Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed has said that he has received martyrdom status upon his prison conviction on Tuesday.

The Criminal Court has given the Chief Justice four months and 24 days in prison after he was found guilty of obstruction of justice.

Before the judge left the courtroom after concluding the hearing, Saeed yelled that the day of judgement will also come, and then looked at the people at the courtroom, put his hand on his chest, and declared that he has received martyrdom status even though he has not died yet. He had looked pleased when he was led out the courtroom by correctional service officers.

His lawyers stood up as he was leaving even though court officers have repeatedly requested those at the courtroom to stop standing whenever the Chief Justice and enters and exits the premises.

The Chief Justice was found guilty of ordering employees to shutdown the Government E-Letter Management System (GEMS). The conviction relied on the four witnesses presented by the state, only one of which testified against the Chief Justice, while the defense presented Supreme Court’s Director General Ibrahim Waheed as their witness.