HRCM seeks Supreme Court over Juvenile Court inquiry

Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has filed a case in Supreme Court over the Juvenile Court’s inquiry into what the court says are false information in a report, communicated by the commission to the court in December last year.

HRCM’s case in Supreme Court states that, in its inquiry, the Juvenile Court has commenced Contempt of Court proceedings against the commission and that the court had breached procedure in summoning the commission members over Contempt of Court allegation.

However, an official from Juvenile Court refuted the commission's claims and said the court is not conducting a Contempt of Court case against the commission. The official said that the commission members are not being summoned to a trail, and the court just wanted to clarify information provided in the report.

“The court has summoned HRCM members to question them regarding false information relating to this court, in a report that the commission published. It is not a trial. It is also not a contempt of court case. We are not looking into a case. We just want to question them,” the official said.

The report, complied by the HRCM and communicated with the Juvenile Court on 5 December 2013, regarding responses by different state institutions over the sexual injuries suffered by the 15-year-old girl from Shaviyani Feydhoo, a case which gained considerable attention after she was sentenced to flogging for fornication early last year.

Juvenile Court insists that HRCM’s interpretation of the court’s conduct in the 15-year-old girl’s case was false, and that information stated in the report were attempts to influence the court’s decisions and to produced a negative image against the court.