Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb has been sentenced to an additional 15 days in prison for contempt of court.
Adeeb was found in contempt at a hearing held on Tuesday over charges of bribing officers of the police. The hearing was held behind closed doors and journalists were barred from entering.
Moosa Siraaj, Adeeb’s lawyer, said that the hearing was held without his legal representatives present and as such the details of him being found in contempt is yet unclear.
The Criminal Court had also refused to divulge any information on the matter at the time of publishing, although it is clear that he was sentenced for not abiding by a court order.
The prosecution raised charges of bribing police officers and using his influence while in office on the 2nd of January.
Adeeb is already serving a jail term of over thirty years and is the center of multiple ongoing cases over the state’s unwillingness to give medical leave abroad.
Adeeb was reportedly asked to get screened for cancer two years ago, as revealed by an official from the Human Rights Commission.
An official from the Human Rights Commission of Maldives had questioned Dr. Mohamed Ashraf, a urologist at the state-operated Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, whom Adeeb had seen in December of 2015.
Dr. Ashraf had asked Adeeb to seek consultation with an oncologist and undergo a biopsy. The family has also said that the Maldives Correctional Services had attempted to have Adeeb undergo a questionable procedure.
Adeeb’s brother, Mohamed Nadheem, had succumbed to cancerous cyst in 2008. The official from HRCM said that the doctor had advised that Adeeb receive treatment abroad.
Adeeb’s family had released a statement earlier in June claiming that he has developed an internal cyst, kidney stones, and vision impairment from glaucoma since his incarceration in 2015.
They have accused the state of negligence in failing to provide Adeeb with adequate medical care during his isolated incarceration at the prison in Dhoonidhoo Island while the police investigated allegations against him.
