Jabir pitches resolution calling for Yameen’s immediate release

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) leader Abdulla Jabir has submitted a resolution to the Parliament calling for the immediate release of imprisoned former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Yameen is serving a five year sentence for money laundering in connection to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) embezzlement scam.

Kaashidhoo MP Jabir, in a letter to the Parliament on Friday, said that Maldives faced a critical situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the economic impact of the pandemic threatened the livelihood of the Maldivian people, and that Yameen therefore needed to be released from prison so that his experience and connections may be utilized to assist Maldives overcome the crisis.

Jabir’s resolution reads that after Yameen is released from prison, he must be allowed to meet with his successor President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih , so that the government is able to “utilize everything he has to offer at this time”.

Jabir said he believed that seeking Yameen’s assistance to be of vital importance to protect the rights of the Maldivian people.

He said that Yameen had fostered close relations with China and Saudi Arabia during his time, and was sure to secure assistance from the two countries to help Maldives overcome its current crisis.

The Maldivian people must set aside political differences and unite, reads the resolution.

The MMPRC embezzlement scam is valued at an estimated MVR 3.2 billion. While hundreds are suspected of involvement in the scam, Yameen is the only one to have been convicted. Yameen was sentenced to prison in late 2019, after he was found guilty of laundering USD 1 million in misappropriated State funds - the acquisition cost for G. A. Vodamula which should have gone into MMPRC.