Police withdraws security for Judge Bari’s family

The former chief judge of the criminal court has accused the police of withdrawing security for his family after he threatened to expose “the evil-doing of ignorant tyrants”.

“If you think that taking away the security of my wife and children would scare me you are mistaken. Come kill me if you have the guts,” Judge Abdul Bari Yousuf wrote in a Facebook post Sunday night.

Bari was transferred to the juvenile court in early July after he threw out bribery charges raised against Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim.

The allegation concerning the security came in the latest of a series of Facebook messages from the judge claiming to have evidence of illegal activities and threatening to expose the people involved.

“Verily they are of the ignorants and oppressors. Details of their tyranny and people involved will be revealed soon,” he wrote Thursday.

Three days later, Bari posted: “When a person is taught to oppress and rob people of their money and possessions and if he obeys and practices what he is taught, is there no one who is more oppressive than him.”

A police spokesman said he could not reveal details of security assigned to top state officials.

Hassan Zaheen, the spokesman of the Judicial Service Commission, also refused to comment saying that providing security for judges is not part of the watchdog’s mandate.

Bari has been a controversial figure over his role in several high-profile trials. He was part of the bench that jailed former President Mohamed Nasheed and former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim after rushed trials that drew widespread condemnation over the apparent lack of due process.

He also sentenced Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla in February last year and oversaw five trials on graft and terror charges against former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb.

Bari was reportedly questioned by the JSC, a 10-member oversight body for the judiciary shortly after Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Areef was appointed to the commission to replace outgoing chair Justice Ali Hameed in early July.

The criminal court’s former chief judge, Abdulla Mohamed, was also abruptly transferred to the family court in February last year. The JSC did not specify a reason for the move at the time.