Supreme Court was locked up as advised by Finance Ministry: Nasheed

Former president, presidential candidate of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Mohamed Nasheed has said that the Supreme Court was locked up in accordance with the advice of the Ministry of Finance.

Nasheed made this remark in response to a question, during a special interview to Sun Online in Mookai Hotel today.

“As you know, by then, the Supreme Court’s interim phase had passed. But a permanent Supreme Court had still not been formed. So, I also discussed this matter with political party leaders. Finance Ministry said that it is a violation of the law to spend on an institution that had been dissolved. It was a problem even to keep a light on in there,” he said.

In August 2010, the key to the Supreme Court was withheld by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) security officers at Theemuge building, where the court was located.

Nasheed said that despite the escalation of this problem back then, he has accorded due cooperation after a permanent Supreme Court was formed.

Nasheed, while signing campaign letters to be distributed to the public today, said that the most serious problem back then was that the police initiated an investigation after receiving information that a coup was being orchestrated.

When asked about the arrest of politicians during his presidency, Nasheed said that no one was held prisoner for political reasons during his term in office.

He said that people such as Abdullah Yameen and Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed were arrested in relation to investigations by the police. Nasheed assured that he did not interfere with police investigations during his presidency.

Nasheed said that he did not order the arrest of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed (Judge Abdullah), and that there is no proof to indicate otherwise.

He said that the court case against him regarding the arrest of Judge Abdullah was postponed because the case cannot be proved against him.

“As for the issue of Judge Abdullah, it was decided by Defence Ministry. I was told that him [Judge Abdullah] being free is a threat to national security. They did it after conducting the necessary checks. It was Defence Ministry that decided to arrest Judge Abdullah,” he said.