Committee holds closed hearing despite PG Shameem’s request to livestream it

The Parliament held a closed hearing as Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem was summoned to the Judiciary Committee on Thursday to hear his response to a no-confidence motion against him, despite his request to livestream the meeting.

The no-confidence motion against Shameem was submitted by Hulhudhoo MP Mohamed Shahid, a top politician from the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC).

Shameem was summoned before the committee on Thursday morning, to respond to the motion against him.

Ahead of the meeting, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) said Shameem had asked the committee to livestream the hearing.

“The Prosecutor General asked not to have the meeting held in secrecy, but to open it to the public,” said the PGO.

But at Thursday’s meeting, Thulusdhoo MP Ibrahim Naseem said the allegations against Shameem involved the private affairs of other individuals, and proposed holding a closed hearing out of respect for the PG.

The motion was seconded by North Feydhoo MP Ismail Nizar, and passed with the vote of the committee’s members.

In his letter, Shahid cites eight main reasons why Shameem should be dismissed. They are:

• The decision to file the sexual assault case against former tourism minister Ali Waheed
• The decision to file the corruption case against former sports minister Ahmed Mahloof
• The decision not to appeal the lower court’s dismissal of a 2020 rape case, known infamously as the “safari rape case”
• The decision to drop human trafficking charges against former Milandhoo MP Ali Riza
• The decision to drop charges in 77 cases of alcohol consumption
• The decision to drop charges in 13 cases of same-sex relations
• The refusal to look into the allegations of same-sex relations, drug abuse and mockery of Prophet Mohamed against Ahmed Shafeeu, the chief spokesperson of the Prosecutor General’s Office
• The decision not to pursue charges in the ventilator corruption case

The motion comes after a small crowd of protestors gathered outside the Parliament on July 1, demanding Shameem’s resignation. Their main concern was the failure to abolish indefinite detentions.

Shameem was appointed as the prosecutor general on December 8, 2019 by then-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

He had been a frequent target for criticism by PNC leaders back then they had been in the opposition.

Shameem holds a Master of Laws in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice from the University of Sussex, the United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Arts in Shari’a and Law from the Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

Prior to his appointment as the prosecutor general, he served in other top posts at the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office.