Criminal Court to livestream Yameen’s Aarah retrial

The Criminal Court on Wednesday has decided to livestream the retrial of former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s money laundering and graft charges regarding the lease of Vaavu atoll Aarah.

The court sentenced Yameen to 11 years in jail convicting him for the offenses on December 25, 2022.

However, the High Court on April 18^th of this year, overturned the lower court’s ruling following the government administration’s change earlier on November 17, 2023. Besides Yameen, the other convict in the same case, former Felidhoo MP Yoosuf Naeem was acquitted by the appellate court’s decision.

The first appellate court however, ordered the Criminal Court for a retrial of the case.

Preliminary hearing of this retrial was held on Wednesday, while the Criminal Court confirmed to ‘Sun’ Online that Yameen’s retrial will be livestreamed like before.

After a lengthy appeal trial, the High Court observed several discrepancies in the lower court’s trial process, and ordered the Criminal Court to reopen the case. The first appellate court ruled Yameen’s case was concluded in violation of the existing laws.

Yameen’s Criminal Court trials were livestreamed upon his legal team’s request.

The ex-President faces graft and money laundering charges, and is accused to have accepted a hefty bribe from the former Felidhoo MP to lease Vaavu atoll Aarah during Yameen’s administration from 2013 to 2018.

High Court had overturned the guilty verdict of both Yameen and Naeem in its ruling.

Meanwhile, the state has already filed an appeal with the Supreme Court challenging High Court’s decision not adduce new evidences against Yameen and reopen the case. The case was accepted to the top court with its preliminary hearing still pending.