ICJ calls on Maldivian authorities to "end assault on legal profession"

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has called on the Government of Maldives to end its assaults against the legal profession.

In a statement issued on Friday, ICJ expressed concern over the government’s “reprisals taken against lawyers for performing their legitimate professional functions”.

It noted that the “assault on the rule of law and human rights under the state of emergency in the Maldives continues,” and called on Maldivian authorities “to stop obstructing the work of lawyers and respect independence of the legal profession”.

In the statement, ICJ highlighted the prominent lawyers in the Maldives are facing penalties for possibly their choice in clients.

Noting that prominent lawyer Hussain Shameem was recently suspended for an indefinite period of time over an “ongoing investigation”, ICJ’s Asia-Pacific Director Frederick Rawski emphasized that “no lawyer should be subject to persecution for carrying out their professional duties”.

“Lawyers like Hussain Shameem are indispensable in ensuring human rights protection and upholding the rule of law in the Maldives, especially during a state of emergency,” added Rawski.

Shameem was representing former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and lawmaker Ahmed Faris at the time of his suspension, and had been open about his views on the state of emergency being unconstitutional.

In addition, ICJ highlighted that police have confiscate the phones of lawyers Mahfooz Saeed and Moosa Siraj, and that lawyers taking up cases during the state of emergency that they “can only meet their clients for 30 minutes, which is an arbitrary and unlawful restriction on the fair trial rights of accused persons”.

“Under international standards, including the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, governments must ensure that lawyers are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference,” reads ICJ’s statement, adding that international standards also provide that lawyers “shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics”.

“The government’s actions against these lawyers, who are just doing their job of protecting their clients’ rights, has a chilling effect on other lawyers in the country as it sends a message that any exercise of their professional responsibilities perceived as contrary to wishes of the governments will not be tolerated,” added Rawski.

ICJ further called on the government “to immediately lift the state of emergency, revoke the suspension of human rights protections, release judges of the Supreme Court and persons detained for political reasons, and ensure the independence of the judiciary”.