Chief Justice’s trial is ‘arbitrary’: Lawyer

Judge Ahmed Hailam has said that Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed’s trial will proceed as he sees fit, since the criminal procedure has been suspended under the ongoing state of emergency.

The Chief Justice is charged with obstructing the work of the state over allegations that he had ordered court employees to shut down the state’s intranet on February 4 and 5.

If found guilty, he will face four months and 24 days in jail.

During the first hearing on Sunday, the Chief Justice’s lawyer Husnu Suood asked which procedure is being followed at the trial. The Judge replied that the common procedure, and not the criminal procedure, is being following. He assured that the Chief Justice will receive his constitutional rights but not the rights suspended by the state of emergency decree.

Lawyer Suood said this was the first time in recent history that a trial is being held without following proper legal procedure. He repeatedly told the court that it was an arbitrary trial and asked that the trial be postponed until the state of emergency ends and hearings can follow proper procedure.

The prosecution said that legal proceedings followed common procedure before the Criminal Procedure Act came into effect last year. They also said that Chief Justice Saeed was charged under the common procedure. Judge Hailam said that the trial will proceed under criminal procedure once the state of emergency ends.

Judge Hailam ended the hearing by giving Chief Justice Saeed five days to respond to the charges.