, saying “all government letters are passed through computerised system”.

“If there was such a letter, it would be impossible to hide it,” he added.

The same day on which Adeeb was appointed as acting defense minister (January 4), reliable sources told Minivan News that Azlif Rauf – a suspect in the murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali – left the country for jihad in Syria with six members of Malé’s Kuda Henveiru gang.

Earlier this month, however, the Criminal Court told Minivan News that there were no pending charges against Rauf, and so no reason for immigration to have held his passport.

Police have told Minivan News today that they have no further information to give regarding the raid on Nazim’s apartment.

Elsewhere yesterday, crowds gathered outside Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim’s home after rumours of an imminent police raid on his house in Maafannu ward.

“I am not trembling,” Gasim told press gathered outside his home. Flanked by senior MDP members, Gasim said that he was willing to work with anyone who stands to defend the Constitution and that he will stand firm in spite of intimidation.


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Nasheed pledges to defend Gasim from government attacks

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has pledged to defend Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim ‘until his last breath’.

Speaking at a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally in the capital Malé yesterday evening (January 16), Nasheed said that, despite their political differences, he would not allow President Abdulla Yameen to destroy the JP leader.

“Gasim’s property cannot be looted. Gasim’s character and body cannot be harmed,” he told supporters at the Alimas Carnival ground. “We shall rally in his defense.”

The speech continues a warming of relations between the opposition MDP and Gasim’s JP, which had allied with the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) against Nasheed in 2013 to secure the presidency for Yameen.

Following calls from Nasheed to work with the JP in defence of the constitution last week, the party’s Deputy Leader Ameen Ibrahim expressed gratitude to the MDP leader, also pledging to work in defence of the Constitution.

“The JP parliamentary group has decided to do the necessary to defend the Constitution. Very happy that President Nasheed has decided to travel with us in the same boat,” tweeted Ameen.

Threats against Gasim

During last night’s MDP rally – titled ‘A New Hope for Democracy’ – party leaders accused the government of undermining independent institutions and of threatening Gasim’s business interests as well as his life.

“The elections commissioner was dismissed by influencing the Supreme Court, which abrogated the People’s Majlis powers,” said Nasheed. “The way the auditor general was dismissed, the way the Supreme Court’s bench was reduced.”

In August the JP accused political opponents within the government of being behind death threats received by the party’s leader as well as setbacks suffered by his businesses in the months following the split between the JP and the PPM. Yameen has denied impeding Gasim’s business.

Prosecutor General Muhuthaz Muhsin has told Haveeru today that his office was currently reviewing 4-year-old claims that the Gasim-owned Villa Travels had illegally obtained shares of the Maldives Tourism Development Board.

Late last month, pro-government MPs proposed an amendment to the Constitution to bar individuals over the age of 65 from running for the presidency – a move that would end the presidential ambitions of the JP leader, who will be 66-years-old in 2018.

Earlier in December, the MDP passed a resolution calling for Yameen to hand over power to Gasim, suggesting the president’s frequent personal trips abroad amounted to ruling in absentia.

Charges against Nasheed

During a PPM rally to celebrate the launch of phase two of the Hulhumalé project on Thursday night (January 15), PPM Deputy Leader Ahmed Adeeb suggested it was the opposition leader who had abused the constitution.

“Some people think of the constitution as their personal property. After they come into power they would attempt to tear down it down. We have seen them come into power and use the Constitution as their personal weapon, to banish political leaders to Dhoonidhoo, and arrest judges and detain them in Girifushi,”  Vnews quoted Adeeb – also minister of tourism – as saying.

Both Gasim, Yameen, and current Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed were arrested during Nasheed’s three years in office – the former two on allegations of bribery in the Majlis, the latter on charges of slander.

Additionally, Nasheed ordered the detention of Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed on Girifushi in January 2012 after repeated attempts to investigate his conduct had failed.

With charges still pending against Nasheed for Judge Abdulla’s detention, the MDP president last night called upon President Yameen to expedite the stalled case.

“I am the bad guy”, he reminded Yameen, suggesting the president had been sending members of the judiciary to him in an attempt to strike a deal over the charges.

“President Yameen, you have estimated me wrong, once again you have estimated me wrong. You of all people should know me,” he said, regarding the alleged offer.

“I am not scared of solitary confinement, chains and shackles. We will not back down even if we had to spend a lifetime in them,” said Nasheed – a former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience.


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Details of President’s trips to Singapore a public right, says Nasheed

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed has stated that Maldivian citizens have the right to information regarding President Abdulla Yameen’s frequent trips abroad.

In a statement, followed by a tweet in Dhivehi regarding the issue, Nasheed stated that under the Information Act the public has the right to know details of all Yameen’s expenses.

“Revealing information regarding the expenses of the president from funds raised by public taxation is something that must be done in a transparent, democratic society,” said the MDP party president.

Responding to the statement, President’s Office spokesman Ibrahim Muaz told Minivan News that the president’s health was not an issue.

“You can see him actively working day and night. He is in good health, Alhamdulillahi,” said Muaz.

He added that the government does not believe that the details about such trips have to be made public.

“Details of president’s personal trips do not have to revealed, nowhere in the world does that happen,” said Muaz.

Further, he assured that the government will uphold the spirit of the Information Act and would  therefore welcome any information sought within the boundaries of the act, “even if president Nasheed’s travel expenses and information on how many foreigners he employed, paid by the state, was requested”.

In his statement today, Nasheed said that during MDP’s tenure details of all government expenses were revealed by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury on a systematic basis, noting that the practice has been put to an end after the new government stepped in.

In a letter to Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed yesterday (January 11), MDP Deputy Chairperson Ali Shiyam asked the President’s Office to make public details of the number of official and unofficial visits Yameen had undertaken to Singapore since he assumed office in November 2013.

The MDP also asked for details on the number of days Yameen spent in Singapore, the number of individuals who accompanied him, the amount of money spent from the state budget, and details of the president’s health.

Yameen has travelled to Singapore at least five times between July 29 and the end of November last year. This includes two stop-overs in Singapore – one in August and one in November – on the way to China and Nepal, respectively.

Nasheed first raised concerns over the president’s health in October.

During Malé’s water crisis in December, the MDP passed a resolution claiming the government had failed to perform its duties and declaring support for Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim to assume power.

Yameen had been in Singapore, but cut short his unofficial trip and returned to Malé as the water crisis continued. The capital’s 130,000 residents had been left without running water due to a fire at the water plant.

Article 123 of the Constitution states that if the president believes himself temporarily unable to perform the duties and responsibilities of office, he should inform the speaker of the People’s Majlis in writing and handover duties and responsibilities to the vice president.


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Charlie Hebdo massacre demonstrates “profound need to counter radicalism,” says President Yameen

In a message of sympathy towards the victims of the France attacks, President Abdulla Yameen has said the massacre of 12 cartoonists demonstrates “yet again the profound need to counter radicalism, and to promote tolerance and moderation, which are the true values of Islam”.

On January 9, two masked gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles forced themselves into the Paris offices of French publication Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 cartoonists including the editor before escaping by car.

The message addressed to the French President, H.E Mr. Francois Hollande, condemned the “massacre at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, and other barbaric acts of terrorism unleashed on France in the last few days by a radical group of terrorists”.

Charlie Hebdo has a history of controversy due to its publication of satirical cartoons depicting Prophet Mohamed, which is strictly forbidden in Islam as it is believed to be akin to idolatry.

Audio from CCTV footage captured during the attack revealed that the attackers shouted: “We have avenged the Prophet Mohamed. We have killed Charlie Hebdo,” before departing from the scene.

Both the attackers were since killed at a later confrontation by French Security Forces, while a woman believed to be an accomplice to the attacks have been reported to have travelled to Syria.

In a tweet, Former President Mohamed Nasheed also strongly condemned the attack, while extending his co‎ndoleces to the families and friends of the victims.

Meanwhile, Bristish tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror reported that a Maldivian born man – believed to be an Islamic State Jihadist fighter in Syria – hinted that France would suffer a tragedy the day before the attacks in a tweet. Minivan News has not been able to independently verify these reports.

Speaking to the media last week, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed revealed that there are over 50 Maldivians fighting in foreign wars.

“These people leave the country under normal procedures. So it is not easy to identify if they are traveling to go fight with foreign rebel groups,” Waheed told the press on Thursday.

In the last two weeks, two immigration officers and a suspect in the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali were reported to be among a group of twelve Maldivians to travel to Syria for Jihad via Turkey. The group also consists of two women and a one-year-old infant.

Maldivians are not barred from international travel, Waheed said, and so “it is not easy to figure out what motive they are traveling for”.

In November, Sri Lankan police detained three Maldivians who were allegedly preparing to travel to Syria through Turkey.

The incident followed reports of a couple from Fuvahmulah and a family of four from Meedhoo in Raa Atoll travelling to militant organisation Islamic State-held (IS) territories.

In November, a jihadist group called Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) – which describes itself as ‘Maldivians in Syria’ – revealed that a fifth Maldivian had died in Syria.

A protest march took place in the capital, Malé, in September, with around 200 participants bearing the IS flag and calling for the implementation of Islamic Shariah in the Maldives.

In late August, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon issued a press statementcondemning “the crimes committed against innocent civilians by the organisation which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”


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Reeko Moosa condemns MDP expulsion as a move to bar his 2018 presidential candidacy

Deputy Speaker of the Majlis MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik has condemned his expulsion from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), describing the move as a plot by former President Mohamed Nasheed to bar him from contesting the party’s 2018 presidential primaries.

“I am certain the expulsion was to bar me from contesting the presidential primaries. President Nasheed must accept there are other political leaders within the party,” Moosa told Minivan News today.

Moosa, a founding member of the MDP and a vocal critic of the 30-year authoritarian ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, announced his intent to contest MDP’s 2018 presidential primaries on October 25.

The MDP’s disciplinary committee expelled Moosa on Monday after he repeatedly breached the party’s three-line whips including the vote on the 2015 state budget, the amendments to the Judicature Act – which reduced the seven-member Supreme Court bench to five judges, and the removal of former Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz and former Justice Muthasim Adnan.

If Moosa wishes to rejoin the party, he is required to issue a public apology and obtain 50 new members for the party, but he will be barred from standing for any leadership position or contesting in party primaries for five years.

He described the disciplinary committee’s decision as “undemocratic” and “discriminatory” pointing out that five MDP MPs who were absent from the vote to dismiss the Supreme Court judges were given lesser penalties.

Moosa said he does not trust the party’s appeal process, and said he has now requested the Elections Commission to review the decision.

He also dismissed local media reports which had suggested he may join the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM): “I will not sign onto another party. I am not one who can be part of another party. Where will I go other than the MDP? There is no second ideology that can fight against the dictatorship.”

Dictatorial

Moosa, a prominent figure in the Maldives’ pro-democracy movement, said a faction within the MDP has continued to harass him on social media since he announced his intent to contest the presidential primaries.

“I did not think they would expel me. I did not think [the party] would treat me so badly. I’ve served MDP with sincerity. On February 8, I was severely brutalised while acting as a bodyguard to Nasheed,” he said.

Moosa had to be flown to Sri Lanka for medical treatment for injuries sustained during a brutal police crackdown on MDP supporters a day after Nasheed’s ouster on February 7, 2012.

He described Nasheed as dictatorial, claiming the former president had systematically sidelined rivals within the party including Dr Mohamed Munawar, Dr Ibrahim Didi, and former MP Alhan Fahmy.

“Nasheed is a green dictator, championing the environment to get attention on the international front, but look at what he has done to Dr Munawaar, Dr Didi and Alhan Fahmy. He wants to keep the MDP under his control,” he said.

On Monday, a group of ten Moosa supporters staged a protest outside Nasheed’s residence, Kenereege, calling the MP’s expulsion “unfair”.

Moosa suggested Nasheed was behind the rumour that he may join PPM the next day.

“There are a lot of members who support me within the MDP. The rumour that I would join the PPM on the next day at a ceremony at Nasandhura Palace Hotel at noon, at a time when I was out of country, was engineered to make my supporters believe I would leave the MDP and thereby dissipate their criticism of the party’s decision,” he said.

The news was first reported in pro-government newspaper Vaguthu and later on opposition-aligned Raajje TV.

Breach

Explaining his decision not to participate in the vote to dismiss Faiz and Muthasim, Moosa said the former chief justice had caused enormous harm to the MDP.

On Nasheed’s resignation on February 7, Faiz had sworn in then Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed “without raising a single question on whether Nasheed was coerced,” Moosa said.

During Faiz’s tenure, the Supreme Court bench had stripped three MDP MPs of their membership and annulled the first round of presidential elections held in September 2013, he continued.

The Supreme Court’s removal of former Elections Commission President Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice President Ahmed Fayaz in March was a deliberate attempt to “damage MDP’s chances in parliamentary polls,” Moosa said.

“But that day [December 14], MDP came out to defend Faiz. I did not participate in the vote because I do not support Faiz. I do support Muthasim, but their names were put up together for a single vote. I did not want to remove Muthasim,” he explained.

He also criticised the party’s three-line whip calling on MPs to be present at the sitting, claiming a whip can only be issued on the vote itself, not on MPs presence at the Majlis.

He contended the MDP had failed to take action against MPs Eva Abdulla, Abdulla Shahid, and Rozaina Adam for their absence from the vote on the Special Economic Zone bill. Eva and Shahid had been in Geneva for a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at the time.

Moosa also condemned Minivan News’ inclusion of a Raajje TV report on his company Heavy Load Pvt Ltd receiving islands for resort development in compensation for a terminated reclamation deal in its previous report on his expulsion from MDP.

He did confirm that Heavy Load Pvt Ltd has received islands, but said the deal was a transaction between the company and the government after the company threatened to file charges at the court for the termination.

The MDP has said the sudden removal of the two Supreme Court Judges is an attempt to stack the judiciary in President Abdulla Yameen’s favour.

Commonwealth groups have described the judges’ removal as unconstitutional, saying it constituted a clear breach of the Commonwealth Principles to which the government of Maldives has subscribed.

“As a result the independence of the judiciary and the Rule of Law have been “severely jeopardised”.

The International Commission of Jurists said the Maldivian parliament and executive “have effectively decapitated the country’s judiciary and trampled on the fundamental principles of the rule of law and separation of powers in a democratic State.”


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Islamic affairs minister calls for the preservation of independence on National Day

Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Mohamed Shaheem has urged all citizens to refrain from actions which might threaten the independence of the country.

While addressing the nation on the occasion of National Day, Shaheem said that a nation will develop only if there is unity and peace within the country.

National Day is observed on the first of Rabee ul Awwal – the third month of the Hijri (Islamic) calendar – celebrating the victory of Mohamed Thakurufaanu over the Portuguese occupation in the year 1573.

“There is peace and calm within the Maldivian people. We have maintained Islamic unity and are strengthening ties with the Islamic Ummah (community),” said Shaheem this morning.

Shaheem’s Adhaalath Party is also reported to have called upon Muslims not to become involved in Christmas celebrations.

“The only festivals that Muslims should partake in are Eid-al-fitr and Eid-al-adha,” Haveeru reported the party as saying. “Partaking in another religion’s festival or celebration is akin to adhering to another religion”.

The paper has also reported that customs have seized a number of items imported as Christmas decorations for a resort in Noonu Atoll. Religious materials deemed offensive to Islam and idols for worship are prohibited in the country.

A special National Day flag-raising ceremony was held this morning at Republican Square, with Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer attending as the chief guest alongside high ranking officials from the Maldives National Defense Force.

The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) leader and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom tweeted his greetings on the occasion to all Maldivians.

Also tweeting was former President Mohamed Nasheed who called upon the Maldives to take the example of Mohamed Thakurufaanu, who “fought against the colonial power of the Indian Ocean at the time for the freedom of Maldives”.

Folklore holds that Thakurufaanu – from Haa Alif Utheemu in the North of the country – set sail to the capital Malé alongside his two brothers and companions in order to bring an end to the 15 year Portuguese rule in the Maldives.

Using the cover of the night and their famed vessel – known as ‘Kalhuohfummi’ – the  brothers are said to have landed on different islands every night, fighting the Portuguese and outmaneuvering the their vessels by using their knowledge of the Maldivian oceans.

The brothers landed in the capital in 1573 where they fought against the Portuguese soldiers garrisoned in the capital. Mohamed Thakurufaanu is sais to have shot dead the infamous ‘Andhiri Andhirin’ using a musket, thus ending the 15 year oppressive Portuguese rule.


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Nasheed calls proposed changes to Supreme Court bench unconstitutional

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has called the plans to reduce the number of judges on the Supreme Court bench from seven to five unconstitutional.

While speaking to the press before departing for a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rallys in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, Nasheed accused President Abdulla Yameen of trying to stack the bench in his favor.

“The constitution states the required procedure to bring changes to the bench of the Supreme Court. After extensive legal council we have deliberated that the proposed changes would be unconstitutional,” said Nasheed.

The amendments brought to the parliament by MDP MP Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef have been rejected by the party after the its national executive council convened and voted that the amendments were against its policies.

Speaking about the amendments, MDP Parliamentary Group Leader Ibrahim ‘Ibu’ Mohamed Solih said Shareef had not consulted the party before he submitted the changes.

However, the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has signaled the party’s support for the amendments with parliamentary group leader Ahmed Nihan said all ruling party MPs would support the proposal and that the PPM would welcome judicial reform.

Presenting the bill to the parliament Shareef said that he believed the number of judges on the apex court was too high for a country the size of the Maldives.

Nasheed had previously said that changing the number of judges on the Supreme Court bench would not amount to judicial reform.

Meanwhile, MDP MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik – who has announced intentions to contest in the MDP’s 2018 presidential primary – appealed for pro-government MPs to cooperate with the party’s efforts to reform the judiciary.

Moosa described the formation of the current Supreme Court bench as a “shameful” political bargain between the MDP and then–opposition parties in 2010.

Nihan praised both Shareef and Moosa and suggested that the number of judges on the apex court was worth considering.

Former President Nasheed also reiterated party concerns with the annual state budget for the upcoming year which the party has previously labelled as aimless and serving only for administrative purposes.

The Supreme Court has recently been involved in numerous controversies both in and out of the court room.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court used a ‘suo moto’ proceeding – allowing the Court to act as both the plaintiff and the judge – against the Elections Comission (EC).

EC president Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice President Ahmed Fayaz were subsequently charged with contempt of court and disobedience to order, being sentenced to six months in jail after the court used testimony given in the People’s Majlis independent commission’s oversight committee.

More recently, the court employed a similar ‘suo moto’ proceeding against the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) after it criticised the judiciary in its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for the UN Human Rights Council.

The court charged the HRCM with undermining the constitution and sovereignty of the Maldives by spreading lies about the judiciary.  It said that the UPR submission– based on a 2013 report by the UN Special Rapporteur for Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul – was “poorly researched”, “irresponsible” and “dangerous”.

Knaul’s report had detailed the pressing need for judicial reform, noting that the five-member transitional Supreme Court had been replaced by a seven-member permanent bench in 2010 with “no legal or constitutional basis”.

June this year also saw Judge Ali Hameed – a sitting judge at the Supreme Court – cleared of a sex tape scandal after three recordings surfaced allegedly showing Ali Hameed engaging in sexual acts with three different woman.

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High Courts overturns dismissal of Thinadhoo terrorism trial

The High Court has today reversed a Criminal Court decision to throw out the case against the 89 Thinadhoo arson suspects.

Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed had dismissed the charges, claiming the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office was refusing to cooperate with the trial after state prosecutors’ failed to turn up to a trial scheduled for 10am on Saturday, November 22.

A lawyer representing some of the defendants confirmed that High Court had said Judge Abdulla had not given reasonable notice of the hearing to the PG’s Office.

PG Muhthaz Mushin had requested the High Court to rule the dismissal of the case through a letter as unlawful and to order that the terrorism trials continue.

The 89 defendants faced terrorism charges for allegedly setting fire to the island’s police station, court building, and several police vehicles during nationwide unrest on February 8, 2012 in the wake of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s controversial resignation the previous day.

State prosecutors had claimed that the Criminal Court had attempted to handover summons to court outside work hours on Thursday, November 20.

State prosecutor Shaudha Shameem has argued that the Criminal Court could only throw out charges in a courtroom in the presence of the plaintiff and defendant, and claimed Judge Abdulla had failed to follow due procedures in dismissing the case.

The defence lawyer who spoke with Minivan News noted that representatives of the lower court had not been present at today’s hearing. The Criminal Court will now go on recess from December 1 – 15.

Other lawyers representing the defence had previously defended Judge Abdulla’s decision, saying that it was within his powers to dismiss charges if the plaintiff fails to abide by the judge’s orders.

Abdulla’s decision had prompted unexpected praise from former President Mohamed Nasheed – accused of illegally detaining the controversial judge in the final days of his presidency.

“Abdulla Mohamed has decided the case is invalid. When the prosecutor general submits the same cases to his desk again saying he has the power and authority of the state, that is an affront to the rule of law and courts,” Nasheed told reporters last week.

Previously, the judge ordered 55 of the 89 defendants be held in detention pending the outcome of the trials, claiming the accused were intimidating witnesses.

Around 80 people from Addu City are also currently facing terrorism charges in relation to unrest in the southernmost atoll on February 8.


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