Rulings made without presenting defence witnesses 'invalid', says lawmaker

Prominent lawyer and Kendhoo constituency MP Ali Hussain has emphasized that rulings made without presenting defence witnesses to court "is invalid".

The lawmaker said this via twitter, following Criminal Court's decision to not present any defence witnesses in the obstruction case against former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed. At a hearing held on Sunday, presiding judge Hassan Najeeb revealed that the decision to move forward without presenting defence witnesses was made "after analyzing the appeals submitted by the state".

Expressing concern over the matter, MP Hussain said that rulings made without presenting defence witnesses "is invalid".

The former president and two Supreme Court justices were charged with obstruction for allegedly refusing to handover their mobile phones to the police.

Lawyer and parliamentarian for North-Maafannu constituency Imthiyaz Fahmy questioned whether an individual arrested for possession would be charged with obstruction "if they deny having any illicit narcotics".

While Maumoon had not submitted any witnesses in the case, Chief Justice Saeed had submitted two names; former Judicial Administrator Hassan Saeed Hussain and head of the Supreme Court's Protocol Department, Aathika Ibrahim. Justice Hameed also submitted the name of the former Judicial Administrator as a defence witness, as well as his wife Fathimath Nasira and Hashma Hassan- he later withdrew his wife's name.

All three have been in police custody since 5th February, when President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency following an alleged judicial coup. Maumoon, Saeed and Hameed are accused of being involved or leading the said coup, and have been charged with terrorism since.