PGO files Supreme Court petition over rejection of evidence against Yameen

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the High Court’s instructions to disregard some of the evidence submitted to prove the money laundering and bribery charges against former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in the V. Aarah case.

Yameen was sentenced to 11 years in prison on December 25, 2022, on charges of bribery and money laundering in connection to the sale of V. Aarah. The High Court overturned the conviction on April 18.

But instead of a full exoneration, the court overturned the two convictions and ordered a retrial in the case.

The High Court also instructed the lower court to disregard some of the evidence which was submitted later during the original trial.

The PGO has said that the procedure under which the lower court decided to accept the evidence in question during the original trial could be revised during the retrial. It argued that the order by the High Court to disregard the evidence is therefore in contravention of precedence set by the Supreme Court.

The office said it filed a petition with the Supreme Court on January 24, seeking to overturn the High Court’s decision regarding the evidence.

“This office asked the Supreme Court to overturn the High Court’s decision to discard the aforementioned evidence, and to allow the defense to present motions if it so wishes regarding the evidence submitted under Article 135 of the Criminal Procedure Code, to allow the two sides to debate on the motions at court, and to instruct the lower court to make a decision regarding whether to accept the evidence, during the retrial instructed by the High Court bench which  heard the case,” said the PGO in a statement.

PGO stressed that it only appealed the part of the High Court judgement concerning the evidence, and not the entire ruling. It said that the appeal will not affect the High Court’s decision to instruct a retrial.

Yameen’s acquittal in the Aarah case had marked the second time for a court to overturn a conviction against the former Maldivian leader. In 2021, the Supreme Court overturned a five-year sentence issued against him for money laundering in connection to the sale of GA. Vodamulla – another island which was leased for resort development during his administration.

The conviction in the Aarah case had disqualified Yameen from contesting the 2023 presidential elections. Though he initially asked the then-opposition PPM-PNC (Progressive Party of Maldives-People’s National Congress) coalition to boycott the election, he later endorsed President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, who won the vote taken by the coalition’s joint senate to produce a backup candidate.

Yameen was transferred home on October 1, 2023 – a day after President Muizzu won the presidential election.

But less than a week after President Muizzu took office in November, Yameen left the ruling PPM-PNC and initiated efforts to form a new party, the People’s National Front (PNF).

He later grew increasingly vocal in his criticism of President Muizzu’s administration, and has repeatedly alleged that President Muizzu and other members of the PPM-PNC leadership had never wanted him freed.