Supreme Court OKs appeal of order to disclose president’s NYC trip expenses

The Supreme Court has accepted an appeal filed by the state, contesting the decision by the High Court to uphold an order to disclose details of the expenses of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s visit to New York City in 2021.

The appeal was originally filed with the Supreme Court in July. But the court’s registrar decided against registering the case.

The Attorney General’s office later requested the court’s council of judges to review the decision.

The AGO confirmed that the council decided to accept the appeal.

President Solih, accompanied by a large delegation of government officials, had visited NYC to attend the 76th United Nations General Assembly.

On September 27, 2021, a reporter requested the President’s Office for details of the expenses of the trip. The reporter filed a subsequent letter for detailed information, citing that the information provided in response to the original request was incomplete.

The President’s Office responded that it had decided to keep the expense receipts confidential, citing security reasons, and citing that the receipts for the trip included private information of a third party.

The reporter filed the case with the Information Commissioner’s Office, which instructed the President’s Office to disclose expense details after redacting the information that pose security risks.

The state appealed the decision with the High Court, which, on May 25, sided with the Information Commissioner’s Office.