Ex-VP granted 10 days to appoint legal representation

The High Court of the Maldives has granted former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor, 10 days to appoint legal representation in connection to his appeal case.

The state appealed the case of the Criminal Court having dropped all seven charges raised against Adeeb in connection to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) embezzlement case. In mid-July Criminal Court dropped the charges on the grounds that a plea deal signed between him and the state was “entered wrongfully”.

The court’s ruling claimed that Adeeb was “forced to sign the plea deals” in exchange for medical treatment.

However, Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem has stated that this is untrue, owing to the fact that one of the two deals were signed upon Adeeb’s return from treatment abroad.

The High Court ordered Adeeb to be remanded until the end of the appeal case against him, during July.

During Thursday’s hearing, Adeeb stated that lawyer Mahfooz Saeed only came to the hearing to determine his detainment. He added that Mahfooz had not been appointed to represent the whole case and expressed his wish for an opportunity to appoint a new lawyer.

Adeeb is currently detained at Maafushi Prison.

The High Court’s decision to remand him until the end of his trial was based around the fact that Adeeb had attempted to flee earlier as well.

Further during the hearing on Thursday, Judge Mohamed Niyaz had expressed belief that arrangements can be made for Adeeb to meet his lawyers face-to-face at Maafushi Prison, under the set guidelines by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) due to the ongoing pandemic.

Niyaz urged the PGO to make said arrangements as well.