Former member of parliament for the Villimale' constituency Ahmed Nihan, who faces six charges pertaining to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal, has had the hearing in his case cancelled on Thursday following the court's failure to notify him that the judge presiding over his case had changed.
The first hearing in this case was conducted on 11 February, with Criminal Court Judhe Ali Adam presiding over the hearing. Judge Ali Adam had given Nihan a 10 day period to acquire legal counsel and appoint a lawyer upon his request at the hearing.
The second hearing in Nihan's case had been held on Thursday, where his lawyer had confirmed that while they had received documents pertaining to the case from the court, some documents were missing from those issued. He also noted that the documents received had come from a different section than that of the judge currently presiding over the case, and that neither Nihan or his legal team had been notified of the change. With the inconsistency brought to the court's attention, Nihan's lawyer asked that the upcoming hearings in the case be cancelled until Nihan was presented with a valid reason, in writing, as to why the judge presiding over his case had changed.
With this appeal, the judge had temporarily halted court proceedings, upon resumption of which, he confirmed that the Criminal Court's Registrar had assigned Judge Ali Adam to oversee the case. The judge went on to clarify that an administrative error had resulted in Nihan not being notified of the change, and that he would be issued a document confirming the changes shortly. The judge went on to ask that Nihan's legal team consider continuing the hearing in order to save time.
In response, Nihan's lawyer expressed an objection to having the hearing continue without the document in question being presented to Nihan, and stated that the hearing would have to be re-scheduled. However, Nihan's legal team abided by the fact that the hearing could continue as a review opf the documents that have already been presented to Nihan in relation to his case to save time.
In response to this, the state representative at the hearing notified Nihan's legal team that they would get all the missing documents they needed if they notified the Prosecutor General's Office after the fact. Nihan's lawyer accepted this, and Thursday's hearing was cancelled upon mutual agreement from both parties.
Alluding to the first hearing in his case, which saw the Prosecutor General's Office appeal to have Nihan's passport withheld, Nihan said that he would not wish to leave the Maldives even for medical emergencies. He went on to detail no objections to the state withholding his passport. At the initial hearing, the judge had heard Nihan's response and promised a quick resolution to the trial while issuing the order to withhold Nihan's passport until the end of his trial.
The details of the charges being levelled against Ahmed Nihan are as follows.
1. One charge of accepting bribes to influence his decisions as a member of parliament, on account of Nihan having accepted a USD 150,000 check from then-Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb through SOF Pvt. Ltd.
2. One charge of money laundering for combining the USD 150,000 he received from SOF with other funds to purchase a flat from Platinum Residences, despite having reason to believe that the money from Adeeb had been procured through illegal means.
3. One charge of requesting bribes, referring to the Rolex Submariner watch which Nihan is to have asked Adeeb to “gift” him in exchange for changing his vote in approving names for the position of Prosecutor General in 2014, and in electing members for the Judicial Service Commission during the same year.
4. One charge of having accepted bribes while in public office as Nihan continued to stay in possession of the Rolex Submariner watch, estimated to be worth upwards of USD 10,000.
5. One charge of requesting bribes on account of Nihan having asked Adeeb for MVR 650,000 in exchange for conducting his duties as member of Parliament in accordance to Adeeb’s directive.
6. One charge of having accepted bribes while in public office as Nihan accepted and continued to use the bribes he requested in the abovementioned charge.
