Abdulla Mohamed

Judge Abdulla Mohamed (born 27 April 1966) is the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court of the Maldives.[1] In January 2012 he was arrested after releasing a government critic. After popular and judicial protests, he was freed and President Mohamed Nasheed resigned.

Honourable
Judge Abdulla Mohamed
Chief Judge of the Maldives Criminal Court
Assumed office
21 September 2008
Preceded byAbdulla Areef
Personal details
Born (1966-04-27) 27 April 1966
Un'gulu, Raa Atoll, Maldives
SpouseAminath Shareef
Children4 children
Residence(s)Bahaaruge, Malé
Alma materAl-Azhar University

Personal life

Mohamed holds a BA (Hon.) in Shari'a and Law from Al-Azhar University in Egypt. Before joining the judicial sector he was a teacher at the Institute of Islamic Studies and Center for Higher Secondary Education in Malé. He started as a Judge at the Criminal Court and was promoted to Chief Judge after his predecessor was selected to be a Justice of the Supreme Court.[2]

He is currently married to Aminath Shareef. He has four children.

Arrest

On 16 January 2012, Mohamed was arrested by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) 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][4] Afeef further alleged that Mohamed "twisted and interpreted laws so they could not be enforced against certain politicians" and stood accused of "accepting bribes to release convicts".[4] The arrest came after Mohamed had made a ruling to support the release of government critic Mohamed Jameel Ahmed (who had claimed that President Mohamed Nasheed was conspiring against Islam with the help of Christians and Jews)[5] 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".[6]

Aftermath

The arrest led to street protests and a boycott of sessions by all the nation's courts.[7] The Prosecutor General's office stated that under the constitution a judge can be arrested only with the consent of the Supreme Court, 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 declared the arrest illegal and called for Mohamed's release.

The MNDF refused to comply with the High Court and Supreme Court orders to release Mohamed, and ignored a High Court order to produce him issued on 26 January.[8][9]

President Mohamed Nasheed resigned on 7 February 2012. After the resignation, he claimed that he was forced to resign by a coup d’état.[10] 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 United States and the Commonwealth of Nations.[11]

References
  1. "Criminal Court – Republic of Maldives". criminalcourt.gov.mv.
  2. "Supreme Court of the Maldives". Supremecourt.gov.mv. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  3. "Police arrest Judge Abdulla against court orders", Haveeru daily January 17, 2012 Archived 19 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Chief Judge held "in good condition" at MNDF training center Girifushi | Minivan News". Minivannews.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  5. ""Foreign Ministry Shares Information on Extremist Rhetoric with Foreign Governments", Ministry of Foreign Affairs January 18, 2012". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  6. ""Ministry briefs State Department over hate speech and expresses concern over the judiciary", Ministry of Foreign Affairs January 19, 2012". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  7. 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
  8. Johnstone, Eleanor. "Lawyers Forward Chief Judge's Case to International Criminal Court", Minivan News January 23, 2012 Archived 22 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Ahmed Nazeer. "MNDF Dismiss High Court Order to Produce Judge Abdulla Mohamed, Minivan News January 26, 2012 Archived 29 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Former military, police intelligence chiefs claim Nasheed had no choice but to resign | Minivan News". Minivannews.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  11. Ashish Kumar Sen (30 August 2012). "Maldives panel: President was not forced to resign". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
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