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Abdulla Mohamed

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Honourable
Judge Abdulla Mohamed
chief judge of the Maldives Criminal Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 September 2008
Preceded byAbdulla Areef
chief judge of the Maldives Criminal Court
Personal details
Bornto Present
April 27, 1966
R.Ungulu
Diedto Present
Resting placeto Present
SpouseAminath Shareef
Children4 children
Parent
  • to Present
ResidenceBahaaruge
Websitehttp://criminalcourt.gov.mv/

Judge Abdulla Mohamed is the Chief Judge of Criminal Court Maldives[1] Judge Abdulla Mohamed started as a Judge at Criminal Court and was later promoted as Chief Judge after his predecessor was selected as Justice at Supreme Court.[2] He holds BA (Hon.)in Shari'a & Law from Al-Azhar University in Egypt. Before joining the judicial sector he was a teacher at Institute of Islamic Studies and Center for Higher Secondary Education in Male'. He is currently married to Aminath Shareef. He has four children.

Military Detention

On January 16, 2012 Mohamed was arrested for 14 instances of obstruction of police duty, including "ordering unlawful investigations, withholding warrants for up to four days, limiting the issuance of warrants to himself exclusively at times, disregarding decisions of higher courts, strategically delaying cases involving opposition members, and barring media from corruption trials" according to then Home Minister Hassan Afeef.[3] Afeef further alleged that the chief judge “twisted and interpreted laws so they could not be enforced against certain politicians” and stood accused of “accepting bribes to release convicts.”[4] Protests against Mohamed's arrest led to Mohamed Nasheed's resignation under duress.[5]

Arrest and aftermath

Following the mass rally, on 23 December 2011, organized by NGOs and civil society, in the capital Male’ [6][7] the President’s Office embarked on suppression of freedom of expression,[8] following which President Nasheed ordered the police on 10 January 2012 to arrest vocal political opponents. The Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Judge Abdullah Mohamed adjudicated on 15 January 2012, on the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus under the constitution in the arrest cases as unlawful. The next day Judge Mohamed was summoned to the Police who obtained a stay order from High Court against the summon order.[9]

On the orders of President Nasheed, the Maldives National Defence Force detained and arrested Mohamed on 16 January 2012 [10] on charges of corruption, after he had made a ruling to support the release of government critic Mohamed Jameel Ahmed (who had claimed that Nasheed was conspiring against Islam with the help of Christians and Jews) [11] and also after Mohamed had allegedly tried to block a police summons containing allegations that he was corrupt and that his rulings were politically biased. (A government statement quoted foreign minister Ahmed Naseem as saying that Mohamed was arrested "for corruption, in particular for allowing his judicial decisions to be determined by political and personal affiliations and interests".)[12]

Mohamed was arrested by the MNDF on the evening of Monday, 16 January, and his whereabouts were not revealed until Wednesday, 18 January.[13]

The arrest led to street protests and a boycott of sessions by all the nation's courts.[14]

Calls to release the Judge

The prosecutor general's office stated that under the constitution a judge can be arrested only with the consent of the Supreme Court decision to do so, and the Maldivian Supreme Court, Prosecutor General and Judicial Services Commission (JSC), as well as the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, all issued statements declaring the arrest illegal and calling for Mohamed's release. Nasheed's vice president Mohammed Waheed Hassan called for Mohamed's release, but also asked the JSC to prevent Mohamed from sitting as a judge until the complaints against him are resolved.[15][16]

The Maldives vice president Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan said that he is "ashamed and totally devastated" that the government in which he is a member has arrested a criminal court judge in violation of his freedom from arbitrary arrest.[17]

President of the Australian branch of the International Commission of Jurists, John Dowd, told Radio Australia that those allegations against the Judge are unfair. "Clearly he has been demonstrating independence as he's supposed to do and the government doesn't like it," Mr Dowd said.[18]

The MNDF refused to comply with High Court and Supreme Court orders to release Mohamed, and ignored a High Court order to produce him issued on 26 January.[19][20]

President Nasheed resigns

President Mohamed Nasheed resigned on 07 February 2012. After the resignation, he claimed that he was forced to resign at gun point.[21] On 30 August, the Maldives' National Commission of Inquiry stated that it had found no evidence to support Nasheed's version of events, a verdict supported by the US and the Commonwealth of Nations.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).

References

  1. ^ http://criminalcourt.gov.mv
  2. ^ http://www.supremecourt.gov.mv/
  3. ^ http://minivannews.com/politics/chief-judge-held-in-good-condition-at-mndf-training-center-girifushi-30952
  4. ^ http://minivannews.com/politics/chief-judge-held-in-good-condition-at-mndf-training-center-girifushi-30952
  5. ^ http://minivannews.com/politics/former-military-police-intelligence-chiefs-claim-nasheed-had-no-choice-but-to-resign-51320
  6. ^ "LIVE: Maldivians gather in Male for 'religious' protests", Haveeru Daily December 23, 2011
  7. ^ "Mega Protest in Male’ ends peacefully unlike propagated by government", Maldives Daily December 24, 2011
  8. ^ "DQP Media release: SUPPRESSION OF FREE PRESS January 13, 2012
  9. ^ "Justice Abdulla’s Kidnapping/forced disappearance", Dhivehi Gaumee Party January 24, 2012
  10. ^ "Police arrest Judge Abdulla against court orders", Haveeru daily January 17, 2012
  11. ^ "Foreign Ministry Shares Information on Extremist Rhetoric with Foreign Governments", Ministry of Foreign Affairs January 18, 2012
  12. ^ "Ministry briefs State Department over hate speech and expresses concern over the judiciary", Ministry of Foreign Affairs January 19, 2012
  13. ^ "Either release judge or charge him: UN to Maldives", ZeeNews January 29, 2012
  14. ^ Associated Press. "Maldives courts boycott sessions to protest chief justice's arrest; Judge arrested on Monday after he freed an opposition leader detained for allegedly defaming the government" The Guardian 17 January 2012
  15. ^ Reese, Jamie. "Maldives Seeks UN Help to Resolve Detention of Senior Judge" JURIST Paper Chase Newsburst January 23, 2012
  16. ^ Dan Tagliogli, Dan. "Maldives Lawyers Seek ICC Intervention over Detained Judge, 'JURIST Paper Chase Newsburst January 25, 2012
  17. ^ "Maldives vice president ashamed by judge's arrest" AP January 21, 2012
  18. ^ "Pressure for Maldives to release judge" ABC Radio February 1, 2012
  19. ^ Johnstone, Eleanor. "Lawyers Forward Chief Judge's Case to International Criminal Court", Minivan News January 23, 2012
  20. ^ Ahmed Nazeer. "MNDF Dismiss High Court Order to Produce Judge Abdulla Mohamed, Minivan News January 26, 2012
  21. ^ http://minivannews.com/politics/former-military-police-intelligence-chiefs-claim-nasheed-had-no-choice-but-to-resign-51320
Preceded by
Abdulla Areef
 Chief Judge Criminal Court
2008–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

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