Emergency motion accusing courts of discrimination among citizens rejected

MDP’s South Galolhu MP Meekail Ahmed Naseem’s emergency motion, accusing judicial courts of discriminating between citizens, has been rejected.

Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla who was presiding over Wednesday’s sitting concluded that the emergency motion failed to meet the requirements of an emergency motion.

Meekail’s emergency motion emphasized that constitution clearly forbids courts from discriminating between citizens. In spite of this, Meekail said he has recently observed deliberate discrimination between citizens in cases submitted to courts. Some of the cases he highlighted in this regard include:

• 15-day remand of arrestees from MDP’s ‘Lootuvaalaifi’ protest
• Five-day remand of Raudh Ahmed Zilal over Hawwa Yumnu Rasheed’s fall on April 18
• Five-day remand of four suspects arrested in airport USD heist
• 10-day remand of individual who tried to leave a café without paying

Meekail expressed concern over longer remand periods for individuals suspected of minor crimes, while individuals suspected of major crimes have gotten shorter remand periods. He described this as discrimination, adding he submitted the emergency motion to bring the issue to the attention of the government.

However, the remand of the individual is decided based on many factors. In this regard, although a suspect in a major crime is initially remanded for a short period, they are often remand pending the outcome of their trial later on.

Speaker Abdul Raheem rejected the motion, stating that Parliament’s standing orders required emergency motion to address significant issues directly linked to national or public interest and draw the government’s attention to it, as well as to criticize actions or inaction regarding the matter.

“Because these requirements have not been met, the motion cannot be presented as an emergency motion,” he added.