Male, Feb 25 (IANS): The prosecutor general and two of the judges presiding over the trial of former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed on terror charges are also state witnesses against the opposition leader, a media report said Wednesday.
Documents sent by the court Tuesday contained witness statements from Prosecutor General Muhthaz Muhsin and judges Abdulla Didi and Abdul Bari Yusuf, MiniVan News reported citing Hassan Latheef, a member of Nasheed's legal team.
“This is a clear violation of Islamic Sharia and law and also international judicial principles. The prosecution, witnesses and the judge cannot be the same person or same parties,” Latheef said.
Nasheed was arrested Sunday on terror charges along with key members of his administration.
Muhsin, a former criminal court judge, filed terrorism charges against Nasheed, his former defence minister and senior officers of the military over the controversial detention of criminal court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed in January 2012.
Nasheed's secretariat released a statement Wednesday suggesting that “the conflict of interest that arises from the deliberation of a trial by both the prosecutor and the witness is blatant”.
In a counter statement, the PG office noted that while all documents, including all the witness statements obtained by the police were forwarded to the court, “no witnesses or evidence have so far been presented to the court regarding the case”.
Meanwhile, Nasheed's legal team has appealed against the criminal court's arrest warrant at the high court.
The second hearing of Nasheed's trial is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m.