Lawyers concerned over Criminal Court releasing protesters on conditions

Lawyers have raised concerns over Criminal Court’s recent practice of conditioning the release of protesters on them refraining from participating in protests over a defined period of time.

For instance, the 31 protesters arrested on Friday were released on the condition that they do not participate in protests at certain times.

Former Attorney General Husnu Su’ood said in an interview with Sun Online that this is a direct violation of the Constitution.

“The Criminal Court cannot deny a person of a right guaranteed by the Constitution, such as freedom of expression. The protesters are not convicted of any crime. I urge the Court to discontinue this practice,” he said.

He added that it is also against the international treaties agreed to by Maldives.

Lawyer Ahmed Abdullah Afeef said that despite Courts being allowed by the Constitution to release arrested people on conditions, the point of this article is to disallow anything that might obstruct Police investigations.

He noted that Criminal Court is currently acting outside of its scope.

Ahmed Abdullah Afeef said that the problem is that are no procedures on how the Courts can set conditions as allowed by the Constitution:

“Thus Criminal Court expands this right and uses it on everything. But conditions should only be set if doing so helps the trial or investigation process.”

Lawyer Ali Hussain also said that Criminal Court cannot set conditions which limit a person’s rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and that any such practice would be a violation of article 49 of the Constitution.

Article 49 of the Constitution states that no person shall be detained in custody prior to sentencing, unless the danger of the accused absconding or not appearing at trial, the protection of the public, or potential interference with witnesses or evidence dictate otherwise; and that the release may be subject to conditions of bail or other assurances to appear as required by the court.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) is also currently investigation this issue. The Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of expression and the right to participate in protests.