State to appeal lower court's decision to reject charges against ex-VP
The Criminal Court dropped the charges against the former VP earlier on Tuesday
(File photo) former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb
Prosecutor General, Hussain Shameem has announced the decision to appeal the Criminal Court’s decision to reject the seven charges raised against former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption case.
Shameem announced the decision to appeal the lower court decision at the High Court, at a press conference held on Tuesday evening. The Criminal Court dropped the charges against the former VP earlier on Tuesday, after noting that a plea deal signed between Adeeb and the state was entered unlawfully.
Noting that the Criminal Court’s decision is troubling, the PG heavily criticized the court for dropping all the charges raised against Adeeb. The charges were; 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.
Denying that Adeeb was forced into signing a plea bargain with the state in exchange for medical leave abroad, Shameem said that he had not heard Adeeb make this claim at any point.
He stressed that the former VP has signed two out of the three agreements after returning from treatment abroad. Adeeb was allowed to travel to India in June 2019. While the first deal was signed in June that year, the other two were signed in September.
Hence, the prosecutor general said that while Adeeb might have signed the first plea deal under condition of being granted medical leave abroad, that there is not room to declare the same in relation to the other two deals given that he had already returned after treatment.
The deal with Adeeb was signed by former Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham, who resigned in November 2019 amid an impeachment inquiry at parliament.
Also at the press conference, PG Shameem emphasized that a 700-page document was submitted to court, in relation to the cases against Adeeb. As such, he said that that the document includes enough evidence to raise about 150 charges against the former VP, adding that if convicted he could be sentenced to over 800 years in prison.
