Judiciary Committee reviews request to have Judge Faiz sacked over drug kingpin's release

The Parliament’s Judiciary Committee on Monday began reviewing the decision by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to dismiss Criminal Court Judge Hussain Faiz Rashad.

Faiz was suspended by the JSC in October after it opened an inquiry into a decision he made to release a suspected drug kingpin from policy custody.

In November, the commission announced that the inquiry established Faiz had violated the Constitution and laws in ordering the suspect’s release.

It subsequently decided to dismiss Faiz, and filed a request with the Parliament to approve the decision.

During the parliamentary sitting on Monday morning, Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla sent the request to the Judiciary Committee for review.

The suspect, Ali Anwar Mohamed, a native of S. Hithadhoo, was arrested in 2019 in connection with the smuggling of 70 kilos of drugs into Maldives aboard the Iranian vessel Al-Shaban. The ship was intercepted 172 nautical miles northwest of HA. Thuraakunu, leading to the arrest of five Maldivians, six Iranians, and two Bangladeshis. Police named Anwar as one of the three ringleaders of the drug trafficking racket.

Faiz released Anwar after his initial five-day remand expired. He subsequently fled to Sri Lanka, but was re-arrested after being denied entry and deported back to the Maldives.

Faiz had cited procedural violations by the police in ordering Anwar’s release, including the execution of a search warrant after his arrest. The judge also cited that the police failed to recover any evidence from the search.

Faiz had also been suspended back in November 2021, over leaked audios in which he was allegedly recorded speaking about former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s 2019 money laundering trial.

The suspension was lifted in December 2021, after the JSC ruled that the audio did not match with Faiz’s voice.

Faiz was transferred from the Civil Court to the Criminal Court in February 2019, prior to which he served as president of the Employment Tribunal.