Jailed former President Mohamed Nasheed’s legal
counsel has revealed that while three cases have been filed at three
different Courts, the cases are yet to be accepted by the Courts.
The team, on Tuesday revealed that they had filed cases at the Civil and High Court. On Sunday, they had appealed his conviction at the Supreme Court.
Speaking to the media before departing to Maafushi Island to meet with Nasheed, lawyer Hisaan Hussain said that all the documents regarding the cases have been accepted by the Courts.
A case filed at the High Court seeks to overturn Criminal Court’s decision to reject the appeal for a habeas corpus by his legal team in August, after the government u-turned over the decision to commute Nasheed's 13 year prison sentence to house arrest.
The habeas corpus appeal filed at the Criminal Court in August, noted that since Nasheed's sentence had been commuted the Correctional Service had no authority to transfer the former President back to jail, thus asked the Court to declare the transfer an illegal and unlawful detention.
The case was thrown out by the Registrar of the Court citing that as Nasheed was convicted of a crime and sentenced to jail, the authority of enforcing that sentence remained with the MCS under the Jails and Parole Act of the Maldives.
While the government has denied that Nasheed's sentence was commuted to house arrest permanently, Nasheed's legal team said that MCS had even supplied official documents confirming the commutation of Nasheed's sentence.
The case submitted at the Civil Court seeks the Court to order the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) to release their client immediately, as ruled by the UN panel.
Nasheed, serving a 13 year jail sentence for the 2012 arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge, had in April lodged a petition at the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention asking for urgent action and formal request for an opinion of the Working Group.
Furthermore, the UN Panel had, in October, ruled Nasheed's imprisonment as arbitrary and unlawful, citing several irregularities and non-conformity to rights guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Following Nasheed’s decision to seek an appeal at the Supreme Court, the government had welcomed the decision and said that "the Government has maintained the position that the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is one that should be considered by the Supreme Court. This will now be done given that the Court has accepted the appeal already filed by the Prosecutor General, with substantive arguments to be heard at a later date."
However, the Maldivian government had rejected the UN panel’s ruling, saying that the “UN panel had not taken in to consideration government submitted rebuttals.”
Nasheed's fast tracked trial which lasted 19 days was criticized by the United Nations Human Rights Council as a “hasty and apparently unfair” trial that made a "mockery of the country's own constitution." Amnesty International called the trial a "travesty of justice", while the US Secretary of State John Kerry, during a visit to Sri Lanka said that Nasheed was “imprisoned without due process.”
The team, on Tuesday revealed that they had filed cases at the Civil and High Court. On Sunday, they had appealed his conviction at the Supreme Court.
Speaking to the media before departing to Maafushi Island to meet with Nasheed, lawyer Hisaan Hussain said that all the documents regarding the cases have been accepted by the Courts.
A case filed at the High Court seeks to overturn Criminal Court’s decision to reject the appeal for a habeas corpus by his legal team in August, after the government u-turned over the decision to commute Nasheed's 13 year prison sentence to house arrest.
The habeas corpus appeal filed at the Criminal Court in August, noted that since Nasheed's sentence had been commuted the Correctional Service had no authority to transfer the former President back to jail, thus asked the Court to declare the transfer an illegal and unlawful detention.
The case was thrown out by the Registrar of the Court citing that as Nasheed was convicted of a crime and sentenced to jail, the authority of enforcing that sentence remained with the MCS under the Jails and Parole Act of the Maldives.
While the government has denied that Nasheed's sentence was commuted to house arrest permanently, Nasheed's legal team said that MCS had even supplied official documents confirming the commutation of Nasheed's sentence.
The case submitted at the Civil Court seeks the Court to order the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) to release their client immediately, as ruled by the UN panel.
Nasheed, serving a 13 year jail sentence for the 2012 arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge, had in April lodged a petition at the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention asking for urgent action and formal request for an opinion of the Working Group.
Furthermore, the UN Panel had, in October, ruled Nasheed's imprisonment as arbitrary and unlawful, citing several irregularities and non-conformity to rights guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Following Nasheed’s decision to seek an appeal at the Supreme Court, the government had welcomed the decision and said that "the Government has maintained the position that the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is one that should be considered by the Supreme Court. This will now be done given that the Court has accepted the appeal already filed by the Prosecutor General, with substantive arguments to be heard at a later date."
However, the Maldivian government had rejected the UN panel’s ruling, saying that the “UN panel had not taken in to consideration government submitted rebuttals.”
Nasheed's fast tracked trial which lasted 19 days was criticized by the United Nations Human Rights Council as a “hasty and apparently unfair” trial that made a "mockery of the country's own constitution." Amnesty International called the trial a "travesty of justice", while the US Secretary of State John Kerry, during a visit to Sri Lanka said that Nasheed was “imprisoned without due process.”
source- https://raajje.mv/54651
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