The High Court on Sunday overturned the Criminal Court's order to freeze the bank accounts of former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
The lower court issued the order to freeze assets of over MVR 100 million, in accounts opened under Yameen's name at Bank of Maldives (BML) and Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB), upon the request of the police.
Per the High Court's verdict, the Criminal Court ordered the accounts to be frozen under article 72 and 73 of criminal procedure code.
However, although details were not revealed during the hearing, the verdict by High Court effectively overturned the order issued by the lower court, freeing up Yameen's accounts.
Yameen is implicated in the corruption scandal of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC). According to the report recently publicized by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), most of the stolen funds were siphoned to, SOF, a private company which deposited USD 1 million to Yameen's account at Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB).
The Criminal Court ordered MIB to freeze Yameen's accounts from December 13, 2018 to March 12, to prevent Yameen from carrying out any transactions with the funds in his personal account.
High Court's verdict only highlighted a summary of the case.
The presiding bench consisted of Chief Judge Shujau Usman, Judge Abdulla Hameed and Judge Hussain Shaheed.
Former President Yameen and his lawyers, as well as lawyers from the PG Office, were also in attendance.
According to the verdict, eight of Yameen's accounts opened at MIB were frozen. The verdict also highlighted a letter submitted from MMA and statements from Yameen's bank accounts.
Article 24 of the Maldivian constitution states that everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his private communications. It further states that every person must respect these rights with respect to others.
Article 72 and 73 of criminal procedure code states circumstances under which a court order can be issued to monitor the activities of an individual's bank account.
According to the police, over the past five years, significant questionable transactions were made to the accounts. The police revealed that they received reports of such activities from state financial institutions, and accused Yameen of illegal transactions during his presidency.
Police are currently investigating a deposit of MVR 22.5 million made to Yameen's MIB account two weeks prior to the Presidential Election held on September 23, 2018. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) had reported it to the police at the time of the transaction, due to its substantial and sudden nature. However, the police had not probed the issue at the time.
Criminal Court issued an order to detain Yameen until the hearings for his money laundering case reaches a conclusion. However, High Court overturned this order on Wednesday. Due to High Court's verdict former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has been released.
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