JSC Lawyers, Protected By Majlis Speaker, Extort Millions From Judges: MP Thariq

MP Ahmed "Tom" Thariq (PPM-Mahibadhoo) has stated that judges are being extorted for millions of Rufiyaa by lawyers; members of a law-firm close to Majlis Speaker Mohamed Nasheed; who have positions within the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

MP Thariq stated this when the Majlis floor was opened up to debate the motion that he had submitted which called for the amendment of the Constitution regarding how the JSC was composed.

MP Thariq stated that Maldivian Democratic Party parliamentarians did not wish to speak about changing the composition of the JSC as Majlis Speaker Nasheed and the lawyers of a law firm connected to him wished to remain on the Commission as long as the leader of the opposition, former President Abdullah Yameen, was being tried by the State.

It is likely that MP Thariq was making reference to MP Hisan Hussain (MDP-Thulhaadhoo) and Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath; two people who had run a law-firm together and had previously represented Majlis Speaker Nasheed in court.

MP Thariq accused the lawyers close to the Majlis Speaker of extorting millions from judges who presided over civil cases. "How many judges have been threatened by JSC's lawyers to protect their own interests?" asked MP Thariq.

He further stated that the Prosecutor General, Hussain Shameem, had gone on social media threatening to accuse judges he did not like of engaging in misconduct and to submit their cases to the JSC. MP Thariq said that he had also written that the Majlis Speaker was like a "mother" to him, and he had claimed that it would be "apparent" what would happen if he were to look into the cases of someone he saw as a "mother" to him.