The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the appeal filed by former President Abdullah Yameen against the Criminal Court's decision in the Raa atoll Fuggiri case.
Yameen, who is currently serving an 11 years prison sentence for accepting bribes and money laundering in the Vaavu atoll Aarah lease case, was also charged with laundering USD 1.1 million received in bribes for the lease of Raa atoll Fuggiri.
Following the Criminal Court ruling on the case, his defence appealed against some of the rulings made by the court. Some of them included not accepting former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb and former Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Abdulla Ziyath as witnesses, in addition to requests made to recover certain documents according to the Evidence Act.
The court’s rulings were upheld by the Maldives High Court when it was appealed by Yameen.
After High Court’s decision was appealed by Yameen’s defense at the Supreme Court, a three-judge bench unanimously upheld High Court’s decision as well. However, the Supreme Court in its verdict identified some of the grounds in reaching High Court’s decision invalid.
The court ruled that the new evidence, with Adeeb and Ziyath as witnesses, cannot be induced according to the Evidence Act. The court said that the Act was enacted after the case had already entered trial, and it cannot be applied retrospectively to cases that predated its implementation. The Supreme Court emphasized that the evidence from Adeeb and Ziyath should only be considered in relation to their ongoing trial at the Criminal Court.
Yameen's defense also appealed the absence of legal reasoning behind the admission of additional witness testimonies in the Criminal Court's judgment. The Supreme Court, in its verdict, deemed this act as wrongful. However, the lower court cannot be compelled to undertake a retrial to amend the contested areas as the trial is already in progress and the parties still have the opportunity to present their arguments regarding the submitted evidence.
Moreover, Supreme Court upheld the lower courts decision to exclude certain documentary evidence, citing that only the investigative documents relevant to the case should be admitted in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Besides Yameen, co-defendant Ahmed "Krik" Riza also appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
Riza was charged under the Prevention and Prohibition of Corruption Act, and his defense argued that he should be tried under the Maldives Penal Code instead. However, the Supreme Court ruled that there were no grounds to try Riza under the Penal Code. The court also stated that Riza should be given the opportunity to observe the evidence related to the case presented by the investigative authorities.
The Supreme Court judges’ bench was presided by Justice Husnu Sood along with Justice Aisha Shujoon and Justice Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim.
The Aarah case, for which Yameen is already serving a sentence, is currently pending trial in the Maldives High Court.
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