Wednesday
30th Oct 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem.
Lawyers of Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has begun a no-confidence motion on Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem.
The motion came following the resignation of Senior Public Prosecutor Aishath Mohamed had recused herself from her position as senior prosecutor on Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) case.
TMJ had obtained the letter presented by Prosecutor Mohamed when recusing herself from the case. She made serious allegations against PG Shameem. As such she alleged that PG Shameem had clear bias towards his staff. Her letter had detailed the differences.
He further said the PG’s actions on the matter does not indicate the case would go in an unbiased manner.
The first issue she noted was that PG Shameem had signed in on as the lawyer for an individual who had been granted immunity by the state and that he had refused to recuse himself from the case. The state had granted immunity to two of the individuals heavily involved in MMPRC case – former President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor and former Managing Director of MMPRC Abdullah Ziyath.
Prosecutor Mohamed noted that all evidence in MMPRC was based on the testimony of these two individuals under state immunity.
She went on to add that PG Shameem had held on to documents regarding the case filed on Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof in connection to MMPRC. PG Shameem had initially recused himself from the case. Even after he had recused himself from the case, his interference had continued. PG Shameem held on to appeal forms made by the team, way past the due date, after Criminal Court had decreed the case cannot be reviewed as a civil matter.
She further says that while PG is serving a supervisorial role, he had not had any discussions with the team. Instead, PG Shameem had opted to deliver his messages and instructions to the team via three other Prosecutors.
Prosecutor Mohamed formally recused herself from the case from April 16th on ward, refusing to attend court on hearings.
Sources report that PG Shameem had not communicated with any staff on Sunday. PGO prosecutors had continued to amass signatures on the no confidence motion.
PGO lawyers confirmed to TMJ that these problems were because of PG Shameem. The overarching complaint is that PG Shameem had clear bias, both on cases and PGO prosecutors. These actions, they say had soured the atmosphere in the Office and staff say there is no camaraderie between staff anymore.