Ex-CJ Faiz slams Supreme Court for setting secret evidence precedent

Former Supreme Court chief justice Ahmed Faiz acknowledged the seminal nature of accepting secret witness testimonies and evidence, describing it as ‘dangerous’.

Faiz said in a post on his Facebook page that the precedent was set by the 2013 case that led to the results of that year’s presidential elections being made void.

The former chief justice said that when the case reached the Supreme Court, there had been secret evidence put forth and that the bench had to decide on whether or not to do so.

While Faiz was at the helm of the seven-member bench, only he and another justice had decided against accepting such evidence and provided dissenting arguments in that regard.

Faiz posted a screen capture of his dissenting report, which said that secret witness testimonies deprive defendants from adequately addressing statements and it makes the court deciding on statements and accepting them problematic as well.

Faiz further claims in Sunday’s post that the Jumhooree Party, which backed incumbent President Abdulla Yameen bid for office then, and the Attorney General’s Office had both submitted secret evidence in the 2013 case.

The former chief justice uses social networking platforms to comment on current contentious matters in the Maldivian judiciary. In response to the Supreme Court order on February 1st , that the government now claims was part of an attempted coup, Faiz said that the order is legitimate and should be implemented.

Further, last month Faiz advocated for judicial reform through a bar council.