Lawyer and Kulhudhuffushi-dhekunu MP Mohamed Nasheed has said that some lawyers in the Maldives assist their criminal-suspect clients to cover up their crimes.
Nasheed said in an article published on his blog yesterday that lawyers, instead of lawfully defending their clients, often assist them in illegal activities such as hiding their criminal activities.
He said that some criminal gangs in Maldives retain lawyers by paying them monthly salaries. The criminals often hold discussions with these lawyers prior to committing crimes, to obtain legal advice on ways to escape the legal procedure afterwards.
Nasheed also accused lawyers of influencing people who provide testimonies against criminal suspects, and said that most senior people in the criminal justice sector are aware of such activities.
He said that this results in people hesitating to provide testimonies against criminal suspects.
“Due to lawyers’ influence, people often refuse to provide statements, or wish to revise previous statements, or say that they do not wish to provide statements, or travel abroad to avoid the Court process,” he said.
Referring to situations in which more than one person is arrested for a crime, Nasheed said that the suspects are held in separate rooms, as keeping them together could encourage them to agree on a story thereby obstructing the investigation.
However, the same lawyer is often appointed by all of them, resulting in the lawyer misusing his opportunity to meet the suspects separately to ensure that the suspects’ stories match. The lawyer even creates new stories in order to save his clients.
Nasheed said that stolen money is sometimes used by criminal suspects to make payments to their lawyers.
Nasheed also suggested several solutions to these problems associated with lawyers.
He proposed that the conversations between lawyers and detained suspects be recorded, even though these meetings are held in private. In the event that they are suspected of attempting to obstruct justice, the Court can issue a warrant to listen to the recordings and take necessary action.
Nasheed highlighted that the Constitution guarantees the right to a lawyer, but it does not state that the conversations between the lawyer and his client should remain a secret.
He said that in other countries, laws exist to govern how the conversations between lawyers and their clients can be held secret, and if suspicions arise of illegal activities, the law on keeping the conversations a secret would no longer apply.
“I am not a criminal defence lawyer. However, when the sunset bill was made, I listened to senior members of relevant state institutions discuss ways to address the challenges faced due to crime in the society. One and a half years later, they are still discussing the same thing. This article was based on the information obtained from them,” the accomplished lawyer, who has submitted several important bills to the Parliament, said in his blog.