Former President Abdulla Yameen's lawyer, Abdulla Shiyaz, has said that he is yet to receive the case statements and the full verdict report of the trial held against Yameen over bribery and money laundering charges.
On December 25, Yameen was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined USD five million by the Criminal Court after he was found guilty of embezzling USD one million as a bribe in the lease of Vaavu Aarah.
Even though his lawyers have said they will appeal the verdict in the High Court, their records show that an appeal has not been filed over this case yet.
Shiyaz, who is part of Yameen's legal team, Tweeted that he had requested a completed report with statements the day the verdict was made. However, he has not received it to this day.
He had asked for the statements made by both sides in court.
Even though the constitution states the summary report of the verdict has to be issued on the same day the ruling is made, Shiyaz said the report was handed over to them the following day after they had protested over the delay.
He said the report issued by the court was a trial summary and did not fully document what both sides had said or what transpired during the trial. According to Shiyaz, these statements are one of the cornerstones of the appeal.
"One of the pillars of an appeal is the statements made by both sides in the trial," he said.
Shiyaz said that given the court's conduct in giving the summary report, it is likely that the court will also use the maximum time stipulated in the law to issue the completion report.
Yameen was found guilty of money laundering in 2021 over the lease of Gaafu Alifu Vodumulaa and sentenced to jail for five years in 2019. The verdict was appealed in the High Court then within two days. Then, Yameen filed 75 appeals, and the case was concluded against him by the High Court on January 1, 2021. However, the Supreme Court later ruled in favour of Yameen.
Yameen was given the opposition's presidential ticket for the upcoming presidential elections, but with the subsequent verdict, he is denied the chance to contest the elections. Lawyers, however, say they can win the appeal filed in the High Court and give him a chance to contest the elections.
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