Tagged: Maldives coup

It’s the judiciary, stupid

by Azra Naseem

We had information that on 8 February Mohamed Nasheed would close other courts in the Maldives, send all judges home, and acting on his own, would establish a Judicial Reform Commission. From then onwards, it would be this Commission that would appoint all magistrates. ~2013 Presidential Candidate, Umar Naseer (PPM).

I learned about President Nasheed’s intention to establish a Judicial Reform Commission—or in whatever name it maybe—only after the government changed. ~ 2013 Presidential Candidate, Abdulla Yameen (PPM)

We don’t know for sure whether Mohamed Nasheed was planning to form a Judicial Reform Commission on 8 February 2012 or not. But, leaders of the National Alliance, especially PPM, have made it clear what motivated them most to be out on the streets protesting until Nasheed’s government ended was the prospect of Nasheed making changes to the judiciary .

Many ‘intelligence-based’ reasons were offered  for the National Alliance’s opposition to the expected changes: Nasheed’s Judicial Reform Commission was going to be totally under his control; it was a way for Nasheed to usurp judicial power; it was Nasheed’s means of destroying the judiciary.

Truth of the matter is all parties in the National Alliance would have been opposed to judicial reform in whatever form it came.

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Deputy Commissioner Hussein Waheed was in bed during mutiny: CoNI Testimony

by Azra Nasaeem

Current Deputy Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheedh gave a testimony to the Commission of National Inquiry [CoNI] on the events of 7 February 2012. At the time, he was an Assistant Commissioner of Police. This is a translation from the Dhivehi transcript of his testimony, focusing on the night of 6th and early hours of 7th February.

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“Nasheed never phoned me”: Waheed on 7/2

by Azra Naseem

Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, who took oath of office as President of the Maldives on 7 February, gave an interview to the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) on 8 May 2012. Dhivehi Sitee has seen a copy of the English translation of the interview. Shared here is Dhivehi Sitee’s reading of the document. Some of the questions and responses have been summarised for brevity. Where I have been unable to decipher a coherent meaning from the translation, I have left the text and words as is, marked [sic].

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