The Parliament has voted to remove Supreme Court judges Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir from the top court's bench today. At the parliamentary session held today, 68 MPs voted in favour of removing the judges, while 11 MPs voted against it.
The judges were impeached amid calls from local and international organizations urging the Parliament to postpone the process to remove the top court judges.
In a statement yesterday, the Maldives Human Rights Commission (HRCM) said that the decision to remove the judges while the Supreme Court investigates the revisions to the Constitution was an act of judicial influence.
Parliamentary Counsel General Fatima Filza also suggested that the dismissals of the judges were illegally heard. But the Judiciary Committee decided that the JSC completed the cases of the two judges according to the procedures.
The two judges requested the parliament Committee to hear their testimonies, but were denied the chance to address the Committee. The Committee hearings were then held behind closed doors.
The judges were impeached after they were found guilty of misconduct when they allegedly influenced lower court judges to help release Azmiralda's husband, Dr. Ismail Latheef, from custody.
