JP leader Qasim’s prison conviction overturned

The High Court on Monday overturned the Criminal Court’s prison conviction on Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim over bribery.

Qasim, also the member of parliament of Maamigili constituency, was convicted after being found guilty of attempting to bribe fellow MPs by promising to help them get re-elected to parliament in exchange for their signature for the opposition’s impeachment motion against the speaker.

However, Qasim made the promise while giving a televised speech at an opposition coalition’s event on 26 March 2017.

The Criminal Court convicted Qasim after the case was submitted to the court for the second time. After the case was first rejected, some of the Criminal Court judges were transferred to other courts and the case was submitted and accepted the second time around and the hearings were held with judge Adam Arif, who was temporarily put in charge of the Criminal Court.

The Criminal Court sentenced Qasim to three years, two months, and 12 days in prison on 24 August 2017.

Until recently, Qasim was living in Germany after receiving asylum during his medical trip abroad. He recently returned to Maldives after being released on bail until the conclusion of the appeal hearings.

The High Court concluded the last appeal hearing on September 11. At the appeal hearings, Qasim’s attorneys raised 13 issues with the conviction, the most important being that he was convicted in absentia.

The High Court overturned Qasim’s conviction after finding the Criminal Court’s trial to have been proceeded outside legal boundaries, based on the arguments put forth by Qasim’s legal team.