Nasheed

The Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has said that the case pertaining to the arrest of the Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed (Judge Abdullah) was filed to Hulhumalé Court instead of Criminal Court to avoid conflict of interest, because the case directly involves the Chief Judge of Criminal Court.

The PG Office made this clarification through a statement issued today.

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) arrested the Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed of Bahaaruge, R. Hulhudhuffaaru, on 16 January 2012 and subsequently held him in custody at the MNDF training facility Girifushi.

After investigations, the PG decided to file a case against former President and Commander-in-Chief to MNDF Mohamed Nasheed, former Defence Minister Thalhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaan, former Chief of Defence Moosa Ali Jaleel, Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi and Colonel Mohamed Ziyad.

The statement issued by PG Office also refers to another case filed to Criminal Court pertaining to intimidation of the Chief Judge, and says that because the case involved the Chief Judge of Criminal Court who would provide testimonies in trial, the bench of Supreme Court had not been of the opinion that the case should be prosecuted at Criminal Court.

The Supreme Court had advised PG Office to withdraw the case from Criminal Court and file it to Hulhumalé Court, where it is currently in progress.

PG Office clarified that the case was filed to Hulhumalé Court based on Supreme Court’s advice on the previous similar case.

Meanwhile, Judiciary Spokesperson Latheefa Gasim has also stated that PG Office had not discussed with Supreme Court, the issue of filing Nasheed’s case to Hulhumalé Court.

The case was filed to Court by PG Office after assessment of the report by Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) on the arrest of Judge Abdullah.

One of the defendants Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi has submitted his resignation after the case was filed to Court.

Also, while former President Nasheed has asserted that he is prepared to face the allegations against him in Court, members of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have called the PG to withdraw the case.

While Judge Abdullah was in MNDF custody, a group of Maldivian lawyers had filed the case to the International Criminal Court. Similarly, the Supreme Court had proclaimed that the Judge had been arrested unlawfully, and repeatedly ordered MNDF to present him in Court – orders which were ignored by MNDF.

Judge Abdullah was released on 7 February 2012, the day the government changed. Since then, the Judge has returned to work as per normal.