Yameen's lawyers accuse govt of framing, intimidation, interference

Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's legal team on Sunday accused the government of using state agencies to frame Yameen and influence his ongoing trial at the Criminal Court by intimidating judges.

Yameen's trial in the MMPRC bribery case is over and the case is pending verdict.

Yameen's lawyers, however, questioned whether Yameen would be able to secure a fair verdict in the case, given the government's actions using institutions under the control of the government.

Criticising the government for discriminating against Yameen, his lawyers held a press conference this Sunday morning saying that in Yameen's case, the government was using the police and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to influence the case in various ways.

"The case is that the state is using Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor and Abdulla Ziyath to prepare for a separate screenplay and set up scenes that [the government] wants," Yameen's lawyer Abdulla Shiyaz said.

His colleague Ali Shah,said senior police officials were trying to frame Yameen in the MMPRC case. There are audios that prove this, he said. 

"Some senior police officers have committed such acts by asking some suspects to give statements in a particular way, doing things to frame President Yameen in a particular way, and saying that they will not be prosecuted if they make such statements," Shah said, alleging that the PG and the police has violated the law.

When asked further about the audio clips he mentioned, he said it was a recording of a conversation of Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohammad Riyaz, but would not divulge further details.

Shah also said that the fact that only Yameen was being tried in the MMPRC case also shows the government's interference in the case. This can only be seen by looking at the case of Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof, he said. He wondered why the cases were not being taken up when the present government and MPs were also on the long list of scams.

When asked by a reporter if the JSC had any influence in the case, the lawyers did not rule out any direct interference in the case. However, Shah said a "wise and reasonable human being" would know that the JSC was interfering in Yameen's cases, given the way things had happened in the past and the composition of the JSC.

"Most of the people (in the JSC) are in key positions in today’s government and have been appointed to do what the government wants them to do. Be it a member appointed by parliament, the attorney general of the state or the president of the CSC, they are not really independent citizens," he said, explaining the reason for saying that the JSC is not an independent institution.

Yameen's lawyers said that although the JSC did not take direct action in the case, the case against Supreme Court Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir could be seen as an attempt to influence the case. The JSC is looking into the case of Mahaz, which was previously charged against Yameen. The 'feast' case was brought on the day the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in the Vodamula case.