Shaaheen Hameed questions independence of judiciary, given hijacking of courts, judges

Prominent lawyer Maumoon Hameed says that it was unlikely that the judiciary could be independent, ‘with Supreme Court justices taken hostage & courts under military control’.

In a tweet posted through the Premier Chambers twitter account, the lawyer said that he stood for an independent judiciary. He had also called on his fellow lawyers to show their support for a free judiciary in the Maldives, due process and a return to rule of law.

A week back the law firm also released a statement over the State of Emergency.

A statement released by the law firm, signed by prominent lawyers associated with it, say that the declaration of a state of emergency is a violation of clause 254 of the constitution.

Noting 12 aspects of the state of emergency declaration, the lawyers said the nation was not in any state that warranted a drastic action of this nature.

Clause 253 of the Constitution, the statement said, State of Emergencies can be declared in the event of a natural disaster, epidemic, war, invasion by a foreign nation or a threat to national security.

Under the State of Emergency, the lawyers noted that the Government had sought to suspend rights other than the ones listed under Artilce 2 of the constitution. Due to this, the Govenrment had officially taken over the powers granted to the Parliament and the Supreme Court.

Noting that the State of Emergency declaration was unconstitutional, any action that followed since then, is void and any individuals arrested with authority allowed by the declaration must also be released.

Prominent lawyers Maumoon Hameed, Shaaheen Hameed, Ibrahim Shameel, Hassan Ma’aaz Shareef, Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, Aminath Amathullah and Aishath Shifala had signed the statement.

The statement appealed to authorities to uphold basic rights for citizens in the Constitution and to uphold rule of law.