CJ Saeed makes 12-point appeal to overturn jail sentence over 'interference' charges

Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed has raised 12 points of concern with the Criminal Court’s conviction of him on ‘interference’ charges and moved forward with appealing the sentence at the High Court.

At a hearing in the appeal process, Saeed’s lawyers had revealed these 12 points, the first of which is that the adjudicator was kept in arbitrary incarceration prior to the sentence.

Noorul Salaam, part of Saeed’s defence team, also said that Saeed’s arrest is void as officers that carried it out had not done so in accordance to procedures on the apprehension of persons in his station.

Further, Salaam also noted that the presiding judge in Saeed’s case had been changed against procedure. Judge Ahmed Hailam was first assigned to the Chief Justice’s preliminary hearings but was replaced by Judge Ibrahim Ali. Judge Ibrahim later said that he was not made aware that another judge had presided over the case.

Saeed’s defence also noted points of criminal procedure violation, namely how evidence in the case was made secret without an explicit order from the court to do so. In this regard, they also noted that documents filed the Prosecutor General’s Office had signatures of an official who is not the current prosecutor general.

Chief Justice Saeed was charged with obstructing administration of law or other government function, by obstructing the conduct of public office, which he denied in full and denounced as inadequate and unfounded.

Specifically, Saeed was accused of having barred the Supreme Court from receiving letters addressed to it, by ordering the cessation of incoming messages through the state’s Government E-Letter Management System (GEMS). Saeed has been sentenced to four months and 24 days in prison.