Maldives judiciary and coup of 2012

The judiciary has its evil in the way it was formed in 2008 to compliment with the Green Constitution. The Judicial Service Commission at that time also was hijacked by the bench of interim Supreme Court. Furthermore they undermined the constitution by self reorganizing to become the permanent bench. Some from the bar and MDP activists immediately recognized the evil deeds of the then chief Justice and activists of MDP immediately went on strike and locked the Supreme Court. Even then, the current government which was in opposition at the time were sympathising with the bench. The ramifications of this lead to formation of a bench in a haste in an extra session of the Majilis. The bench formed was mainly of judges with strong sharia background with not much academic exposure to common laws practiced in most civilized democratic countries. In addition judge’s appointments had questionable integrity related issues. This was confirmed and well proven by the then JSC member Ms. Velizinee.

Major litmus test of judiciary came with the coup of 2012. The bench in particular was faced with a major test of integrity and of serving justice. The complacency shown by whole bench in the events before, during and after the coup really showed their partial nature and their romance with the old dictatorial regime elements. The grassroots ran havoc on streets with no sense or awareness of rule of law. Grassroots were blamed for several attacks on law enforcement infrastructure, while their agony and pain was overlooked. Also the grassroots with no sense of rule of law were lead in to a nostalgic dilemma by not providing guidance and legality of toppling of government. Instead the Chief Justice’s immediate action was to sworn in the incumbent vice president who was a major player of the coup. This response immediately legitimized the actions of uniformed bodies before, during and after the coup event. It also gave coup perpetrators and sympathizers powers which lead to more repercussions. Till this day the elements of uniformed bodies guilty of several crimes committed on day of coup, remains immune to justice. For the grassroots and the watchful minds a clear fraternity between the judiciary and coup perpetrators was obvious.

In essence the coup of 2012 became the saviour of the judiciary which was faced with heavy criticism, during the silence before the storm of coup. Soon after the coup the judiciary started enjoying their honeymoon, with overwhelming immunity and impunity. Their romance with dictatorial elements who perpetrated the coup, and coup sympathisers and collaborators continued leading to erosion of rule of law and justice. Justice in the country became a joke even to the layman. Any coup collaborators or sympathisers were proven innocent before going in to courts. Anyone who is against coup will be guilty before s/he appears in court.  Day by day grassroots became aware of the romancing of judiciary with a particular political party. The public lost their trust in the whole judiciary. This was compounded by the dictatorial nature of judicial watch dog which from day one was a puppet of the bench.

In 2013, the election became a war of coup perpetrators and their allies and the rest of the public. In a first round the public showed a relentless overwhelming support for coup antagonists, the MDP. Fear began looming within the bench and their allies enjoying the sweet honey moon. MDP became more vocal on reforming judiciary and gained overwhelming support.  The looming fear with in judiciary and bench became more obvious when they intervened to an internationally acclaimed transparent electoral process ongoing. Their allies in law enforcement and government by then cooked up a blatant litany of a report regarding elections. This became the catalyst for them to annul the elections jeopardising the hopes of coup antagonists. The grassroots later found the fallacies of this report which was heavily criticized by the Election Commission. This also provided the coup perpetrators and their allies to utilize all available resources to turn the election in their favour. They had just one focus on mind, which was winning the election by hook or crook. They pledged to deliver everything under the sky to a deprived public. In addition the uniformed bodies were politicised to a great extent. Some long serving loyal and capable officers were sacked or made voluntarily redundant. The election was won by the judiciary and the bench as it turned in their favour. In reality the election gave judiciary with the immunity they have been dreaming since beginning. Their immunity and impunity lead to a judicial dictatorship.

MDP garnered further support and strength from grass roots and kept their spirits alive by being consistent with their pledge to reform judiciary. Fear lurking within the bench again awakened.  Fear of MDP wining Maldives Majilis and the bench getting dissolved was not far from reality. Fear of bench lead to utilize new tactics by becoming the jury, the judge and the plaintiff in a case which even the layman and grass roots understands as injustice. Finally the verdict to jail president of the Elections Commission was given by the bench. The verdict was a clear abrogation of the Green Constitution. The bench once again laid down a path to remain immune.  

I believe the fraternity of coup perpetrators and collaborators with the bench and judiciary at large is the root cause of the mutilation of the fledgling democracy of the Maldives. The irony is the silence of the bar and lawyers, posing the grass roots in to a dilemma. Additionally the international community keeps giving a blind eye to the whole scenario. However the spring is not far as the grassroots day by day become aware of social justice and democracy. The reactions and actions of bench and JSC further convince the grassroots of their unjust and corrupt behaviours. One’s actions become a blessing for others in disguise. The response of the bench may garner further support to MDP. Their slogan to reform judiciary keeps gaining more support.