The Maldivian government has conferred its concerns in executing the unprecedented ruling issued by the Supreme Court late on Thursday, to Chief Justice Abdullah Saeed.
Attorney General Mohamed Anil confirmed Friday evening that representatives from the government met the Chief Justice to discuss legal and constitutional concerns in the top court’s ruling, which ordered the release of nine prominent political prisoners, reinstated the 12 lawmakers who were unseated and nullified its previous ruling on floor crossing.
Speaking at a press conference with the President’s Office’s Legal Affairs Minister Azima Shukoor and Minister of Home Affairs Azleen Ahmed, Anil had assured that all state institutions are working towards enforcing the court order.
However, he admitted that the government was concerned about the order to immediately release the political prisoners and said that it was one of the major apprehensions that the government took to Saeed.
“In the meeting, we discussed a lot of legal concerns pertaining the Supreme Court’s order. A lot of the individuals released were sentenced on hefty charges such as terrorism, homicide, corruption, embezzlement, and negligence – so we wanted to clarify the details of their immediate release, because for some, their cases are still being investigated and others are still in trial. We need to work out the details of their release,” Anil said.
The Chief Justice had advised the government to follow due procedure when enforcing the top court’s order, Anil said.
He also revealed that the Prosecutor General would be overseeing the cases of each politician whose release was ordered and would work with the police in analysing them further.
Meanwhile, the lawyers of the released political prisoners and the unseated MPs continue to express concern over the government’s delay in enforcing the apex court’s order as none of them have officially been released from custody yet.
Sign In