Maldives ex-president to be sentenced in money laundering trial, on Thursday

Verdict hearing in former President Abdulla Yameen’s money laundering trial is to be held on Thursday.

The hearing is to begin at 1:30pm.

The former president is accused of laundering USD one million through the state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), via a private company SoF, during his presidency. He is also accused of using the funds for financial gain, despite being ordered to transfer it to an escrow account under an agreement with the anti-corruption watchdog.

This is the second time that the trial has reached a verdict; the first hearing scheduled for November 5 was cancelled following the suspension of the presiding judge, Ahmed Hailam.

The Criminal Court has since formed a five-judge bench to oversee the case, as requested by the defendant.

At the first and only hearing held with the bench thus far, it decided to proceed from the last hearing, after highlighting that witness testimonies have already been taken in the trial.

The defence had also requested for the current interim chief judge to recuse himself from the trial, claiming that an interview to a local news station had violated the Judges’ Act. However, the court decided against this after noting that there are no issues with the Judge Ali Rasheed being on the bench.

Rasheed noted that that he had not violated the Judges’ Act or any of the country’s laws, in giving the interview.

Judge Hailam was suspended hours before a scheduled verdict hearing in the case, and Yameen’s legal team claiming that this is an attempt to influence the court’s decision in the trial.

The opposition ‘Progressive Coalition’ has criticized the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for not taking action against the Criminal Court’s interim chief, noting that a complaint regarding his interview to RaajjeTV has been filed there.