No legal mandate to follow Supreme Court order: Maldives government
The government said that the court itself has repealed its earlier ruling
The Supreme Court ruled to release unfairly imprisoned officers and
The government has no legal mandate to implement the unanimous Supreme Court ruling on February 1st, the Foreign Ministry has said, responsding to the European Parliament.
The ministry expressed through a statement released following the European Parliament’s decision to adopt a resolution to support imposing sanctions and travel bans over the situation in the Maldives.
“The Supreme Court nullified the Court Order of 1 February 2018. Other parts of it were suspended by it on 18 February 2018” the statement reads.
After the Supreme Court ruling was passed, senior government officials gave a press conference where they said they are delaying the Supreme Court ruling in order to verify its validity, citing reports on social media that the ruling was fake.
The claim of forgery was refuted by the court itself, as justices released a copy of the ruling including their signatures and apex court's official seal.
The resolution had also noted how that a Supreme Court ruling without the attendance of its Chief Justice, who was imprisoned immediately after the declaration of the state of emergency, is not questionable.
Prominent lawyers have also questioned the validity of the later ruling, and the legal validity of the state of emergency currently ongoing in the country, itself.
The ministry also said that the state of emergency only extends to those implicated in the police’s ongoing investigation into allegations of Supreme Court justices accepting bribes to pass the ruling on February 1st.
Despite this, authorities have enforced curfews to curtail protesters and have been arresting and detaining individuals from demonstrations, all the while using the authority of the state of emergency suppressing their constitutional right to a legal defence and to be told of the charges put forth against them.
The statement further addresses matters highlighted in the resolution, from freedom of religion in the Maldives to the government’s decision to enforce the death penalty.
