Judge alleges coercion to sentence ex-president

Hours before he was due to deliver a verdict in the opposition leader’s money laundering trial on Tuesday, the Judicial Service Commission suspended the criminal court’s chief judge for sharing a cartoon of the president and speaker of parliament paraded in chains. On the following day, the watchdog launched a separate probe into a financial transaction of US$12,995 between Judge Hailam and former MP Alhan Fahmy in May.

In a press statement, Hailam accused the JSC of suspending him and tarnishing his reputation with bribery allegations for refusing to assure that Yameen would be found guilty. He apologised for sharing the cartoon on the criminal court’s Viber group and insisted that he was unaware of the depictions of the president and speaker.

Since hearings began in July, government officials tried to directly and indirectly influence Yameen’s money laundering trial, Hailam alleged. The efforts intensified last Sunday and Monday, he added.