Criminal Court provides guidance to Police on prudent information sharing with press

The Criminal Court today outlined areas of caution to be exercised by the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology and Maldives Police Service (MPS) when sharing information with members of the press.

This took place during a Judges’ emergency session held last week, following a ruling made by the Criminal Court declaring the conduct of MPS during a press conference held regarding the import of 119 kilograms of drugs in the country to have been in contempt of court.

The court revealed that during the session, emphasis was put on the need for additional consideration towards the safety and security of judges when sharing information with both the public and press.

This session was attended by the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) as the primary agency responsible for organizing security for judges. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was also invited, said the court.

While the information shared by MPS in the press conference following the verdict issued by the Criminal Court with regards to the 119 kilogram drug case was criticized by the court, points highlighted during the conference include:

- Police’s investigation was sufficient to convict all those accused

- Criminal Court denied a warrant to obtain phone passwords of those accused

- While three accused were held in remand, the court had released one accused individual (Mujahid) citing that the case was being delayed due to the absence of a permanent judge in the section the case was assigned to

- Despite prosecutors highlighting that one of the accused (Zubair) was attempting to shoulder all the blame on himself, the case concluded with only him being convicted

The three accused in this case were Ali Zubair (Guleynooranmaage, Gdh. Hoandedhhoo), Ahmed Sunain (Irumatheege, Gdh. Hoandedhhoo) and Ahmed Mujahid (Alora, Gdh. Hoandedhhoo).

Minister Ihusan and senior Police officers accused of acting in contempt of court

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