Chief Justice pleads not guilty to charges against him

Chief Justice, Abdulla Saeed, who was arrested with the charge of conspiracy to overthrow the government has refused to the charges claiming he is innocent.

Maldives Police Service has said that they have acquired evidence that the Chief Justice, Saeed, was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the constitutionally elected government of the Maldives.

Speaking at a press conference held by Saeed's legal team, lawyer Hisaan Hussain said that the Chief Justice has refused to the charges against him and has never done anything illegal such as that.

While the Chief Justice has three separate charges pending against him in reference to Article 10 of the Penal Code, Hisaan said that the Chief Justice has said that he does not understand how the charges connect to him.

Hisaan said that Abdulla Saeed has not been questioned by the police regarding the charges against him and has not been allowed to say anything in his defence.

"We are always seeing, on the media, the police saying that they have acquired some evidence. But they have not questioned the Chief Justice regarding that evidence, in the investigation." Hisaan said.

Last Thursday, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) suspended the Chief Justice, Abdulla Saeed, and relieved him of his duties following the case against him.

Talking on that note, lawyer Hisaan said that the JSC made that decision outside the laws of the institute and the law of Judges.

Hisaan said that the JSC can only take action against a judge after a case has been investigated and has no authority to suspend a judge because the police are running an investigation.