The Ombudsperson's Office of Transitional Justice has refused to cooperate with the Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC) investigation on them, doubting the validity of the commission's orders.

The commission raided the office on Wednesday, November 15, over allegations of tampering with the findings of its investigations. It was reported that the allegations along with other issues were previously lodged with the ACC.

Mihaaru News learned that the commission's team dispatched to investigate the office were made to wait in the meeting room for several hours without providing information or documents related to their investigation.

An employee of the office said that the commission's team were made to wait on the order of Chief Ombudsperson Abdul Salaam Arif.

Though the team was granted access to certain areas of the bureau, it was denied access to any documents or areas related to the investigation.

In response, Salaam said that ACC's warrant lacked legal characteristics and it could not be deemed as a lawful order.

The Chief Ombudsperson further denied refusing cooperation with the ACC, adding that they would ensure cooperation once the commission attends with a lawful warrant.

"They are still there, and they would do what they must. I am not refusing to share any documents, but I am legally accountable for it," Salaam said.

Salaam further said that majority of the documents included confidential information of third-parties, which can only be shared with the commission after acquiring consent from said parties.

However, the Transitional Justice Office later suspended three employees who cooperated with the commission in their investigation.

A senior official of the office, who had cooperated and answered queries of ACC's investigative team, said that their building and system access were blocked by the time they stepped out from the interrogation.

The official added that once they brought this to the notice of the commission, the Transitional Justice Office had granted limited access to them and added that their suspension chit specified their access for the suspension period has been restricted, while the suspension period was not specified.

"I have also learned their decision is to terminate [me], but I don't know how. Tomorrow [Thursday] is the last working day of the office," the official said.

With the legal term of the office expiring on coming Friday, November 17, it has attracted criticism over incompetency and failure to address and close cases under its mandate.

The Transitional Justice Act was implemented with the aim of exercising justice for the Maldivian public during the previous five governments. The initial act specified the duration from 2012 to 2018, which was later amended by the parliament on November 29, 2020 to extend the period to 65 years.