Supreme Court decides not to repeal unanimous ruling ahead of prosecution of justices
The Attorney General’s Office had filed this case with the apex court
Signboard at the entrance to the Supreme Court premises in capital city Malé
The Supreme Court’s bench of three justices has ruled against repealing its earlier decision on February 1st ahead of the criminal prosecution of two of its justices.
The Attorney General’s Office had filed a case with the apex court, conveying the police’s allegations that the initial ruling was the product of bribery.
The case claims that Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed, who are both facing prosecution, had accepted bribes and the ruling was a result of this.
Maasha Luthfee, from the Attorney General’s Office, said in court that the police’s investigation has implicated multiple state officials in the crime and that the ruling itself should not be valid.
The three justices, whose signatures were on the February 1st ruling as well, ruled that the criminal prosecution of justices Saeed and Hameed can be carried out and that said ruling stands.
Justice Ahmed Abdulla Didi noted that the prosecution of an adjudicator has no bearing on the ruling, which ordered the release of unfairly imprisoned individuals and to reinstate lawmakers unlawfully dismissed by the state.
A total of eight individuals have been arrested in the police’s investigation, who are also said to be behind a ‘conspiry to overthrow the government’.
These eight individuals are: Judicial Administrator Hassan Saeed, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, Justices Saeed and Hameed, along with the latter's wife Fathmath Nasira, opposition Jumhooree Party’s leader Qasim Ibrahim’s son Siyadh Qasim, MPs Faris Maumoon and Abdullah Sinan.
