Nasheed: Reasons for warrant to seize ‘India Out’ banner wasn’t clear to court

Parliament speaker, former president Mohamed Nasheed said on Monday that the High Court overturned the warrant issued by the Criminal Court to enter former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s residence to remove the ‘India Out’ banner hanging from the building because the reasons why the police wanted to remove the court wasn’t clear to the court. 

At the parliamentary sitting on Monday morning, Nasheed said the police sought the warrant to remove the banner for six main reasons. 

“One thing I know from looking at the High Court ruling is that the High Court wasn’t completely clear on the reasons why the police filed for the warrant with the Criminal Court. The police did not file for the warrant based on just one reason,” he said. 

Police had removed the banner hanging from Yameen’s residence, Dhoovehi in Henveiru district of Male’ City, on April 21, shortly after President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih issued a decree banning the ‘India Out’ movement. 

Yameen had filed a case with the High Court over the incident. 

The High Court ruled in favor of Yameen and quashed the warrant on Sunday. The High Court decided that though the Criminal Court issued the warrant on suspicion of disorderly conduct, the police failed to establish the act. 

The court said that though the police claimed that hanging the banner was a criminal offense, the reason why Yameen was previously asked to remove the banner wasn’t clear. The court also said that the police had asked to seize evidence in the court warrant, nothing except for the banner was seized from the building. 

The case was heard by a bench of three judges; Judge Hassan Shafeeu, Judge Mohamed Niyaz, and Judge Hussain Shaheed. 

The decision was unanimous.