The Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced Ismail Yaafis to 10 years in prison.

Yaafis was arrested in 2021 for repeatedly issuing death threats against former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The sentence stems from a 2021 case in which Yaafis threatened Nasheed on social media and later told police investigators and the court that he intended to carry out attacks against him.

He was arrested in Meedhoo island of Raa atoll after posting a threat on social media platform Facebook, declaring that if Nasheed, who was then Speaker of the People’s Majlis and abroad at the time, returned to the Maldives, he would be treated like “Abu Jahl” on the day of the Battle of Badr.

The situation escalated when Yaafis, during a court hearing for the extension of his remand, issued further threats against Nasheed inside the courtroom. The court ruled that he had committed contempt of court and jailed him for one month.

The state filed three charges including supporting a terrorist organization, threatening to commit a terrorist attack, and inciting a terrorist act. The court issued sentences of two years, three years, and five years respectively, adding up to a total of 10 years in prison.

Yaafis made the social media threats on 23 August 2021, at a time when Nasheed had already been targeted in a bomb attack.

On 6 May 2021, an explosive device was detonated near Nasheed’s residence on Majeedhee Magu in Malé in an attempt to assassinate him. He narrowly survived but sustained severe injuries and subsequently spent an extended period in Germany receiving treatment.