Criminal Court suspends Judge Faiz for releasing drug lord

Criminal Court Judge Hussain Faiz Rashad was suspended yesterday regarding two cases that are being investigated by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Sources say that Faiz was suspended due to the release of Ali Anwar Mohamed from remand, who was accused of being a drug lord in smuggling narcotics into the country. He was also suspended regarding his process in Haleemath Lamha's murder case, where she is being held in remand. 

Faiz was suspended for a period of 60 days, the longest a judge can be suspended for.

The Criminal Court had Ali Anwar in remand for five days regarding a narcotics case last week. However, he was released without reason when he was taken to court on Saturday as his time in remand was coming to an end.

Ali Anwar also has a case against him where he has been accused of smuggling 70 kilograms of drugs into Maldives via an Iranian vessel. 

Even though the authorities worked towards arresting Anwar under a separate order after he was released from custody, he had already left for Sri Lanka by then. The authorities got in contact with the relevant Sri Lankan authorities and managed to get Anwar deported, with him getting arrested upon arrival.

Ali Anwar was first arrested in October 2019 during a joint operation between the Maldives and Sri Lankan Coast Guard and police.

Authorities seized 70 kilograms of drugs from two vessels - an Iranian ship and a Maldivian fishing boat, “Hedheykuri-7.” Anwar, who has a previous record of theft, is alleged to have been one of three men in the smuggling operation.

Judge Faiz has granted bail on two occasions to Haleemath Lamha, who was accused of murdering IGMH nurse Mary Grace in 2021. When the prosecution presented those two rulings to the High Court, they were annulled. She has also been released from custody earlier this month. The prosecution presented this ruling to the High Court as well, with the court ordering that something be done about holding her in remand.

Judge Faiz has stated that a ruling can only be made regarding Lamha's remand after an assessment on how dangerous she is to the community is conducted. Faiz said he had requested the prosecution to conduct this assessment, with them not having done so.

Faiz was also suspended in 2021 due to being on the bench during the ruling to imprison former President Abdullah Yameen in 2019. He was suspended due to leaked audio tapes where the topic was regarding the case, with Faiz speaking to another judge.

However, after a subsequent investigation, it was ruled that the audio was not valid, with suspended judges Faiz, Ali Adam and Mohamed Sameer having their suspensions voided.