Commission urges probe on failure to obey February 1 court order

Commission for Prisons Audit has advised the Ministry of Home Affairs to investigate the state’s failure to implement the Supreme Court order issued on February 1, 2018.

The commission’s audit report on prisons, publicized on Tuesday, highlighted that state institutions had failed to release nine prisoners as ordered by the Supreme Court and stated that it was illegal to keep the prisoners in jail after the order was given.

The report stated that the police service and the correctional service are guilty of obstructing the implementation of the court order, adding that the attorney general, inspector of the correctional service, human rights commission, and the national integrity commission had also failed to help get the prisoners released.

In the report, the commission stated that it received information from victims and their families that the human rights commission failed to assist officers detained by the Maldives National Defence Force during last year’s state of emergency.

The commission proposed the Ministry of Home Affairs to order investigative authorities to begin probes on these issues within seven days of the audit report’s publication. However, the commission does not specify which authority should head the investigation.

The previous administration of President Abdulla Yameen refused to implement the February 1, 2018, Supreme Court order and arrested numerous political prisoners after declaring a state of emergency five days after.