High Court rules ex-MP Wadde’s 2017 arrest as unlawful

The High Court has ruled the arrest and detention of former Thulusdhoo MP Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim (Lawyer Wadde) in 2017 for entering the parliamentary building as unlawful.

Wadde was arrested in July, 2017, for entering the parliamentary building after the Elections Commission (EC) issued a statement establishing Wadde to have lost his parliamentary seat for floor crossing.

He was initially remanded to 15 days in jail and had his detention extended several times.

According to Article 13 (a) of Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act, any arrest of a parliamentarians must require an arrest warrant obtained at the request of Prosecutor General.

However, the warrant for Wadde wasn’t obtained at request of the Prosecutor General.

The Prosecutor General’s Office argued it did not follow the process established under the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act because the EC has already established Wadde to have lost his parliamentary seat and announced by-election for the Thulusdhoo constituency.

Wadde later appealed the arrest warrant with the High Court.

The three judges who presided over the appeal proceedings concurred the arrest warrant was issued in violation of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act, and was therefore a violation of due process on Tuesday, July 23.

The High Court pointed out that the law at the time required a final say on any loss of parliamentary seat for floor crossing to be determined by the Supreme Court. And that Wadde’s arrest in violation of the due process set down under Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act and while a case over the issue was already accepted into the Supreme Court was therefore unlawful.

Though all three judges concurred Wadde’s arrest to be unlawful, the reasoning of Judge Mohamed Niyaz differs from the other two judges.

Judge Niyaz reasoned that the Supreme Court, in a ruling on 2017, established that a parliamentarian automatically vacates his/her parliamentary seat the moment he leaves the political party as which’s candidate he/she won the seat, Article 16 (e) of the Political Parties Act which establishes that a parliamentarian may retain his/her seat even if he/she leaves her political party had still existed and had not been nullified.

ARTICLE 16 (E) OF POLITICAL PARTIES ACT

• A person elected as a candidate of a political party at a national election in accordance with the Maldivian Constitution and Maldivian laws shall retain his/her electoral position even if he/she is dismissed from the party for ethical misconduct.

Judge Niyaz reasoned that the existence of the clause meant Wadde needed to have been arrested in accordance with the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act.

Judge Niyaz said Wadde’s original arrest itself was therefore based on an in applicable procedure, and arrest warrant must therefore be annulled.