President Solih would never attempt to influence a judge: Nasheed

Former President and Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed has stated that incumbent President, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih would never attempt to influence a judge.

During a virtual press conference held on Sunday, Speaker Nasheed, while answering a journalist’s question, stated that he would always put his faith in main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and no other party. He added that President Solih has never contacted a judge with such intent, stating that while other parties may partake in such corruption, MDP would not.

Speaker Nasheed has made this claim at a time there have recently been serious allegations against the President’s Office chief of staff, Ali Zahir, alleged of influencing the judges presiding over former president Abdulla Yameen’s trial.

This was fueled by leaked audio recordings of some of the judges on the five-judge panel, making cryptic statements that sound as though they convicted the former President under duress.

Speaker Nasheed further stated that serving justice is, and always had been an important priority for MDP, therefore, the hearings must go on in order to deliver justice.

Also, the speaker added that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is doing all they can to ensure the security of the judges’ residences.

The audio samples of three judges have since been collected in regards to the alleged audio recordings that were leaked online. JSC guaranteed that an independent committee was compiled to look into the issue without any prejudice and affirmed that all judges are required to be impartial and neutral when coming to verdicts, regardless of the defendant on trial.

The alleged audio recordings of three of the five judges that presided over former President Yameen’s money laundering trail were leaked in late August. Following the accusations made against the judges, three of them agreed to provide voice samples for the investigation.

JSC confirmed that all five judges accused – Hussain Faiz Rasheed, Ali Adam, Mohamed Sameer, Ali Rasheed Hussain and Ahmed Shakeel – have all been questioned and have denied all allegations.

Former President, Yameen was proven to be guilty of money laundering and received a jail sentence of five years in November 2019. He pocketed a total of USD one million through a state-owned company, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) during his presidential tenure.

The alleged audio recordings were leaked right after the conviction was appealed by the Supreme Court and a hearing was scheduled.

While an emergency motion submitted regarding the alleged leaked audio recordings was rejected by the People’s Majlis earlier, Maduvvari constituency MP Adam Shareef who submitted the motion, filed cases at three parliament committees; judiciary committee, human rights and gender committee and the committee on national security services