Chief Justice being kept in isolation, says it might cause him to \'go insane\'
The Chief Justice was arrested hours after a state of emergency was declared, along with Justice Hameed and former President Maumoon
Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed waves as he is being taken back to Maafushi Prison
Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed has said that said that his continued incarceration is against the anti-torture act, and that if they continue to keep him in isolation that he 'will go crazy’.
He made the statement at Wednesday's hearing in the obstruction charges raised against him, justice Ali Hameed and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayooom, where he spoke in detail on his arrest and subsequent detention.
Speaking at the hearing, the Chief Justice said that his arrest and detention are against the anti-torture act, noting that he is being detained in isolation, devoid of any human interaction. He added that even detained parliamentarians are being allowed to interact with others.
Responding to this, presiding Judge Adam Arif noted that he ‘has not been detained for an investigation’, and that he does not believe that a Criminal Court judge would order to keep him in isolation or solitary confinement. Judge Arif agreed that keeping the Chief Justice in isolation is unlawful.
Further criticizing court proceedings, Chief Justice Saeed said that the Criminal Court has been in violation of the Constitution, international treaties the country has signed to, as well as the Supreme Court.
Speaking on his arrest, he said that barging into the Supreme Court ‘is a big crime’, and that he had, at that moment, issued penalties for those that committed this crime.
He added that the charges have been raised against him to ‘hide what [they] have done, after invading the Supreme Court’.
The presiding judge interrupted the Chief Justice at this point, and asked him ‘to clean his language’ when speaking regarding state institutions. In response to this, he asked the judge whether he should just ‘keep calling unconstitutional acts as constitutional?’
In addition, Chief Justice Saeed emphasized that the government’s decision not to enforce the Supreme Court ruling issued on February 1 does not make it invalid.
Arrested shortly after the declaration of a state of emergency on February 5, the Criminal Court has ordered to keep the Chief Justice, along with justice Hameed and former President Maumoon, in detention until the trial in the terrorism charges against them conclude. They have also been accused of conspiring to overthrow the government.
