Justice Dr. Azmiraaldha Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir have been dismissed from their positions as Supreme Court Justices. The judges were dismissed by a vote taken in today’s People’s Majlis session. In separate votes, 68 members voted to dismiss both judges. After the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) sent the matter of dismissing two Supreme Court judges to the People’s Majlis, the Judiciary Committee of the Majlis studied the matter and decided that there were no procedural issues in dismissing the two judges. The Constitution states that a judge can be removed from office if the Judicial Service Commission believes that the person is not qualified for the position of judge, or that the judge has committed an act unbecoming of the position, and submits the matter to the People’s Majlis, where it passes with a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting at a session of the Majlis.

The dismissal of Dr. Azmiraaldha Zahir and Ustaz Mahaz Ali Zahir from their positions as Supreme Court Justices was passed by more than two-thirds of the members present at the Majlis session in separate votes. As such, 68 members voted to dismiss the two judges, while 11 members voted against. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) sent the matter to the People’s Majlis to dismiss Justice Azmiraaldha and Justice Mahaz after determining that they were guilty of misconduct in a case where they were accused of influencing lower court judges to release Dr. Ismail Lateef, Azmiraaldha’s husband, from detention.

The JSC report states that it has been proven that Supreme Court Justice Dr. Azmiraaldha Zahir and Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir, through Criminal Court Judge Saffath Habeeb, influenced Judge Ibrahim Zihunee, who made the decision regarding detention in the case of Dr. Ismail Lateef, who was taken into police custody on April 04, 2025, when he was brought to the Criminal Court to decide on his detention.

Therefore, as the actions of Dr. Azmiraaldha Zahir and Mahaz are contrary to the Constitution, the Judges Act of the Maldives, and the Judges’ Code of Conduct, the JSC has requested to decide on their judgeships under the JSC Act. After studying the case, many members of the Majlis supported the Judiciary Committee’s decision to dismiss the two judges. Members have stated that it has been proven that the two judges influenced the lower court judges.

While speaking on the matter of dismissing the judges, members also shared statistics on decisions made by the JSC regarding cases related to judges. Members also stated that the judiciary was most influenced during the previous MDP administration.

According to statistics, from November 2018 to 2023, 56 actions were taken against judges. This includes dismissing 8 judges, demoting 3 judges, and suspending 12 judges. The number of judges who were reprimanded after being found guilty of misconduct reached 33. However, in this government, only 5 actions have been taken against judges so far. This includes suspending 3 judges and 2 cases of examining judges’ misconduct and reprimanding them, as stated by the members.

The police have also denied the claims made by the family that the former Controller of Immigration, Shamaan Waheed, was arrested through framing. He was dismissed from his position and arrested on the night of March 21. Shamaan’s family has been claiming that he has been “unjustly arrested and detained for many days” and suspecting that he has been framed. The family also stated in a released statement that Home Minister Ali Ihsan started working to detain Shamaan because of Ihsan’s “video”. However, they did not provide details of these allegations.

At a press conference held today regarding the Immigration bribery case, a journalist asked about these allegations made by his family. Responding to the question, Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdullah Shareef said that the investigation so far shows that there is no need to do anything to frame anyone in this case. “So even though the family has talked about issues between the Minister [Ali Ihsan] and Shamaan, I have not received any information about anything that has been noted in this investigation so far,” Shareef said.

“And regarding any video of anyone related to this case, that is not very important for this investigation, so we are not pursuing that aspect in this investigation.” He also said that Ihsan has not been questioned about the video issue so far. The police suspect that after releasing a foreigner who was taken into Immigration custody, in collaboration with some employees of that department, more than 500,000 rufiyaa was obtained from that person and the money was taken to Shamaan’s house. In that case, Shamaan and four other Immigration employees, as well as a foreigner, have been arrested. The case has now been sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office for prosecution.”

The Maldives Police Service has submitted a request to the Prosecutor General’s Office to prosecute former Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamaan Waheed and three former Immigration officers, along with one other person, on corruption charges.

According to information provided to PSM News by the PG’s Office, the police submitted the request yesterday to prosecute Shamaan and four others on corruption charges. The PG’s Office stated that they have accepted the case and will make a decision within 15 days.

In a statement released by the police regarding this case, it was mentioned that the investigation revealed that on March 12, Immigration conducted an operation targeting foreigners staying in a house in Maafannu, which was carried out with Shamaan’s knowledge, in violation of rules and regulations. The statement also said that one of the foreigners taken into Immigration custody that night was released under Shamaan’s instructions as an “urgent” matter, and after the release, another Immigration officer took money from the foreigner and brought it to Shamaan’s house.

The police also stated that when Shamaan’s house was searched under a court order, 257,475 rufiyaa, 10,000 US dollars, and currency from some other countries were found. Shamaan was dismissed from his position when this case came to light.

A Bangladeshi national has been arrested, investigated, and referred to the Prosecutor General’s Office for prosecution on charges of illegally bringing foreigners into the country in collaboration with Immigration staff, obtaining money through criminal activities, and money laundering. Police investigations have revealed that several million rufiyaa have been circulated through bank accounts created under the name of 34-year-old Shahadat Hussain.

Following intelligence received by the police about illegal business operations bringing foreigners into the country, obtaining money through criminal activities, and money laundering, the 34-year-old Bangladeshi national Shahadat Hussain was arrested and investigated. Shahadat Hussain, who was arrested under a court order and investigated, has been living in the Maldives since 2014. He has worked in the Maldives under four work permits, and since 2019, he has opened three Maldivian rufiyaa accounts and three US dollar accounts at the Bank of Maldives under his name. Police say his work permit expired in July of last year.

Some of the findings from the police investigation show that although his most recent employment document listed him as an office worker, his salary was stated as 3000 dollars. Police say this information was also entered in the same way in the Expat system. The police investigation has revealed that he was extensively involved in the business of bringing foreigners into the country. He was living in a two-bedroom apartment in Male’ for 18,000 rufiyaa, and police have found logos of companies, company registrations, foreigners’ passports, and some Maldivians’ eFaas IDs from his phone and laptop.

“The discovery of these items indicates that Shahadat Hussain is someone who brings foreigners into the country on a large scale and derives financial benefits from it. Based on the information found on his phone and laptop, there were 153 account IDs with passwords for individuals, 7 foreign account IDs with passwords, 283 IDs with passwords for private limited companies, 126 individual names, and 5 IDs under partnership names,” said Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Azmath Abdullah.

Police said that while numerous documents and IDs were found in his possession, these are not believed to be items he created himself. They also believe that some institutions and private individuals are involved in this and are receiving financial benefits. “It is believed that in Shahadat Hussain’s operation, some employees of Maldives Immigration and many ordinary Maldivians work with Shahadat Hussain to obtain company quotas, bring in foreigners, release them into Male’ without providing employment, and derive financial benefits. Additionally, it has been found that he sends fraudulent work permit documents via phone and has money deposited into accounts opened in Bangladesh,” said Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Azmath Abdullah.

Police say that the involvement of Maldivian and Immigration staff in this case is evident from the documents and chat logs found on his phone, and this is being investigated as a separate case. In Shahadat’s accounts, who was running an extensive business of bringing foreigners, 8 million rufiyaa has been circulated. Police investigations have also revealed that he paid more than a million rufiyaa to the Expat system from his personal account. Police say they are continuing to investigate this case further.”

The People’s Majlis has passed an amendment to the Tobacco Control Act to prohibit the use of tobacco products for people born after a certain year. The amendment to the Tobacco Control Act was submitted on behalf of the government by Ali Ashrag, Member of Parliament for Kinbidhoo constituency. A temporary committee of 7 members selected from among the members has made minor amendments to the bill. The bill was passed by the Majlis as approved by the committee with the votes of 63 out of 65 members who participated in the voting.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu decided to introduce a “generational ban” to stop tobacco use in the Maldives. As such, he has decided to ban tobacco use for children born from 2007 onwards. According to the amendment submitted by the government to the Tobacco Control Act, once this bill becomes law, no person born on or after January 1, 2007 shall use tobacco products. It is also prohibited to sell tobacco products to anyone of that age.

The amendment also includes responsibilities of tobacco product sellers on behalf of the government. Accordingly, tobacco products can only be sold in licensed and registered places. The amendment also states that tobacco products should not be sold online or through vending machines or other means where the buyer’s identity is unknown. The amendment also prohibits the import of machinery specifically designed for manufacturing tobacco products into the Maldives. It also prohibits the possession and use of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices and products prepared for use with them.

In addition, under this amendment, police will have the power to confiscate electronic cigarettes and vaping products if found in possession or use. Customs and police will also have the power to confiscate such items imported into the country. While the government has decided to introduce a generational ban to control tobacco, there will be a 6-month period to implement the bill after it is passed. As such, it has been decided that the law will come into effect from November 1 following the passing of the bill.