Attorney: State acted in bad faith; Yameen’s statement used against him

Former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s attorneys told the High Court on Wednesday that the state acted in bad faith by using statements the opposition leader made during the investigation against him.

Yameen was sentenced to 11 years in prison on December 25, 2022, after he was found guilty of bribery and money laundering charges in connection to the sale of V. Aarah for resort development.

During the High Court hearing Wednesday, Yameen’s attorneys finished presenting the points of appeal of the conviction.

Presenting the 14 points of appeal, Yameen’s attorney Abdulla Siraj said the statements his client made by cooperating with the police investigation into the case had later been used against him by the state.

“The state used the statements made by the defense, against the defense. Everything he said about recovering the money from [former vice president] Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Gafoor was used against him. Because it was clear the state and the investigators were not acting in good faith, we gave a statement during the investigation,” he said.

Siraj said that, that was why Yameen later decided to exercise his right to remain silent.

He said that Yameen decided to make no further statement to investigators, and make his case during trial.

Siraj said that the state had deliberately picked certain evidence while disregarding others, in order to create the outcome, it wanted.

He said that it became clear when the defense received the investigation file.

“When we reviewed the file, we saw that even before the investigation began, they made a charge chart which defined the evidence needed to prove him guilty of the alleged crime, and the charges that will be filed against him,” said Siraj.

After the presentation of the points of appeal, the head of Yameen’s legal team, former vice president Dr. Ahmed Jameel asked the court to schedule a hearing for Thursday for the state to present its response, citing the upcoming Eid holiday.

He said that appeal hearings could be completed ahead of the holidays if a hearing is held Thursday.

However, the request was denied by the High Court bench.

The presiding judge, Huzaifa Mohamed said the court would stick to the pre-announced schedule.

Yameen’s attorneys are pushing to expedite the appeal so he can qualify for the upcoming presidential election, slated for September 9.