Chief Justice denies threatening Supreme Court employee

Chief Justice Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi has denied threatening any employees at the Supreme Court.

While the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has announced that Didi is being investigated for threatening Supreme Court’s Secretary General Hussain Faiz, the chief justice issued a statement defending himself on Wednesday.

JSC’s complaint against Didi accuses him of obstructing the SG’s work and ordering him to not abide by the recently brought changes to the JSC regulation.

However, Didi in his statement noted that he “fully” supports the amendment to the regulation, as it was passed by the People’s Majlis and has been ratified by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

The chief justice added that he will fully cooperate in ensuring that the new regulations are implemented.

Also in the statement, the chief justice responded to allegations of threatening to dismiss the secretary general.

He alleged that Faiz had been meeting with Supreme Court officials without the chief justice’s approval or even informing him, and that Faiz was telling these officials that the chief justice no longer runs the top court. Didi claims that Faiz told them that he is in charge of the court.

The chief justice also noted that Faiz cited court regulations for doing so, but that the Department of Judicial Administration is tasked with overseeing the administrative matters of the judiciary.

Didi said that he had not threatened the secretary general, rather counseled him against repeating these actions.

Further noting that he had issued a warning to Faiz, that he will not hesitate to take action if the acts are repeated, Didi said that this cannot be described as a threat.

Hence, the chief justice stated that there is no basis to the disciplinary investigation launched against him over the matter.

Didi ended the statement by calling on all in the profession to abide by the laws and regulations.