A complaint has been filed at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights alleging the government of intimidating and influencing the Supreme Court justices.
The case was filed by Justice Husnu Suood who recently resigned after accusing President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and his Attorney General (AG) Ahmed Usham of intimidating judges.
In his case, Suood said the suspension of three Supreme Court justices was aimed at halting the constitutional case on an amendment that empowers political parties to disqualify MPs for leaving the party.
Suood and Justices Mahaz Ali Zahir and Dr. Azmiralda Zahir were suspended shortly after the government-controlled parliament approved a bill to remove two justices and shrink the Supreme Court bench to five members.
According to the case, the government worked in many different ways to obstruct and influence the Supreme Court to pressure the court into rejecting the constitutional case.
The Supreme Court currently cannot hear any constitutional cases because of the suspension of justices as constitutional cases must be heard by the full seven-member bench of the court.
The three Supreme Court judges were suspended after announcing an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) probe against them. However, the ACC has not disclosed any details of the case.
In addition to the case, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is also investigating other cases against Azmiralda and Mahaz. These include allegations of pressuring Criminal Court judges to release Azmiralda's husband who was arrested during a police raid at a spa and Suood using offensive language in the presence of Mahaz and Azmiralda towards the High Court Administrator.
Suood said the independence of the courts is being hampered by the presence of political figures in the JSC. He added that previous governments have also put pressure on the judges if a court rules in a way unfavorable to them.
Noting that all the governments that came into power after 2013 had promised to change the composition of the JSC, Suood said that no government has fulfilled that promise and is using the JSC as a political weapon.
The situation was worsened by the 2018 and 2023 elections, which gave the ruling party a large majority in parliament.
Alleging that Muizzu was trying to take full control of the three powers of the state, Suood requested the UN Commissioner for Human Rights to call on the government to lift the suspension of the judges and immediately cease the efforts to shrink the bench.
