No confidence motion against PG Shameem sent to Committee for review

The no-confidence motion submitted against Prosecutor General (PG) Hussain Shameem has been sent to Parliament’s Judiciary Committee for review on Wednesday.

The motion was proposed by Hulhudhoo MP Mohamed Shahid, the deputy leader of the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC)’s parliamentary group, in a letter to Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla.

The letter was shared during a meeting of the Parliament’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Members of the Committee in attendance at the meeting backed to initiate the no-confidence motion unanimously.

Parliament Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla sent the motion to the Judiciary Committee for further review on Wednesday. Henceforth, reviewing the motion has been scheduled on the agenda of Committee’s meeting slated for today. The subsequent decision of the Committee regarding Shameem’s dismissal should be sent to the floor, which will make the ultimate decision on his dismissal.

Shahid, in his letter, cited eight main reasons why Shameem should be dismissed. They are:

• The decision to file the sexual assault case against former tourism minister Ali Waheed
• The decision to file the corruption case against former sports minister Ahmed Mahloof
• The decision not to appeal the lower court’s dismissal of a 2020 rape case, known infamously as the “safari rape case”
• The decision to drop human trafficking charges against former Milandhoo MP Ali Riza
• The decision to drop charges in 77 cases of alcohol consumption
• The decision to drop charges in 13 cases of same-sex relations
• The refusal to look into the allegations of same-sex relations, drug abuse and mockery of Prophet Mohamed against Ahmed Shafeeu, the chief spokesperson of the Prosecutor General’s Office
• The decision not to pursue charges in the ventilator corruption case

The motion comes after a small crowd of protestors gathered outside the Parliament on July 1, demanding Shameem’s resignation. Their main concern was the failure to abolish indefinite detentions.

Shameem was appointed as the prosecutor general on December 8, 2019 by then-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

He had been a frequent target for criticism by PNC leaders back then they had been in the opposition.

Shameem holds a Master of Laws in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice from the University of Sussex, the United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Arts in Shari’a and Law from the Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

Prior to his appointment as the Prosecutor General, he served in other top posts at the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office.