Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that former President Abdulla Yameen cannot be released on bail. They also ruled that there's no ground to suspend his jail sentence.
Yameen is currently serving a five year jail sentence he received in 2019 over money laundering charges. In addition to jail time, Yameen also received a fine of USD 5 million.
He was moved to his home in April 2021 when Covid cases where surging all over Maldives, jails included.
The ruling was upheld by the High Court.
During the appeal Supreme Court ruled that bail was issued to people accused of crime and not to convicted criminals. Supreme Court also noted while this was practiced in other nations, people with proven sentences were released under bail as special laws usually allow for it. Citing that as there is no such law in Maldives, Supreme Court stated it was not possible to release Yameen.
The bench of judges conducting this trial had agreed that Yameen's sentence cannot be delayed for the same reason as well.
However they did issue an order delaying the payment of the USD 5 million fine. Attorney General's Office had filed a case in the Civil Court in August requesting to order Yameen to pay his fine. While Civil Court had already scheduled a hearing regarding this case, Supreme Court's verdict stated until they make a final decision to delay everything regarding collecting the fine.
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