Leaked audios are an attempt to influence Yameen’s trial: Ali Zahir

Chief of Staff at the President's Office Ali Zahir says that at this point, the subject of the leaked audios is only being stretched on to influence the court trial of incarcerated former President Abdulla Yameen.

Zalif made this assertion during a press conference conducted by the President’s Office, on the grounds that the alleged leaked audios accuse him of influencing the 2019 conviction of Yameen. Zahir said that the incumbent administration has never attempted to engage in such corruption, and will remain that way.

Zahir added that the leaked audios are a way of influencing Yameen's trial and carries a "political purpose", at a time the citizens' faith in the justice system and courts, was increasing.

He stated that the subject is being brought up the most by the opposition and that this maybe "coincidental". Zahir accused the opposition of being behind this plot.

Serious allegations were made against Zahir in regards to the alleged leaked audios, of influencing the judges presiding over Yameen’s trial. This was fueled by leaked audio recordings of some of the judges on the five-judge panel, making cryptic statements that sound as though they convicted the former President under duress.

The audio samples of three judges have since been collected in regards to the alleged audio recordings that were leaked online. JSC guaranteed that an independent committee was compiled to look into the issue without any prejudice and affirmed that all judges are required to be impartial and neutral when coming to verdicts, regardless of the defendant on trial.

The alleged audio recordings of three of the five judges that presided over former President Yameen’s money laundering trail were leaked in late August. Following the accusations made against the judges, three of them agreed to provide voice samples for the investigation.

JSC confirmed that all five judges accused – Hussain Faiz Rasheed, Ali Adam, Mohamed Sameer, Ali Rasheed Hussain and Ahmed Shakeel – have all been questioned and have denied all allegations.

Former President, Yameen was proven to be guilty of money laundering and received a jail sentence of five years in November 2019. He pocketed a total of USD one million through a state-owned company, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) during his presidential tenure.

The alleged audio recordings were leaked right after the conviction was appealed by the Supreme Court and a hearing was scheduled.

While an emergency motion submitted regarding the alleged leaked audio recordings was rejected by the People’s Majlis earlier, Maduvvari constituency MP Adam Shareef who submitted the motion, filed cases at three parliament committees; judiciary committee, human rights and gender committee and the committee on national security services.