MP Jabir appeals to delay jail sentence

MP Jabir, who is currently serving a 12-month jail sentence for refusing to provide urine samples to the authorities following his arrest from Haa Dhaalu Hondaidhoo in November 2012, has appealed to the High Court to delay serving his sentence.

At the appeal hearing today, member of MP Jabir’s legal team Ahmed Abdulla Afeef also asked the court to release the MP until the court can reach a decision on the appeal.

Afeef argued that the right to stand for election is a fundamental right granted by the constitution and as the Elections Commission has accepted MP Jabir’s candidacy, he must be allowed to campaign for the upcoming parliamentary election.

Judge Ali Sameer, chair of the High Court bench, said that the bench will consider the defence's argument.

Another member of MP Jabir’s legal team Ibrahim Riffath told the court that the Criminal Court had violated procedure in reaching MP Jabir’s sentence. He said that although questions of legitimacy remained regarding the form through which MP Jabir was notified to provide urine samples, the court had not referred to this issue in its sentence.

Riffath also said that, while the defence had argued of the possibility that the officers who provided witness testimonies during the trial could have been the same officers who tortured MP Jabir during the arrest, the court had dismissed the argument without providing an opportunity to the defence to prove the their claims.

State prosecutor Safa Ibrahim told the court that the Police Integrity Commission’s report had revealed, except for that of one individual, the identities of the officers accused of torturing the MP. Therefore, even if one of the three officer who provided witness testimony took part in the torture, testimony of the other two witnesses will still be relevant, she said.

Concluding the hearing, the bench said that the court will hear arguments from both side in the next hearing, to be scheduled at a later date. MP Jabir was also present in court today, produced by the Maldives Correctional Service.