The Supreme Court has scheduled delivering the sentence on former president Abdulla Yameen’s candidacy rejection appeal on Sunday, 10:00 a.m.
The Elections Commission (EC) rejected Yameen's candidacy, citing his constitutional ineligibility. Article 109 of the Maldives Constitution stipulates that a candidate must not have a criminal sentence longer than 12 months, or three years must have elapse since the candidate's release or pardon.
Yameen is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence with a pending settlement of USD 5 million in fines for his conviction of money laundering and graft in the Vaavu atoll Aarah lease case.
After the EC rejected his candidacy, Yameen's defense and his party, the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), appealed the commission's decision to the Supreme Court.
The court held a hearing presided over by its full bench on Friday regarding the matter, which ran from 3:00 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. During the hearing, both Yameen's defense and the Elections Commission presented their arguments. After concluding the hearing on Friday, Chief Justice Ahmed Mu'uthasim Adnan said that the presentation of arguments from both sides had concluded. He further announced that the case would proceed to its verdict in the next hearing.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Yameen's defense contended that he should be allowed to participate in the presidential election since his criminal sentence is currently under appeal in the High Court. However, the Elections Commission challenged this argument, asserting that until a verdict is reached by the first appellate court, his existing sentence remains in effect.
The Attorney General's Office supported the Elections Commission's argument that Yameen's sentence should be upheld until the first appellate court's verdict. PPM which also intervened in the case, argued that Yameen should be given the opportunity to participate in the election.
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