JSC decides to recommend dismissal of Judge Faiz to Parliament

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) today decided to recommend to the Parliament the dismissal of Criminal Court Judge Hussain Faiz Rashad after concluding that he acted in violation of the Constitution and laws when determining the remand status of an individual brought under police custody.

Judge Faiz has been suspended since October 22nd due to investigations by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) regarding his release of Ali Anwar Mohamed, a suspect in drug trafficking, and his handling of Halimath Lamha's remand in a murder case. The JSC concluded that Judge Faiz violated the Constitution and laws, leading to a proposal for his dismissal to the People's Majlis. His suspension lasts for a maximum of 60 days.

Ali Anwar Mohamed, previously arrested in connection with the smuggling of 70 kilograms of drugs into the Maldives on an Iranian boat, was arrested again in October for another drug offense. The Criminal Court initially granted a five-day remand. However, when the remand period expired and he was brought to court on October 18th, he was released without any conditions.

Although police attempted to arrest Ali Anwar under a different warrant, he had already left for Sri Lanka. Police subsequently worked with Sri Lankan authorities to have him deported. He was arrested again upon his arrival in the Maldives.

Ali Anwar was previously arrested in an October 2019 operation by Sri Lankan and Maldivian Coast Guard and Police, which seized 70 kilograms of drugs from two vessels: an Iranian boat and a Maldivian fishing vessel named "Hedhey Kuri-7." Ali Anwar also has a record of theft offenses.

Judge Faiz had previously released Lamha, who is detained pending trial in the 2021 murder case of Nurse Mary Grace at IGMH, on two separate occasions.

On both occasions, the state appealed the decision to the High Court, which overturned the releases. Most recently, Lamha was released on remand again in early October. The state once again appealed the decision to the High Court, which ordered the court to redetermine her remand status.

Judge Faiz responded by stating that a decision on Lamha's remand could only be made after an assessment was conducted to determine the risk she posed to the community, and that the state had failed to carry out the assessment as ordered.

However, after Judge Faiz's suspension, a hearing held on November 4th reversed the previous decision, ordering Lamha to be remanded again until the conclusion of her trial.

Judge Faiz, who was part of the bench that sentenced former President Abdulla Yameen to jail in 2019, was previously suspended in 2021 over an alleged leak of audio recordings of judges discussing the case. However, after the investigation concluded that the audio recordings were not authentic, the JSC lifted the suspensions on Faiz and the other judges involved, Judge Ali Adam and Judge Mohamed Shameem.

In addition, the JSC had previously issued a counsel to Judge Faiz as a disciplinary measure in a case where he delivered a verdict without allowing a party involved in the case to enter the courtroom.