Tag: supreme court

PPM “obstructing” elections: MDP

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has alleged that the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) had stopped signing voter lists for the January 18 local council elections to “obstruct” the vote.

The PPM claims the party was not given sufficient time to crosscheck 16 voter lists. According to the Elections Commission (EC), 295 independent candidates had also declined to sign lists, claiming they did not have the funds to travel to and stay in Malé for the approval of the register.

Condemning the ruling party’s decision, MDP in a statement today said it believed PPM’s “sudden decision to stop signing voters lists on baseless allegations is part of the party’s continued agenda to obstruct free and fair elections.”

Candidate signatures on voter lists were stipulated by the Supreme Court in its 16 electoral guidelines issued following the annulment of the first round of presidential polls held on September 7, 2013. The EC has described the guidelines as restrictions.

The police stopped a re-vote on October 19, 2013 at the eleventh hour after the PPM and the Jumhooree Party refused to sign voter lists.

The EC has long argued candidates are not required to crosscheck lists, but the Supreme Court had required candidate signatures to ensure the lists present at the polling booths are prepared by the commission.

The Supreme Court’s guidelines effectively give veto over elections to candidates and “undermines the power of the institution and contaminates the electoral process,” the MDP said.

According to the MDP, the Commonwealth – in an unpublished report – has criticised the Supreme Court’s issuance of 16 guidelines as beyond the court’s mandate, arguing that only the People’s Majlis has the legal power to compile such a guideline.

“We do not believe a free and fair election can be held as long as the Supreme Court continues to influence the Elections Commission,” the statement said

The MDP has called on political parties to allow the EC to work independently, and to allow citizens to exercise their vote in a free and fair election without bribery and undue influence.

The Maldives Police Services has previously told local media it will seek legal advice on how to proceed should candidates refuse to sign the lists.

However, speaking to Minivan News today, a police media official said the police will seek advice once the EC reaches a decision. EC President Fuwad Thowfeek said the EC is currently discussing the issue.

Fuwad has suggested the EC may hold elections in all the constituencies where lists have been signed.

Speaking to Minivan News on Sunday, Fuwad condemned the PPM’s decision suggesting that the party does not have “good intentions.”

PPM’s coalition partners – the JP, the Adhaalath Party, the Maldives Democratic Alliance (MDA) – and the MDP have completed signing all lists.

“If elections are delayed, it will increase expenditure and present a number of issues. We will not be able to hold elections within the constitutionally mandated deadline,” Fuwad said.

The EC has asked the Attorney General for advice on following Supreme Court guidelines, but has not received an answer yet, said Thowfeek.

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Supreme Court orders Criminal Court to restart trials

The Supreme Court has ordered the Criminal Court to restart trials following the court’s decision to suspend all cases in the absence of a prosecutor general (PG).

In a statement today, the Supreme Court said it had told the Criminal Court that the criminal justice system must proceed in order to maintain constitutional rule.

The apex court ordered the Criminal Court to “continue with all ongoing cases without any obstruction, and continue issuing rulings such as that on [pre-trial] detentions as before.”

The Criminal Court had announced yesterday it will halt all ongoing cases as the PG’s position has been vacant for more than 30 days.

Former PG Ahmed Muizz had resigned from his position shortly before the parliament was set to debate a no confidence motion against him.

Speaking to Minivan News, deputy PG Hussein Shameem condemned the Criminal Court for its decision, alleging the court had not discussed the matter with him or the parliament.

Further, people held in pre-trial detention may have to stay in remand centers if cases do not go ahead, Shameem said.

“So what do they do now, it would not be fair to keep them in there until the parliament comes back to work from recess after three months and appoint a new PG,’’ Shameem said.

“That is one of my biggest concerns over this issue, it is a responsibility of the PG office to uphold constitutional rights of the people.’’

There were no laws stating that the deputy PG cannot fulfill the responsibilities of PG in the case of the position being vacant, Shameem added.

He argued that PG’s office’s work must not come to a halt because the parliament had failed to appoint a new PG.

On December 10, President Abdulla Yameen proposed his nephew Maumoon Hameed for the post of Prosecutor General and submitted the name to the parliament for the MPs to approve.

The issue was sent to parliament’s Independent Commissions Committee and the committee decided to seek public opinion on him before sending it to the parliament floor for voting.

However, the parliament is now on recess and will not start work until March.

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Supreme Court orders JSC to halt transfer of judges

Supreme Court has released a mandamus order on Monday halting the judicial oversight body’s decision to shuffle ten superior court judges.

The order states the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) does not have absolute powers to transfer and promote judges.

Unless a court is liquidated no judge can be transferred to another court unless by the explicit decision of the Judicial Council, the Supreme Court said.

The Supreme Court has previously annulled the Judicial Council and taken over the council’s powers. The JSC has been notified of the move and hence is mandated to discuss any shuffle of judges with the Supreme Court, the order said.

“The Judicial Service Commission’s decision dated December 9, 2013 – where without any contribution of the Supreme Court – the JSC decided to transfer judges of the Civil Court, Criminal Court, Family Court, Drug Court and Juvenile Court from one court to another from January 1, 2014 is hereby overturned, and we notify Judicial Services Commission, concerned courts and other concerned authorities that it cannot be acted upon,” the order signed by Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain reads.

JSC disregarded Chief Justice’s objections

Earlier in December, the Chief Justice sent a letter to the JSC objecting to the transfer, presenting the same arguments as in Monday’s mandamus order.

The JSC had at the time decided to disregard the objections, saying it lacked legal grounds.

“Even under the constitution and the JSC Act, the commission is vested with the power to transfer the judges,” JSC representative from the parliament Ahmed Hamza said at the time.

“Order is baseless but will abide by it”

Hamza stated that the JSC still maintains that its decision is a legally justified one.

“When the next term of parliament begins, we will work on this matter from within the parliament. Meanwhile, the JSC’s position is clear: we maintain our stand that our decision to transfer judges is legal and within our powers,” Hamza told Minivan News today.

“By releasing this order, the Supreme Court has undermined the powers vested in the JSC by the constitution. I do not accept that the Supreme Court has the power to do so,” he continued.

“The Supreme Court usually overrules things when someone files a case there, not of their own initiative as in this instance. It is very surprising how this has come about.”

However, Hamza stated that as the objection has come in the form of a Supreme Court order, the JSC will have to follow it.

JSC Member appointed from the public Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman stated that while the order held the same reasoning as the letter previously sent by Faiz, the JSC will abide by it as it has now come in the form of an apex court order.

However, commenting further in private capacity, Shuaib described the Supreme Court’s reasoning as “irrational”.

“The reasoning presented in the order itself is irrational, and off the topic. The only legal connection that they can show is Article 47 of the Judges Act. The thing is they are talking about the Judicial Council, which has been made void. How can they refer to something that has already been made void? The articles that the Supreme Court have pointed out in the order have nothing to do with the JSC,” Shuaib said.

Shuaib said that he does not accept the Supreme Court can adopt the duties of the Judicial Council after the council itself has been ruled void.

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MP Hamid files complaint against Chief Justice

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor has submitted a complaint against Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain at the judicial oversight body Judicial Services Commission (JSC) over the Supreme Court’s decision to annul articles of the Parliamentary Privileges Act.

In November, the Supreme Court struck down four clauses in the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act including Article 11 (a) which states that an MP cannot be summoned to court during Majlis work hours.

At the time, the Criminal Court had sentenced Hamid to six months in jail for failure to attend a separate trial on refusal to provide urine. Hamid had contended the hearings were scheduled during Majlis work hours, in violation of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act  and as such he was not obliged to attend the hearings.

Hamid had been under house arrest but was jailed following the Supreme Court’s verdict. However, the High Court struck down the Criminal Court’s sentence and set Hamid free.

In his complaint, Hamid said the Supreme Court’s verdict had caused him injustice.

“When the Supreme Court released constitutional ruling number SC-C/2013/28 on November 12, 2013 regarding a number of parliamentary privileges, Chief Justice of the Maldives Supreme Court was aware that at the same time, I,  a member of Parliament, was under house arrest regarding a case on parliamentary privileges. At a time when there were public allegations that the Criminal Court had then acted towards me against parliamentary privileges, the Chief Justice failed to consider the injustices that may be done unto me by releasing the prior-mentioned ruling at such a time,” Hamid’s complaint stated.

A statement released by the MDP states that if the said act was done “deliberately and knowingly” by the Chief Justice, it was an injustice caused to Hamid. It then said that if, however, the Chief Justice was unaware of the facts when the Supreme Court released the ruling, it is then proof that he is “unfit for and incapable of fulfilling his mandate”.

Head Judge of the High Court Panel that overturned the Criminal Court’s sentence, Judge Yoosuf Hussain had said at the court hearing that the Parliamentary Privileges Act at the time of sentencing still had a clause stating that members of parliament cannot be summoned to court in a manner that will inconvenience their attendance to parliament meetings.

Judge Hussain said that due to this reason, Hamid’s failure to attend hearings cannot be judged as having been without a justified reason.

He further stated that the lower court had failed to follow due process to be observed in the instance that a court summons cannot be delivered to a person, and if their families refuse to accept the summons on their behalf.

The judge said that as a result of this failure, the High Court does not believe the lower court had grounds to act against MP Hamid in this instance.

JSC Member appointed from among the public Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman stated that he is unaware of the complaint yet.

“After a complaint is submitted to the JSC, it will be looked into by the legal section. Once they complete the process, it will come to the commission members along with their legal opinion. So it will take some time before we see this complaint,” he explained.

Senior Legal and Complaints Officer Hassan Faheem Ibrahim said that the legal department has not received the complaint at the time of press.

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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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JSC to disregard chief justice’s objection to transferring judges

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) – the state watch-dog of the judiciary – has today (December 12) decided to disregard the letter sent to the commission by the Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain objecting to its decision to transfer judges between Superior Courts.

The letter, sent by Chief Justice Faiz on Tuesday to JSC Chair and fellow Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed, stated that the commission’s decision to shuffle superior court judges was not valid as the commission did not have the necessary legal authority.

JSC member MP Ahmed Hamza – the parliament’s representative to the commission – told local media today that the commission members had discussed the letter sent by the chief justice, but the majority held the view that the objections towards the decision lacked any legal grounds.

“Even under the constitution and the JSC Act, the commission is vested with the power to transfer the judges,” Hamza told local newspaper Haveeru.

Speaking to Minivan News, JSC Member Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman confirmed that such the decision.

However, the Secretary General of JSC Abu Bakuru told Minivan News that “although the matter had been discussed by the commission members, the JSC has not yet formally made the decision”.

Chief Justice Faiz in his letter to JSC claimed that, although Article 159(a) gives the JSC the authority to appoint, promote or transfer judges other than those from the Supreme Court, it “must not be interpreted as an absolute right”.

Faiz also contended that the Judges’ Act mandated that any transfer of a judge from his appointed court can only be carried out following deliberation with the Judicial Council – the seven-member bench of the Supreme Court .

List of Transferees

The JSC had earlier decided to shuffle nine judges from the superior courts based in the capital Male’, including the Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed who was to be transferred to the Drug Court.

Judge Abdulla Mohamed has previously been under investigation from the JSC, for allegations of ethical misconduct and obstruction of corruption investigations among others.

Apart from Judge Abdulla Mohamed, the JSC had also planned to transfer Criminal Court Judge Muhuthaaz Fahmy and the Acting Chief Judge of Juvenile Court Mohamed Naeem to the Drug Court.

Meanwhile, Drug Court Judges Mohamed Easa Fulhu and Zubair Mohamed and the Family Court Judge Ibrahim Ali were to be transferred to the Criminal Court.

The JSC also decided to transfer Family Court Judge Hassan Shafeeu to the Civil Court and Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baaree Yoosuf – currently serving an indefinite suspension by the JSC following a case of sexually assaulting a female state prosecutor – was set to be transferred to the Juvenile Court.

Article 159(a) of the Maldives Constitution states that, “The Judicial Services Commission is entrusted with the responsibility and power to appoint, promote and transfer Judges other the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court, and to make recommendations to the President on the appointment of the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court”.

Meanwhile Section 49 of the Judges’ Act 2010 refers to temporary transfer of judges from one court to another and states, “Temporary appointment of a Judge to preside over cases in a court will be decided upon by the Judicial Services Commission under the advice of the Judicial Council”.

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Week in review: November 30 – December 7

The past week has seen the administration of President Adbulla Yameen make tentative steps towards resolution of the country’s dire economic situation.

The Government of China offered the Maldives US$8.2million in grant aid for development projects. Reports also emerged in Indian media of its government being on the verge of unfreezing a credit standby facility – initiated before the recent deterioration in bilateral ties.

The New Indian Express suggested that the official announcement would be made during Yameen’s visit to India, also announced in the past seven days.

Further aid flows for climate change adaptation projects were also forthcoming, with the European Union pledging an additional €4million to the €34million given since 2009.

Solid progress on the 2014 budget continued to elude the government this week, however, with the submission of details to parliament delayed for the fourth time as the finance minister awaited further specifics about the administration’s plans.

Specific designs for the long-awaited construction of a bridge linking Malé and Hulhumalé were requested by the government, although foreign investor confidence is unlikely to have been improved by the Maldives’ failure to appear on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for the second consecutive year.

Meanwhile, confidence in the country’s tourism industry remained undiminished at the World Travel Awards in Qatar, where the Maldives collected the prize for ‘World’s Leading Island Destination’.

Politics, police, and protecting Islam

Despite prior promises of leniency from the government, Maldivian Democratic Party MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor was briefly imprisoned this week after the Supreme Court revoked a number of parliamentary privileges.

Hamid – who has cited parliamentary privileges to defend himself against contempt of court charges – spent just hours in Maafushi jail before the High Court overturned the Criminal Court’s six-month sentence.

Fellow MDP MP Imthiyaz Fahmy led the Parliamentary Privileges Committee in suggesting that the Supreme Court was compromising the independence of parliament.

Elsewhere in the Majlis, MPs from all sides of the political divide took to the floor of the house to support a constitutional amendment further safeguarding Islam’s position as the country’s sole religion.

The police this week recommended that the Prosecutor General’s office pursue charges against Raajje TV’s CEO and its head of news for a report criticising the Supreme Court. Police also detained an individual in relation to the arson attack that destroyed MDP-aligned Raajje TV in October.

Less progress was reported in the case of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed’s sex-tape allegations, with police admitting they have been unable to identify the individual widely reputed to be Hameed. The police did, however, promise that more information from abroad may yet shed light upon the issue. Local media had suggested that police investigations had been thwarted by the Criminal Court’s failure to provide the required warrants.

Retired Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz was honoured this week by his former colleagues prior to his move into the political arena.  Home Minister Umar Naseer used the celebrations to order police to remove any material that might incite hatred against the force.

The fostering of dissent within its own ranks was the reason given for further dismissals within the military – three senior officers were dismissed, whilst 34-year veteran Lieutenant Colonel Zubair Ahmed told Raajje TV that he had been forced to retire from the MNDF.

The Defence Ministry this week threatened action against any media outlets who criticised its disciplinary procedure, subsequently receiving censure itself from the Media Council.

Finally, preparations for the January 18 local council elections continued in the past seven days, with government-aligned parties – excluding the Adhaalath Party – deciding to divide seats up amongst themselves to maximise their prospects. The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party hopes to arrest its declining fortunes going into future polls by rebranding its party color, logo and slogan.

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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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