High Court overturns conviction of ex-judicial administrator

The High Court has overturned the conviction of former Judicial Administrator, Hassan Saeed Hussain.

The court overturned the sentence issued by the Criminal Court with the unanimous votes of all three judges, in its first hearing held live via web-conferencing. With this, the former judicial administrator’s conviction has been annulled.

Saeed was sent to four months and 24 days in prison on 19th July 2018, after being found guilty of obstruction of justice. He was charged after failing to present himself to the police for questioning, and was eventually declared a fugitive.

He had also been charged with bribery in connection to the case, but the sentence was annulled by the Criminal Court in November 2018, following the incumbent president’s election. The Prosecutor General’s Office decided against appealing this decision.

Saeed was arrested a few days after the controversial Supreme Court order of 1st February 2018, and after declaring a nationwide state of emergency. He was arrested along with the Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed, after the security forces stormed the court building after suspending the constitutional rights and legal immunities for judges.

Saeed was dismissed as the judicial administrator on 10th July 2018. While he was sentenced to four months and 24 days in prison in July 2018, he was released in November that year after about nine months since arrest.