Complaint filed at Bar Council against its President

A disciplinary complaint has been filed at the Bar Council against the council's President Maumoon Hameed.

The complaint was filed by former council member of opposing Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Zahid Rameez.

Maumoon Hameed was the defense lawyer of an individual linked to the murder of blogger Yameen Rasheed.

In his complaint, Zahid said he was named as a defense witness of Maumoon's client Ismail Rasheed in Yameen's murder trial. However, he has never been acquainted with Ismail Rasheed, said Zahid. The former council member accused naming him as a witness as an attempt to politicize the trial.

Zahid further said several attempts have been made to tarnish his reputation over many years by linking him to Yameen Rasheed. The actions of Maumoon Hameed is highly unprofessional while he is also the Bar Council's President, said Zahid. He further accused Maumoon of having violated Article 39, b and 42, of the Lawyer's Act.

The letter sent by Zahid to the Bar Council requested to look further into the matter and take action against its president.

During the most recent hearing in Yameen's murder trial, the court ordered to summon Zahid to the Criminal Court, stating that Zahid had given death threats to Yameen Rasheed prior to his murder. The decision to summon Zahid was made on the request of Ismail Rasheed's lawyers.

Yameen Rasheed, a 29-year-old social media activist was found with severe stab injuries in the stairwell of his home in April 2017 and was rushed to the state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) where he was pronounced dead shortly after.

Six suspects are charged with first degree murder.

Yameen was very vocal about receiving death threats for publishing his strong views on politics and religious extremism through his political-satire blog ‘The Daily Panic’. He had even claimed on social media that he reported these threats to the police, but that it fell on deaf ears. However, the police claim that they did investigate the threats and gave regular updates to Yameen.