The Criminal Court has postponed the hearing to announce the verdict in the case against former President Abdulla Yameen where he is charged with accepting USD 1 million in bribes during the lease of R. Fuggiri, and laundering these funds.
Hearings in the case concluded at the Criminal Court on October 13. At the last hearing, Judge Ali Nadheem announced that the verdict would be announced at the final hearing on September 29.
However, the case is not included in the schedule for tomorrow published by the Criminal Court. Lawyers have also been notified that the hearing will not be held tomorrow.
The Criminal Court has not disclosed the reasons for the postponement.
At the most recent hearing in the case, Yameen stressed in the summary statement that there is no legal basis to pressing these charges against him.
The main witnesses against Yameen in the Fuggiri case are former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb and former MMPRC Managing Director Abdulla Ziyath. Yameen questioned the legitimacy of witness statements by these two individuals.
Yameen's lawyers highlighted that the Supreme Court has also declared that the two are 'fasiq' (persons who have explicitly broken Islamic law), and that they harbour hostility towards Yameen himself. In light of these facts, no legal weight should be granted to their witness statements to convict Yameen, they argued.
While the State accuses Yameen on accepting bribes, the State has withdrawn the case against Ahmed 'Krik' Riza, a move that Yameen's defence team questioned.
Two Sun companies accused of facilitating money laundering were acquitted. The State also decided not to appeal this ruling.
Based on these, Yameen's defence questioned why others involved in the case are being cleared or acquitted, and why the State is pursuing charges against Yameen alone. They said that this approach brings into question the State's intentions in prosecuting Yameen.
The Criminal Court is also hearing a separate case against Yameen concerning the lease of V. Aarah. This is retrial granted by the Supreme Court after they voided the Criminal Court's previous conviction of Yameen in the case.
