Parliament sacks Thinadhoo magistrate in judicial first

Parliament has overwhelmingly voted to dismiss Thinadhoo Magistrate Ibrahim Rasheed for verbally abusing a woman in public. 

The historic motion to oust the Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll magistrate was passed on Wednesday with 70 votes for the motion and none against. 

The Judicial Service Commission found Rasheed, 41, guilty of breaking the ethical code for judges and magistrates after publicly accusing a woman of illicit sexual intercourse and of having an abortion. 

“This is not something a judge, who has sworn to serve justice, should be doing. If we protect judges such as Rasheed the Maldives may turn into Sodom someday,” Mickail Naseem, a lawmaker wrote on Twitter. 

Rasheed has a poor disciplinary record and was arrested in 2007 for being in “a state of intoxication” in public. Drugs were found on the ground nearby. 

However, the High Court subsequently released the magistrate citing a violation of due process. 

Meanwhile, the judicial watchdog is investigating Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Didi, Family Court Chief Judge Hassan Saeed and Mohamed Raqib, who is the chief magistrate of Kaafu atoll.

Didi is accused of taking a US$1 million bribe to sentence former President Mohamed Nasheed to 13 years in jail.

He is also suspected of receiving stolen money from the MVR1.3 billion (US$84.1 million) Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation corruption scam.

Saeed is accused of obstructing an internal investigation into sexual harassment against an employee employee of the court, while Raqib has five cases against him, the details of which have not been disclosed.