Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed has confirmed that the documents submitted to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) regarding the territorial dispute between the Maldives and Mauritius had been shared by the Attorney General's Office with the Parliament.
At Monday's Parliament sitting, Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath said the documents pertaining to the Maldives-Mauritius dispute were shared with the Parliament.
Affirming the claim, Nasheed said the documents were indeed received by the Parliament and said the Attorney General had asked them to be kept confidential until the case reached a resolution. The purpose behind this request was to prevent the disclosure of any document, evidence, or proof that could potentially be used against the Maldives in the case, Nasheed explained.
Nasheed noted that although the Attorney General's letter is dated February 17, 2022, the Parliament received the letter on a different date. However, Nasheed did not give the details on the discrepancy.
Reading from the letter, Nasheed stated that international lawyers appointed to represent the Maldives advised that the contents of the documents submitted to the tribunal should remain confidential until the open hearings of the case.
Nasheed further mentioned that he had uploaded the case documents to the MPs' portal once the ITLOS case concluded. Notably, the letter sent by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to the Prime Minister of Mauritius, recognizing the Chagos archipelago as part of Mauritius, was not included in the documents shared by the Attorney General. It is believed that this letter had a significant impact on the ITLOS decision.
