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Former President Yameen released from detention

Mariyam Malsa
28 March 2019, MVT 15:34
Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom embarking on a car to travel to the police headquarters in January 2019. PHOTO: HASSAN AMIR/ MIHAARU
Mariyam Malsa
28 March 2019, MVT 15:34

High Court on Thursday overturned the sentence to detain former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

The decision was finalised after Judge Abdul Rauf Ibrahim, who had presided over Yameen’s case with Judge Hussain Shaheedh and Judge Hassan Ali, was replaced by Judge Shujau Usman.

Yameen was detained under clauses of article 60 and 13 of the Criminal Procedure Code. As per these regulations, the longest period of detainment that can be levied is 30 days. The High Court stated that this period had expired on March 18 at 15 54 hours.

The Criminal Court’s order to detain the former president until the conclusion of his investigation and trial was submitted for appeal on February 19. Appeal hearings concluded on March 12.

The court order was issued on February 18 after prosecutors accused the former president of attempting to influence witnesses with bribery. Yameen was subsequently taken to Maafushi Detainment Center Prison.

The former president is currently under house arrest for medical reasons. Following his detainment, Yameen was hospitalized three times and was transferred to house arrest on March 13 after spending a considerable amount of his detention period at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) instead of Maafush Prison's Special Protection Unit.

Yameen is implicated in the corruption scandal of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC). According to the report recently publicised by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), most of the stolen funds were syphoned to, SOF, a private company which deposited USD 1 million to Yameen's account at Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB).

The Prosecutor General's Office charged Yameen for laundering and deriving a profit from the USD 1 million deposited by SOF to his personal account.

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