Criminal Court Judge Hussain Faiz Rashad Suspended Amid Judicial Inquiry

Criminal Court Judge Hussain Faiz Rashad has been suspended for 60 days in connection with an ongoing inquiry by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). The reason for the suspension has not been officially disclosed.

Judge Faiz was previously suspended in November 2021 over leaked audio recordings in which he was allegedly heard discussing former President Abdulla Yameen’s 2019 money laundering trial. That suspension was lifted in December 2021 after the JSC determined that the voice in the recordings did not match Judge Faiz’s.

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Judge Faiz was transferred from the Civil Court to the Criminal Court in February 2019. Prior to this, he served as president of the Employment Tribunal.

Faiz recently issued an order to release the suspected drug lord, Ali Anwar Mohamed, from police custody. Anwar, who is accused of being involved in smuggling narcotics into the country, was held in remand for five days last week but was released on Saturday when his remand period expired. Judge Faiz has also faced scrutiny over his handling of the Haleemath Lamha murder case, in which Lamha has been held in remand.

Ali Anwar is facing a separate case involving the alleged smuggling of 70 kilograms of drugs into the Maldives via an Iranian vessel. Authorities attempted to arrest him under a separate order after his release, but he had already left for Sri Lanka. Following coordination with Sri Lankan authorities, Anwar was deported back to the Maldives and arrested upon arrival.

Anwar was first arrested in October 2019 during a joint operation between the Maldives and Sri Lankan Coast Guard and police, during which 70 kilograms of drugs were seized from two vessels: an Iranian ship and the Maldivian fishing boat Hedheykuri-7. Anwar, who has a prior record of theft, is alleged to have been one of three men involved in the smuggling operation.

Judge Faiz has previously granted bail to Haleemath Lamha on two occasions in connection with the 2021 murder of IGMH nurse Mary Grace. Both rulings were annulled by the High Court. Lamha was released from custody earlier this month, but the prosecution presented the ruling again to the High Court, which instructed that measures be taken regarding her remand.