Judge Shakeel appointed to High Court; opposition expresses disapproval

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Sunday made the decision to appoint Judge Ahmed Shakeel, the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, to the High Court.

The JSC said that Shakeel was appointed to the High Court after he applied for the post and that the commission's special advisory committee on the appointment of judges had interviewed him.

Shakeel was the judge who sentenced former President Abdulla Yameen to 11 years of imprisonment for money laundering and bribery charges.

He was first appointed as a judge on March 23, 2003. He holds a bachelor's degree in Shariah and a master's in Shariah from Villa College in Malé. Throughout the last 19 years, he has worked in the Ukulhas Magistrate Court, the Juvenile Court, and the Family Court.

The JSC has also decided the judges to be appointed to superior and magistrate courts across the Maldives, from the candidates that responded to the commission's announcement.

The newly appointed judges will be sworn in on March 13.

Opposition raises concern over the appointment

After JSC's decision was announced, the main opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) alleged bribery in the appointment of Judge Shakeel to the High Court.

The opposition coalition released a statement on Monday saying that promoting the judge who sentenced Yameen is a great injustice to him and that this step was taken so that the government can pass judgements as it pleases.

They also highlighted that Yameen's case has been filed at the High Court; therefore, promoting the same judge to a higher court can be construed as an act of bribery, the opposition said in its statement.

The coalition went on to allege that Judge Ali Rasheed, who first sentenced Yameen, was also promoted to the Supreme Court bench after the verdict, and that he received many job benefits.

"With these actions, any reasonable person would be able to see the extent of the government's influence in President Yameen's case," the statement read.

The former president's lawyers filed the appeal at the High Court on February 21. The opposition has raised concerns over the pace at which the case is progressing.