President, VP of EC sentenced to prison, disqualified as members of EC by Supreme Court

Supreme Court has sentenced President of Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeg and Vice President of Elections Commission Ahmed Fayaz to six months in prison, and also ruled that they have been disqualified as members of Elections Commission.

The order, whereby all four members of Elections Commission have been to six months in prison, was issued under Article 88 (d) of the Penal Code by Supreme Court Judges Dr Ahmed Abdulla Didi, Abdulla Saeed, and Ali Hameed.

The court also ordered to delay the implementation of this sentence for contempt of court by EC members for a period of three years.

The contempt charges against the members of Elections Commission were initiated by Supreme Court itself.

The two remaining members of EC, Ali Mohamed Manik and Mohamed Farooq, have not been disqualified as members of EC.

The court also ordered the parliament, Elections Commission, and all relevant state authorities to make the necessary arrangements to hold the Parliamentary Election on 22 March, as earlier announced by the Elections Commission.

This ruling was not supported by Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain and Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla. The chief justice said that charges against members of Elections Commission must be investigated by the relevant authority as per the criminal procedures of the Maldives; while Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla said that Fuad Thaufeeg admitted in court that EC members had challenged Supreme Court rulings and spoken disrespectfully about the court, thus, action should be taken against them in line with the regulation on 'sumoto' cases.