Ex-president's appeal trial: state to respond to appeal points noted by defendant on Thursday

The remaining of the 75 appeal points noted by the defendant in incarcerated former president Abdulla Yameen’s ongoing appeal trial, have been detailed during Tuesday’s hearing.

The last hearing was held on 24 February, where Yameen’s legal team listed 75 appeal points out of which 10 were detailed to the judges.

During Tuesday’s sitting, all 65 remaining points from the last hearing were detailed. This took over an hour, after which the hearing concluded.

The judges bench presiding over the case revealed that the state prosecutors will be given a chance to respond to the appeal points noted by the defendant, during the next hearing, scheduled for Thursday.

The main point noted by the defendant is that there is no evidence that the funds deposited to Yameen’s bank account was in fact the acquisition cost from Vodamulaa island in Gaaf Alif atoll, following which he was charged over money-laundering.

Yameen’s defense attorneys noted that the charges were simply based on former Managing Director of the state-run Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Abdulla Ziyath, who is also accused of being involved in the biggest case of graft in the country’s history.

In conclusion, the defendant requested the court to rule out the Criminal Court’s initial verdict on Yameen, sentencing him to five years in prison and a fine of USD five million, to be paid within six months.

In the last hearing, High Court decided that its initial decision denying Yameen release on bail, cannot be reviewed.

The presiding judge over Yameen’s money-laundering trial is Judge Hussain Mazeed. The other two judges presiding over the case are Judge Hussain Shaheed and Judge Mohamed Niyaz.

Last week, Yameen was also summoned to the Maldives Police Service (MPS) for questioning in connection to a separate case of money-laundering.

He is accused of laundering an additional MVR 220,704,546 through MMPRC, said police. Another case being investigated includes the laundering of MVR 1,900,000 given as loans to private companies. He was also questioned about the laundering of MVR 1,118,000 acquired through bribery for resort development in Fuggiri island of Raa atoll.

While the police is probing additional cases against Yameen, his family has requested a transfer to house arrest over his declining health, at a time the High Court has denied a request to review the court’s initial decision to deny him bail arrangements and delaying his prison sentence.

Yameen was convicted on money-laundering charges on 28th November 2019, after being found guilty of laundering USD through the state-owned MMPRC via a private company Scores of Flair (SoF), during his presidency.