The Maldives opposition has reached out to diplomats based in Sri Lanka and raised concerns over the state of the judicial system in the Maldives.
The Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) said that members of the progressive coalition accompanied by former Maldives Vice President Mohamed Jameel Ahmed met with foreign dignitaries, stakeholders and media in Sri Lanka to disclose the current state of the judiciary.
They had raised concerns regarding the obstructions in the judicial system depriving the citizens right to a fair and free trial in the Maldives.
Maldives Judge Ahmed Hailam alleged this week that senior government officials sought assurances that former Maldives President and PPM leader Abdulla Yameen will be convicted and sentenced to prison.
The Maldives Independent reported that hours before he was due to deliver a verdict in the opposition leader’s money laundering trial on Tuesday, the Judicial Service Commission suspended the criminal court’s chief judge for sharing a cartoon of the President and speaker of parliament paraded in chains.
On the following day, the watchdog launched a separate probe into a financial transaction of US$12,995 between Judge Hailam and former MP Alhan Fahmy in May.
In a press statement, Hailam accused the JSC of suspending him and tarnishing his reputation with bribery allegations for refusing to assure that Yameen would be found guilty.
He apologised for sharing the cartoon on the criminal court’s Viber group and insisted that he was unaware of the depictions of the President and speaker.
(Colombo Gazette)