“Nasheed’s verdict was not penned by judiciary” claims jailed ex-VP

The jail sentence of 13 years on former President Mohamed Nasheed, who is convicted of terrorism, was not penned and issued by a judge of the judiciary, claims jailed former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb in a letter to the Supreme Court.

This is Adheeb’s second letter to the top court in which he claims to know certain truths behind incidents that occurred during his tenure as vice president, with promises to expose all.

In his letter to Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed which was submitted Sunday, the former vice president declared that the first draft of former Nasheed’s verdict sentenced him originally to 10 years, which were to be implemented after three years. However, he claimed that the verdict was later changed to 13 years on the orders of an unnamed individual, whose identity Adheeb said he is willing to expose with substantial proof.

Adheeb went on to say that Nasheed received a jail sentence in retaliation for the political works he commenced in defence of the former Minister of Defence Mohamed Nazim, who is convicted to eleven years in jail over illegal weapons’ possession.

Notably, in Adheeb’s first such letter to the Supreme Court which he sent last month, the former vice president had declared that Nazim was framed and had had no knowledge of the pistol and three bullets which were found in his residence and subsequently landed him in jail. Adheeb claims to have full knowledge of the perpetrators behind the alleged plot and expressed his willingness to testify to the full story in court.

In his latest letter, Adheeb claims to hold enough information to prove that the verdict against former President Nasheed was issued with undue influence over not only the judges presiding over the case but the entire justice system. He requested the top court’s permission to testify to his claims.

Former Vice President Adheeb is currently sentenced to 33 years in jail over his involvement in the biggest corruption scandal in the country and for orchestrating an assassination attempt on President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in September 2015.