Former VP Adeeb's hearing cancelled

A hearing in the charges against former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, has been cancelled.

While the hearing was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, an official at the Criminal Court said that the hearing was cancelled following a request from the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office to postpone the hearing.

The media official at the court said that this was after an employee at the PG Office tested positive for Covid-19, which led to a disinfection programme at the office.

Highlighting the huge chunk of paperwork in the cases against the former vice president, the PG Office is to have informed the court of the issues in carrying forward with Thursday’s hearing due to the inability to enter the office premises.

While the office had asked the court to postpone the hearing to 3pm on Thursday, it was cancelled due to the court’s inability to conduct an online session during that time. Hearings in the cases against Adeeb are to be held via audio and video conferencing.

The preliminary hearing in the charges against the former VP was held in November 2019. A total of seven charges have been filed against Adeeb, following joint investigations conducted by Maldives Police Service, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Presidential Commission on Corruption and Asset Recovery, into the embezzlement of state funds via the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) during 2014 and 2015.

The new charges raised against Adeeb are; two cases of involvement in corruption, two cases of using his position to gain undue benefits, two charges of money-laundering as well as an abuse of power charge. The charges were raised in September 2019.

He signed a plea deal with the PG Office on 25th September 2019, under Article 104 of the Criminal Procedure Act.