Did not illegally arrest Judge Abdullah: Thol

Former Defence Minister Thol’hath Ibrahim Kaleyfaan has said that he did not illegally arrest Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed.

Thol’hath said this today at the trial on the charges against him for the detention of an innocent person in a manner contrary to the law, under article 81 of the Penal Code.

Reading the charges against Thol’hath, Assistant Public Prosecutor Abdullah Rabiu said that Thol’hath is being charged for arranging and implementing the decision by the chief of military while Thol’hath acted as Minister of Defence, to arrest Judge Abdullah; and arresting and detaining Judge Abdullah in Girifushi from 16 January to 8 February 2012.

When asked by the State which charges Thol’hath wished to deny, Thol’hath’s lawyer Mohamed Ibrahim said that Thol’hath was not the chief of military, and that the law makes it compulsory for military personnel to immediately implement orders issued by the chief of military.

Thol’hath’s lawyer said that Thol’hath cannot be prosecuted in a just manner, and that charges must also be pressed against former Home Minister Hassan Afeef and former Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh.

He said that while Thol’hath was Defence Minister, his actions were formulated such that they benefited the people of the Maldives.

Following Tholhath’s denial of the charges, the State presented thirty pieces of evidence to prove their case, including text messages sent from Thol’hath’s phone and a script of conversations at a cabinet meeting about arresting Judge Abdullah.

The State also presented as evidence, minutes of a meeting by the Committee on National Security, a video of Thol’hath speaking at a meeting of the committee, a video of a press statement given by Thol’hath on 17 January 2012, and a video of a press conference by Thol’hath regarding the arrest of Judge Abdullah.

Former Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh, Chief of Defence Force Ahmed Shiyam, Brigadier General Ahmed Nilam, former Vice Chief of Defence Force Farhath Shaheer and former Deputy Commissioner of Police Ismail Atheef were presented as witnesses.

When given the opportunity to respond further to the claims, the lawyer requested one month to make preparations. Sujau Usman, who led the judges bench at today’s trial, said that the documents regarding the case had been released to Thol’hath a long time ago, and that one month cannot be granted to prepare the response. He scheduled the next hearing for 13 March.