Attorney General (AG) Ibrahim Riffath has said that the Supreme Court’s recent statement against a foreign consultant will not regain their public trust.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, AG Riffath said he was disappointed to see the Supreme Court defaming Johann Kriegler, a retired South African Justice, who was appointed as a consultant by the AG office to conduct an assessment of the Maldives judiciary.

In a press release, the Supreme Court accused Krieglerof threatening the Justices during a meeting.

AG Riffath said that many organizations including the United Nations have called for a reform of the Maldives judiciary and that releasing such a statement would not regain any of the judiciary’s public trust and will further make the public suspicious.

Riffath said that even the justices had admitted to the amount of political influence and corruption in the courthouse in the Supreme Court order on February 1, 2018.

He said that reforming the judiciary is an important pledge in the president’s and the parliament’s agendas and that courts have been given enough opportunities to make the necessary changes themselves.