Fuad Thawfeeq, former Elections Commissioner has said he maintains that the six-month jail sentence, suspended for three years – a period coming to a close in about three weeks, against him is unlawful.
In a suo moto case initiated by the Supreme Court, Fuad Thawfeeq and Deputy Commissioner Ahmed Fayaz were charged under clause 88 of the penal code for refusing to comply with laws and contempt of court. They were tried and found guilty by the entire bench of judges on 9th March, 2015.
The annex court’s ruling said the Elections Commission had violated its guidelines barring political parties with less than 3,000 members from being disbanded and publicly criticized its ruling.
The Supreme Court had also passed a ruling to annul an election that many observers found to be free and fair, and had placed law enforcement officers all over Malé to keep the commission from carry out run-off presidential elections on the date dictated in the constitution. This caused President Waheed Hassan to extend his stay office outside of his term.
The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives had supported the verdict as many members had delayed re-registration, in line with the court veto of the election. Fuad Thaufeeq had openly stated that the ruling obstructed the constitutionally mandated duty of the commission.
“There was fear mongering, there were threats”
Thaufeeq, who left to Sri Lanka shortly after the ruling was passed and has lived there since, told RaajjeMV that parliamentarians and prominent figures had tried to constraint the commission.
“The attempts to thwart us did not impact our work at all” Thaufeeq said “All the members of the commission were dedicated to fulfilling their duty, and we paid no mind to termination, which we all knew was imminent”.
He called the ruling bizzare, citing the constitution’s clause which state that only the Parliament can alter commission membership.
Thaufeeq said he currently he has no wish to return to the Maldives, and that he would only do so if he could use his merit to support his nation.
“Every state servant true to the constitution and rule of law has been forced out of the country” he continued “Like Auditor General Ahmed Niyaz, he caused one of the biggest corruption cases in our history to surface, and he was fired for it”.
Suspended sentences are often dismissed if the offender does not commit any crimes within the period of suspension.
