Maldives top court orders to remand Adeeb until trial concludes

Supreme Court has ordered to remand former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb until the state’s appeal case in his embezzlement case concludes.

The country’s top court issued the order on Thursday, hours after concluding the second hearing in the case.

While the High Court overturned an eight-year conviction against Adeeb in May, after being found guilty of embezzling funds owed to the state as the acquisition cost of Maabinhuraa in Lhaviyani atoll into his personal account, the state appealed the decision at the country’s top court in June.

At both hearings held in the appeal case, this Tuesday and Thursday, the state had sought to remand Adeeb for the remainder of the trial, alleging that he is a threat to national security, and a flight risk; the court decided to reach a decision after a second hearing as Adeeb did not have a lawyer appointed for the first one.

At Thursday’s hearing, the state emphasized that Adeeb had attempted to flee while his passport was withheld, emphasizing that this “has been confirmed.”

Supreme Court had ordered authorities to confiscate his passport after the accepting the state’s appeal case, in June. While the state had also sought to remand him for the duration of trial, the court said that it was unable to do so as Adeeb was already serving a sentence at the time and that there were no additional requests after.

While Adeeb was granted medical leave in June, it was approved after he signed an agreement with the Prosecutor General’s Office, giving assurance to cooperate with authorities in the investigation against Maldives Marketing and Public Relation Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal.

Despite this agreement, Adeeb was caught while attempting to flee last week.

He was caught near India, and was handed over to Maldivian security officials on Saturday. He was returned to Maldives on Sunday night, and remanded by 15 days.

Police has since brought back Virgo 9, the tugboat in which Adeeb attempted his escape. While the nine crew members have also been brought to the country, police continue to investigate how the former VP left the country. Police has also vowed to take legal action against those who helped Adeeb in the failed attempt.