Shakoor gave highlights of today’s Supreme Court (SC) rulings and Hussein Shareef spoke about the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) foreign Campaign Manager’s violation of visa regulations.
James McGrath
Hussein Shareef said that the Maumoon 2008 Campaign has received information in the form of email correspondence that indicate that the MDP’s campaign manager is a white British national by the name of James McGrath.
Hussein Shareef said that McGrath is a member of the British Conservative Party who had played a pivotal role in current Conservative London mayor Boris Johnson’s mayoral campaign until he was forced to resign due to racist remarks he had made against the black population of London.
Hussein Shareef also said that McGrath is spending time in the Maldives on a tourist visa and that he has violated visa regulations by actively taking part in Maldivian political activities. He said that he will bring McGrath’s violation to the attention of the Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE). He also said that he would complain to the British government for McGrath’s involvement in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.
According to an article printed on the BBC News UK website, 34-year-old James McGrath is an Australian national who has worked for the British Conservative Party for 7 years. He was appointed director of political strategy at City Hall under Johnson’s mayorship. McGrath resigned following allegations of racism in connection with remarks that he had made to reporter Marc Wadsworth of the-latest.com website. McGrath had responded to a question regarding British-Caribbeans threatening to leave the country en masse if a right-wing Conservative such as Johnson is elected mayor by saying “well let them (Caribbeans) go if they don’t like it here (Britain)”.
Hussein Shareef expressed concerns over the fact that McGrath with his reported attitude towards people of races other than his is not only involved in but controlling the MDP’s Presidential campaign as he feels that email correspondence between MDP leaders and McGrath indicate
Precedents
Shakoor said that today the SC has set two important precedents for the future of Maldivian justice today.
She said that she applauds the SC’s decision to declare that no law can apply retrospectively to actions taken place prior to the establishment of the law. She said that this maxim is followed in democratic countries worldwide and that the SC’s decision is both academic and just.
She said that the existing maxim for civil in the Maldives is that courts rule in favor of the party that presents a weightier probability. She said that the criminal court demands that the prosecution proves the defendants guilt beyond reasonable doubt and that now the SC has set the precedent that they demand the prosecution to prove guilt beyond all doubt.
Theft
In response to a request for comment on whether the SC’s ruling in favor of the EC’s decision to approve Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Presidential candidate Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed’s bid for the presidency confirms Nasheed’s innocence, Shakoor stated that the SC had made no comment on whether the Nasheed had or had not committed a crime.
She explained that the Court had said that there are two categories of theft under Shari’a Law one classified as thauzeeree and the other as deserving of a hadd. She said that the latter crime which if committed by a Presidential hopeful would disqualify their bid for the candidacy as per Article 109(g) of the 2008 Constitution, requires, in the event of no confession from the defendant, the testimony of two valid witnesses under Shari’a Law. As the criminal courts have decided that in Nasheed’s case the crime is classified as thauzeeree theft, Moosa Anwar’s case has no legal standing.
Convicts’ Vote
She also said that the high court has declared that Article 5(b) of the General Electoral Rules Act 2008 is in violation of the political rights set out in Article 16(a) of the 2008 Constitution.The case had been filed by both the Jumhooree Party (JP) and the AP, and that the JP’s case was heard as the ruling would decide the court’s stand on the issue.
Shakoor said that this effectively removes the restriction on convicts serving sentences in excess of 5 years from voting in elections.
She welcomed this change and said that the judiciary in general has set precedents today that deserve praise for their justice.
Deadlines
Shakoor also said that the high court has also decided that Article 22 of the Presidential Electoral Rules Act 2008 is not in violation of the 2008 Constitution in the case of Social Liberal Party (SLP) vs Article 22 of the Presidential Rules Act 2008.
Shakoor said that the court had said that the transitional chapter of the Constitution sets the deadlines for the 2008 Presidential elections for 10 October 2008 and that Article 22 of the Presidential Electoral Rules Act upholds this constitutional deadline.
The JP, Maldives National Congress (MNC) and AP had also filed suit to the same effect.
Shakoor said that the Maumoon 2008 Campaign welcomes the high court decisions as well as it is the campaign’s wish to have the elections held on the deadline that the Constitutional Assembly which represented the people of the Maldives had set out in the 2008 Constitution.
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