Maldives Parliament votes to oust Supreme Court judge

MALE, Maldives – The Maldives’ Parliament on Wednesday voted to oust a Supreme Court judge for the first time after an investigation found him guilty of accepting bribes and using his position to gain inappropriate favours.

Justice Abdulla Didi was ousted by a vote of 72-0, with one lawmaker abstaining.

The Judicial Service Commission found Didi guilty of nine charges, including accepting money from people suspected of having embezzled public funds, using his influence to secure a government job for his wife, and accepting bribes to issue specific sentences to politicians. He has denied the allegations.

Didi served as a judge in the Criminal Court and High Court before being nominated to the Supreme Court last year.

In 2015, when Didi was a judge in the Criminal Court, he gave a highly criticized 13-year prison sentence to former President Mohamed Nasheed over his order to arrest a judge while he was in office from 2008 to 2012. The sentence, which came during the rule of strongman President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, was widely criticized as biased and politically motivated.

Nasheed and other politicians jailed under Yameen’s government were released after current President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih took office, and others returned from exile. Solih defeated Yameen in last year’s presidential election.