Skip to main content

#Maldives: exPresident Nasheed's trial judges summoned before MDP-led Parliamentary Committee

#Maldives: The three judges presiding over ex-President Nasheed's trial have been arbitrarily summoned to appear before a Parliamentary Committee just 15 minutes before trial is scheduled to begin. The Parliamentary Subcommittee has a majority of MPs belonging to Nasheed' party Maldivian Democratic Party, and is led by MDP MP Ali Waheed (MP for Thoddoo Constituency). Nasheed is facing criminal charges for ordering the military arrest and detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed. The case was brought against him, together with four others, by the country's independent Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizzu. The PG's case is built upon an investigation by Maldives Human Rights Commission, another independent body appointed by the Parliament.

The Parliamentary Committee's summons has been transmitted to the three judges by Speaker Abdulla Shahid. The Supreme Court and the Judicial Services Commission, an independent body entrusted with judicial administration in the country, last night issued press statement denouncing the summons as unconstitutional and illegal. Both bodies stated that judicial independence should be upheld and no person should interfere with due judicial process (Article 141 of the Constitution). However, a statement by the Parliament today counteracted these arguments with reference to the constitutional powers of the Parliament and "general practice" in democratic societies.

Critics of the Committee's summons include Committee member MP Ahmed Nihan (MP for Vilimaafannu Constituency) who notes that the summons is beyond the mandate of the Committee. The Committee's mandate is on General Matters relating to the Government. The summoned judges belong to a separate power, the Judiciary. The Speaker's media release did not make reference to the mandate of the Committee.

MP Ali Waheed, who is reported to have demanded and received US 3 million dollars from Nasheed to crossover from rival Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP) in 2010, also heads the Parliamentary Subcommittee on National Security (241 Committee). This Committee last night summoned Police Commissioner Abdullah Riyaz for a second time, the reason for the summons is unknown. In the case of the unlawful arrest and detention of Judge Abdulla Mohamed for which Nasheed is today facing criminal charges, MP Ali Waheed summoned the Prosecutor General and the Human Rights Commission of Maldives to the 241 Committee. Media reports at the time report that the Committee session was dominated by MDP members who harangued the PG and HRCM members for beginning the investigation into the judge's arrest. MP Ali Waheed himself is currently facing charges in court for defying police orders and crossing the police line at a demonstration.

With Nasheed's trial scheduled to start in 30 minutes time, the legal and illegal maneuverings of his party and supporters continue unabated with the latest being a false report published by Amnesty International on Nasheed's arrest. The Maldives Police have released video footage which shows that the Amnesty report was fabricated and disproved Amnesty's allegations. Maldivians on Twitter have strongly condemned the repeated false reports being publicised by Amnesty International on the Maldives.






Labels

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Abdullah Shahid: Terrorist appointed as State Minister of Defense?

"A picture is worth a thousand words." President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed Abdullah Shahid as the State Minister of Defense. On the 3rd of November 1988, along with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelaam), Mr. Abdullah Shahid is one of the key terrorists who masterminded the terrorist attack which claimed the lives of many innocent Maldivians. Now what about National Security?
Read more

#Maldives: 9 Murders in 2012: Death Penalty call increasing exponentially

#Maldives: Pressure is mounting on President Mohamed Waheed to implement the death penalty in Maldives as the murder toll in 2012 rose to nine murders earlier this month. A youth group yesterday announced a rally calling for death penalty, scheduled for the afternoon of Friday 19th October. Calls for death penalty increased exponentially after the brutal murder of Member of Parliament and moderate Muslim scholar Dr. Afraasheem Ali on October 2, 2012. Social media report that support for death penalty in Maldives rose to 64% of Maldivians on social media in the wake of Dr. Afraasheem's brutal murder. The list of murder victims is 18 victims long, from 2007 onwards (pic). Of these 11 murders were committed on the capital Male', the rest on various islands. Fourteen of the 18 murder victims were young adults between 15 and 35 years of age. MP Dr. Afraasheem's murder comes within three months of the brutal murder and decapitation of famous lawyer Ahmed Najeeb, also on th...
Read more

The Quality of Political Appointees in the Nasheed Administration

As almost seven months pass since President Mohamed Nasheed took power in the Maldives, Maldivian citizens despair of ever seeing the much promised improvements in their livelihoods. The state treasury has been exhausted within this brief period, and the economy has declined to an extent worse than the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami. Escalating price of consumer goods, collapse of social services, increasing food insecurity and declining real income have thrown more people below the poverty line. While President Nasheed is engrossed in his hate and persecution campaign against political opponents, his government has ground to a halt. The Nasheed administration came into power promising reduced expenditures, increased government revenue and a clamp down on corruption in top government circles. President Nasheed’s first budget (2009) has a 7 billion deficit (nearly 5 billion more than the previous administration’s last budget, and government revenue has fallen by more than 28% since...
Read more