Former President Mohamed Nasheed has requested that the Commonwealth to extend assistance and work to bring about a reformation to the Maldivian government structure, instead of trying to investigate the procedure of his trial.
President Nasheed said this during his meeting with the delegates sent by the Commonwealth’s Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma. The meeting was held in the Dhoonidhoo Jail where Nasheed is temporarily serving his 13 year prison sentence until special quarters for him are built in Maafushi Jail. The delegate also plans to meet with Nasheed’s legal team and high officials of State institutions.
The Commonwealth’s main purpose is to investigate Nasheed’s trial and submit a report on it to the Commonwealth’s Secretary General, Nasheed’s legal team said.
In a news conference given by Nasheed’s legal team in Mookai hotel, legal advisor and former Minister Hassan Latheef said that the delegates had met with Nasheed’s legal team, and that the delegates had done as the legal team had requested. The team requested that the delegates not to inquire Nasheed regarding his trial without the presence of his legal team.
Nasheed’s legal team said that the reason Nasheed does not want the Commonwealth to write their report is because he does not believe that any change will come of it, and because neither the government nor other political parties completely trust the Commonwealth. They also said that many had already written detailed reports on his trial, and that Nasheed believes that the Commonwealth already knows about the poor state of the Justice System in Maldives, and so does not think that compiling a report would be productive.
“The people in opposition find it hard to trust the Commonwealth after their outcome of investigating the political situation in 2012. We also notice that even the government does not trust the Commonwealth since they are the target of the Commonwealth’s criticism. Nasheed had raised this issue with the delegates.” said Hassan Latheef.
He also said that Nasheed had informed the delegates that establishing a presidential system through a coalition was not a good idea, and that the issues faced by President Yameen now was the same issues faced by Nasheed during his rule with a coalition, and that both presidencies would end in the same way. Nasheed had also asked the Commonwealth delegates to work on changing the Maldivian governance system he believes that only the Commonwealth could make it happen.
Hassan Latheef said that Nasheed has yet to meet his international legal team, and requests to Police for a meeting has so far been fruitless.
Police said yesterday that Nasheed will not be able to meet with the foreign lawyers in his legal team since they were not registered in the Maldives. Regarding this, Hassan Latheef said that the policies of the Attorney General’s Office are only for Maldivian lawyers, and that since Nasheed’s international legal team are working outside of the country, he does not believe that such permissions need to be given to them.
Hassan Latheef said that even convicts who have been pardoned or given a lighter sentence are also given the right to use a lawyer by many laws including article 53(a) of the Constitution. He said that the Constitution gives Nasheed the right to any lawyer, anytime, from any place.