PPM comes out strong against the political persecution of President Yaameen

he opposition Progressive Congress Coalition has released a strongly worded statement calling out the political persecution of their leader and Presidential Candidate for 2023, former President Yaameen Abdul Gayyoom.

The statement, which condemns the highly politicized and unlawful sentence imposed on the former President, accused the incumbent Maldivian government of exerting so much undue influence over the judiciary and court proceedings in President Yaameen’s case, that it is obvious that the charges against him are being orchestrated as an act of political vengeance and persecution.

The opposition’s statement expressed grave concern over the current government’s far-reaching political influence over the judiciary, which should be an independent branch of government. This influence is evident in the politicization of the Yaameen trial, said the statement.

The statement highlights various points regarding the legal charges, cases and proceedings against President Yaameen, up to and including the fact that the primary testimony against him was provided by his political rival Ahmed Adeeb, who also stands accused of being involved in the assassination attempt against President Yaameen on 28th September 2015.

Interestingly, Adeeb, upon whose testimony the entire case against President Yaameen hinges, was granted a transfer to home arrest following his testimony against President Yaameen, which was a part of the plea bargain deal he signed with the state. The opposition statement thus points out the ludicrousness of Adeeb’s testimony being taken as gospel in the case against the former President, when Adeeb has so obviously agreed to testify according to the current administration’s false narratives in exchange for the government ceasing investigation into his involvement in the 2015 assassination attempt on President Yameen and his family.

Additionally, the opposition highlights that the former Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission had to flee the country in fear of his life after he revealed that the statement he gave against President Yaameen was obtained from him under duress amid threats to his life by the current government.

The opposition also raised the issue of the suspension of the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court on 5th November 2019, merely four hours prior to him carrying out his judicial functions as the presiding judge in the trial against President Yaameen. The judge who was later acquitted of all charges against him, revealed that he was approached by multiple high-level officials of the current government and the ruling party to ensure a guilty verdict in the trial against the former President. The opposition also noted that multiple procedural violations were also noted throughout the former President’s trial, complaints of which were promptly submitted to the Maldives Police Service as well as to the Prosecutor General’s Office by his legal counsel, to no avail.

Further, the opposition’s statement noted that the former President stands accused of unlawfully gaining just USD 1 million of the USD 280 million embezzled from MMPRC, an accusation for which no material or other evidence exists. Logic dictates that had President Yaameen been involved in the corruption scandal he would have stood to gain significantly more than the amount of which he is accused, reads the statement.

The opposition statement concludes that, based on the aforementioned facts, it is evident that the charges levied against President Yaameen are nothing more than a product of political persecution; and questioned the future of democracy in the Maldives, when the Solih government is not only politically persecuting the leader of the opposition, but also continues to threaten three of the deputy leaders within the opposition of being charged with various offences, all in a bid to silence the opposition.