| by Hussain
Fiyaz Moosa
Members at a
Parliament session: Parliament today rejected the emergency motion submitted
against the arrest of former President Nasheed. PHOTO/ PARLIAMENT SECRETARIAT
( October 8,
2012, Male, Sri Lanka Guardian) Parliament today
rejected the emergency motion submitted by Hulhu-henveiru constituency MP Moosa
'Reeko' Manik questioning the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court and
to ignore the arrest warrant issued by the court against former President
Mohamed Nasheed.
Speaker of
Parliament Abdulla Shahid explained today that the motion was dismissed as the
creation of the Hulhumale Court was currently being probed by the Supreme
Court. According to Article 149 of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, an
emergency motion cannot be submitted in relation to a matter ongoing in a court
of law.
Opposition
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) lawmakers had countered the decision by the
Parliament to dismiss the emergency motion.
In that regard,
Moosa stressed that the motion submitted by him was not presently in court as
his motion involved a court that had been created illegally. Galolhu-north
constituency MP Eva Abdulla echoed Moosa’s statement.
Moosa’s
emergency motion detailed that according to the Courts Act, a Magistrate Court
in an island would become automatically void if the four superior courts are
established in the same island. He added that the constitution stipulated that
Hulhumale was in the administrative jurisdiction of Male and hence the
existence of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court in the Male region was a clear
violation of the Courts Act.
The emergency
motion also stated that any order issued by a court that has been created
illegally would be illegitimate in itself. Hence, the arrest warrant issued in
Nasheed’s name should be ignored. The motion submitted by Moosa also
highlighted that by arresting Nasheed and treating the former President
unjustly would enrage the people and result in further strife in the country.
Following the
arrest warrant, Police this morning had arrested Nasheed in Gaaf Dhall Atoll
Faresmathoda during his current campaign tour of the southern Atolls of the
Maldives. Some MDP MPs subsequent to Nasheed’s arrest had begun protesting
inside the Parliament chambers.
