Parliament disbars Thinadhoo magistrate for unethical conduct

The Parliament has voted in favor of disbarring G. Dh. Thinadhoo magistrate Ibrahim Rasheed for unethical conduct.

Ibrahim Rasheed had been under suspension since 2013 after Judicial Service Commission (JSC) opened an investigation following a complaint he verbally abused a woman at a public location.

The commission completed the investigation – which had remained stymied for six years – and filed a petition for his disbarment with the Parliament on Monday, June 24.

The Parliament voted in favor of the magistrate’s disbarment with the majority vote of 70 parliamentarians this Wednesday afternoon. This marks the first time for a magistrate or judge to be disbarred by the Parliament in Maldivian history.

JSC’s report on the magistrate was read at the Parliament last Tuesday.

JSC’s report reads that the case was filed by a person by the name of Mohamed Latheef, who accused the magistrate of verbally abusing and using vulgar language against a woman at a public location.

He accused the magistrate of going as far as accusing the woman of conceiving a child out of wedlock and aborting the fetus.

The report details the code of ethics expected of a magistrate or judge. And concluded that the incident reported to the commission in 2013 violated the code of ethics.

In a separate incident, Ibrahim Rasheed was also arrested with narcotics on March 28, 2016. Though initially placed under State custody, Ibrahim Shareef was later released following an order by the High Court.