Azim and Nashiz do not have any decreed debts that have to be repaid: Lawyer

The team of lawyers representing Alifushi MP Mohamed Nashiz and Medhu-Henveiru MP Ali Azim have said that the MPs do not have any decreed debts that have to be repaid according to a court ruling.

The lawyers said this at the trial at Supreme Court today, of the case filed by a lawyer against the two MPs requesting the court to rule that the two MPs have lost their parliament seats. They said that the earlier ruling by Civil Court said that the money should be repaid within 12 months, and that the mortgaged assets should be sold in the event that it was not possible to repay the debt.

The lawyers said that the bank had come to an agreement with the MPs regarding how to deal with the mortgaged assets, and that the two MPs do not have any debts at Civil Court.

Responding to these claims, the plaintiff and lawyer Mohamed Haleem said that Civil Court had ordered that the money be repaid in full in monthly instalments over a period of 12 months. He said that as the team of lawyers representing the two MPs had said that the MPs had not repaid the money, it can be concluded that the MPs have confessed to failing to repay the debt.

The lawyers representing Azim and Nashiz said that it was on 27 February 2012 that the High Court concluded the case that was appealed in relation to the Civil Court order to repay the loan for which the MPs act as guarantors. They said that as it would only be one year since then on 27 February 2013, it cannot be concluded that they have failed to comply with the court order.

Article 73 of the constitution states that a person shall be disqualified as a member of parliament immediately if he has a decreed debt which is not being paid as provided in the judgement; while article 74 states that any question concerning the qualifications, removal, or vacating of seats of a member of parliament shall be determined by the Supreme Court.