Ex-president's appeal trial: defendants claim charges were not levied under investigated case

The defendants in the case of Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s ongoing appeal trial at the High Court have asserted that the charges pressed on him by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) are not in line with the investigation conducted by the Maldives Police Service (MPS).

In the last hearing held on Tuesday, the remaining of the 75 appeal points noted by the defendant in incarcerated former president’s appeal trial, were detailed. In an earlier hearing, the defendant detailed 10 out of the 75 points.

In response to the points noted by the defense, the PGO listed out six points which includes that the charges are not clear, denying to believe witness testimonies, the court having rejected things presented by the defendant, points highlighted under the legal mandate as well as points noted in the investigative stage of the trial.

The defendant spoke in regard to the investigative stage during Thursday’s hearing.

As such, Yameen’s legal representative Abdulla Shiyaz noted that the ex-president was not questioned on the money-laundering charges during police questioning, however, Shiyaz highlighted that Yameen was questioned on having provided false information to the state.

To this, the state prosecutor Aishath Mohamed revealed that he was given a “legal warning” over the money-laundering charges during the investigative stage. This, she said, was signed by the former president.

However, the defendants kept asserting that he was not charged under what he was investigated for. As such, Shiyaz accused the state of misleading the case, saying that the “legal warning” was not given.

Further, state prosecutors brushed off the defendants claims that the money-laundering charges are “unclear”.

The presiding judges in the case announced that the next hearing will be held on 21 March, where both the defendant and state prosecutors will be given opportunities to speak.

In the last hearing, 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, at a time the 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.

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

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. It was also revealed on Thursday that Yameen was transferred to house arrest for a period of one hour.

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.