Maldives SC rules against admissibility of secret witnesses in petition by President Abdulla Yameen

NewsBharati    16-Oct-2018
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Male, October 16: Maldives Supreme Court has ruled against admissibility of secret witnesses in a petition by President Abdulla Yameen to cancel the elections last month. The court delivered the ruling this afternoon after a three-day hearing during which the president’s lawyer argued that witnesses could face serious threats if their identities were revealed.


 

The lawyer also alleged that the voting procedures in the presidential election were designed to favor his opponents.

The Elections Commission’s lawyer objected to allowing the secret witnesses in a case and asserted for fairness of elections.

President Yameen is contesting the election results despite publicly accepting his defeat against opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The latter is scheduled to take over as new President on 17th November.

The ruling party led by President Abdullah Yameen challenged the results of the September 23 election at the Supreme Court. Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) in a statement said that the party has been overwhelmed with numerous genuine concerns related to the elections, including serious allegations of vote rigging, fraud, malpractice and corruption.

It said, the decision to seek legal recourse was taken in accordance with the response by the Maldives Police Service. Election commission had earlier rejected PPM’s allegations and declared opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's victory with a record 38,000-vote margin.