Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's lawyers, on Thursday, visited Maafushi where Yameen is imprisoned, following the leniencies to the travel restrictions announced by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) due to COVID-19.
The ex-President is currently serving a five-year jail sentence in Maafushi Prison after being convicted on money laundering charges.
His legal team had raised several concerns over difficulties in meeting Yameen due to HPA's guidelines, which previously required a negative PCR test submission in order to travel to islands for a short period of time.
HPA amended the regulation on Wednesday, allowing travel outside of Male' without PCR testing, if the duration of travel is less than five days.
Following the meeting with Yameen, the head of Yameen's legal team and former Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed accused that the state was imposing unlawful obstructions preventing the lawyers from meeting Yameen.
"Meeting his lawyers have become a war for President Yameen", he said.
Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) had addressed the concerns of Yameen's legal team, noting that the arrangements will be made if the lawyers followed HPA's guidelines.
However, the lawyers had demanded the state to arrange the meetings.
The state is currently gearing up to press additional charges against the already imprisoned ex-President, but the court had delayed pressing the charges due to the difficulties for Yameen's legal team to meet him.
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