Supreme Court to Conclude Yameen Appeal Hearing

The final hearing of former President Yameen Abdul Gayyoom's appeal to the Supreme Court regarding the Criminal Court's money-laundering verdict will be held tomorrow.

The former president had been sentenced by the Criminal Court to a 5-year prison sentence and the payment of USD$ 5 million over money-laundering charges in November 2019. The verdict had been upheld by the High Court in September 2020.

Both the defence and the prosecution had debated new evidence that had been submitted by former President Yameen's legal team. In addition, the defence had requested that the former president be allowed to go free on bail, and the possibility of a delayed sentence had also been argued. It is believed that the Court would announce their decision on the defence's request, tomorrow.

The defence had submitted a video-recording of Ahmed Adeeb and an audio-recording of the Muavviz Rasheed, the former Vice President of the Anti-Corruption Commission.

In the video, recorded in March 2015; during his time as Vice President; Adeeb is shown addressing journalists and stating that he was currently in posession of a large amount of the former president's money. The video goes on to show that he had claimed that he was in charge of managing both the former presidents' and the Progressive Party of Maldives' (PPM) campaign funds.

The defence also submitted ex-MP Mohamed Ismail (Hoarafushi) as a witness,to bolster the credibility of the video recording.

The audio recording appears to depict Muavviz Rasheed stating that he may have been under pressure to testify against the former president, and that the Criminal Court's verdict against the former president was not sound.

The defence said that although the High Court had accepted that Adeeb had been given charge over the former president's money; and had also not disputed the value of the money that Adeeb had received; the High Court had declined to inquire any further. The defence further argued that reports made by the Maldives Police Service and by the ACC both confirmed that Adeeb was indeed in posession of the former president's money.

However, the defence argued, no investigative body had attempted to find out how Adeeb had come into posession of the former president's money. The defence stated that Adeeb had testified at the High Court that although he had indeed been in posession of the former president's money, he had only received small sums; the High Court had barred the defence from submitting new evidence to challenge Adeeb's testimony.

Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir said that the Court would issue a verdict tomorrow, and would also allow the defence and the prosecution to make closing statements.