Ziyath misleads court about plea agreement

During the hearing held to hear testimonies in the case of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Qayyoom, being charged for accepting bribery and money laundering, former Managing Director of MMPRC, Abdulla Ziyath misleads the court about his plea agreement with the state.

Ziyath was asked by Yameen’s lawyers whether he had a plea agreement with the state at the time of the hearing that established that he was guilty of criminal breach of trust.

Ziyath was incriminated and given clemency during sentencing because he had a plea agreement with the state. However, today, Ziyath said that he had no such agreement with the state prior to his sentencing and the plea agreement came into being after he was sentenced.

Ziyath’s today’s statements border perjury as it directly contradicts previous court hearing reports and documents.

In his testimony, Ziyath said that he was instructed by former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb to lease V. Aarah and that Adheeb was following President Yameen’s orders. He also said that after listing the island for MVR 5 million, the amount was reviewed twice and brought down to MVR 2 million as requested by Adheeb. Ziyath claims that this too, was done under Yameen’s order.

Upon being asked the medium of instruction from Adheeb, Ziyath responded that he had always received verbal instructions from Adheeb. Although, not once did Ziyath indicate that he received any form of direct order or instruction from President Yameen.