Court drops all charges against ex-VP

The Criminal Court has dropped all charges raised against former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb by the state, in the embezzlement case involving the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).

A total of seven charges were raised against the former vice president by the state in September 2019, over the MMPRC corruption scandal.

These include two cases of involvement in corruption, two cases of using his position to gain undue benefits, two charges of money-laundering and abusing power.

During the hearing held at the Criminal Court on Tuesday to reach a decision regarding Adeeb's plea deal with the state, reached by the former Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham, Judge Ismail Rasheed declared that the seven charges raised against him were unlawful.

The judge noted several points, including that making Adeeb sign a plea deal with the promise of granting medical care in exchange for pleading guilty, is not in accordance with the country’s laws as well as international conventions.

During a hearing held on Sunday, Adeeb had indicated that we was forced to sign the deal, due to his urgent need for medical care as his condition had been deteriorating since incarceration. In this regard, the former VP was forced to admit guilt in exchange for medical leave abroad, by the Maldives Police Service and Bisham.

The judge reached the decision that the plea deal does not align with the Criminal Procedure Act and that convicts under the Maldives Correctional Service cannot be conditioned to sign such deals in exchange for medical care and basic rights. It is mandatory for the state to provide basic needs and medical care for convicts.

The judge stressed that this can be deemed as “torture”.

A plea deal was made with the police and PG on June 6, 2019 while a second one was signed on September 9, the same year. A third one, compiling the previous ones, was signed on September 25.

While the seven charges were raised against the former VP the same month, the PG Office only submitted the plea deal signed on September 25, to court.

The judge requested the previous deals signed with Adeeb at the preliminary hearing. After receiving them, the judge declared that they were signed against procedures.

While prosecutors argued that the deal was signed under Article 104 of the Criminal Procedure Act, Judge Rasheed noted that the law does not allow authorities to condition a person into signing an plea bargain.