Saeed to be sentenced in obstruction case on Tuesday
Summary statement in the case was heard in a court proceeding held on Monday
Supreme Court\'s Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed
A date has been scheduled for sentencing following the conclusion of the obstruction of Justice charges raised on Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed.
Presiding judge in the case, Abdulla Ali said that sentencing has been scheduled for Tuesday morning at 10:00.
Saeed is accused of having barred the Supreme Court from recieving letters addressed to it, by ordering to halt the Government E-Letter Management System (GEMS).
If Saeed is found guilty of the charges against him, he could face a jail term of upto four months and 24 days in confinement under the Maldives Penal Code. If the High Court and Supreme Court backs the sentencing, Saeed stands to lose his seat as Chief of Justice.
If the verdict is not appealed within the allocated time, it will be passed as the final verdict and Saeed will lose his position in court.
Testimonies of four individuals were taken in the case of the obstruction of official conduct raised against Saeed in secret court proceedings. Three out of the four testimonies had been given through secret video conferences.
The information regarding GEMS was shared at the court by a top official at the Supreme Court. One of the employees of the court's IT department who were actively involved in shutting down GEMS had also given a testimony.
According to the IT technician, the router cable was disconnected upon the order of a top official of the court and that Saeed had not instructed him to halt GEMS services.
While Saeed has vehemently denied having shutdown the operation of GEMS, five names had been submitted at court in Saeed's defence out of which court had taken the testimony from only one individual. While Saeed had submitted names of three employees as witnesses, two of them had deliberately abstained from attending court to give their testimonies.
On Monday the summary statement was heard in a court proceeding regarding the case where state attorneys and Saeed's legal representatives were embroiled in a fierce verbal dispute.
