Comment: What case, if there is no Judge Abdulla?

President Mohamed Nasheed is being prosecuted, accused of using the military to remove ‘Chief Judge of the Maldives Criminal Court’. Found guilty, Nasheed will lose the chance to contest elections; and the public will lose the first consistent voice for democratic change for nearly a quarter of a century.

On 17 January 2011, Abdulla Mohamed, who sat as Chief Judge of Criminal Court, was forcibly “removed” by the military. Political opponents of Nasheed, all once linked to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, quickly screamed foul, praised “Top Judge Ablow”, wreaked havoc on Male’ streets, damaged public property in nightly riots, and by 7 February had co-opted the security forces in a drama that unfolded live on local media.

This Criminal Court, which in fact was the ‘subject’ of the political crisis, had kept the nightly ‘vigil’ for “Judge Ablow”, systematically releasing detainees and helping to sustain numbers out on the streets. Those released praised Allah on social media, their release a sign that victory was theirs and God was with them.