During today's hearing at the Criminal Court in the case against former President Abdulla Yameen regarding the leasing of V. Aarah, the State has requested evidence from the defense to not be accepted.
Yameen was on trial for accepting a bribe of USD 1 million in the leasing of V. Aarah and for laundering that money. In addition to Yameen, former MP for Felidhoo Yoosuf Naeem had also been handed a prison sentence in the same case.
During today's hearing at the Criminal Court, the State filed a motion to reject some of the evidence that has been submitted by Yameen's defense.
According to the prosecution, they requested as such due to Yameen exercising his right to remain silent during the investigation and the evidence that was not brought forward during the investigation should not be given the opportunity to be submitted at trial.
The evidence the prosecution has requested to be rejected are witness testimonies from former Deputy Mayor of Male' Ahmed Nareesh, Abdulla Rasheed, Villimale' Constituency MP Mohamed Ismail and Hulhudhoo Constituency MP Mohamed Shahid. They also requested to reject a document that outlines USD exchanges.
Both Yameen and Yoosuf Naeem's defense is that the USD 1 million that was deposited to Yameen's account are funds received via currency exchange, and the MVR totaling the USD 1 million was given to Yoosuf Naeem in cash. Nareesh's testimony states that the money had been counted and handed over as well.
However, as significant questions were raised regarding the testimony, Nareesh has refused to testify against Yameen in the R. Fuggiri case against him.
The High Court sentenced former President Yameen’s to 11 years in prison in the case after accusations of bribes being accepted and money laundering, with the High Court voiding the verdict and ordering a retrial at the Criminal Court. However, the High Court's sentence reads that the new evidence would be inadmissible, which led to the prosecution appealing the matter at the Supreme Court, resulting in the trial at Criminal Court being suspended.
The Supreme Court has since ruled on the matter and ordered the High Court not to accept the new evidence.
Yameen is also facing separate bribery and money-laundering charges in connection with the lease of R. Fuggiri.
The Criminal Court had scheduled a hearing in that case last week, but it was cancelled.
The prosecution alleges that Yameen accepted a USD1 million bribe and laundered the money in connection with the Fuggiri lease. Witness testimony in the case has been completed, and the case is now at the stage of reviewing the evidence and testimony. Some time has passed since it entered the review stage.
