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Former President Yameen being taken to Maafushi on December 25, 2022. Dhauru Photo/ Abdullah Riza

Yameen appeals 11-year prison sentence

He defended the USD 1 million transaction in the case where Yameen was charged, saying it was a dollar-exchange transaction.

22 February 2023
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By Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim

Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has appealed to the High Court against the 11-year jail term handed to him by the Criminal Court in the MMPRC corruption scandal.

Yameen was sentenced to 11 years in prison on December 28 for accepting bribes in the lease of V. Aarah through MMPRC and laundering money from the proceeds of the transaction. Two months after the verdict was delivered, Yameen submitted the criminal court's verdict to the High Court on Tuesday.

Abdulla Shiyaz, who is part of Yameen's legal team, announced in a tweet that he had filed an appeal against the verdict.

"This is the second trial of the Criminal Court against President Yameen so far. The judge has made mistakes that are difficult to accept on both occasions. These are political charges that have no legal sanctity. God willing, we will win," Shiyaz tweeted.

Yameen, who is the opposition PPM-PNC presidential candidate, was barred from contesting the September presidential election after the criminal court's verdict. Yameen's legal team had earlier said that he would be released after the High Court decides on the appeal in March.

He defended the USD 1 million transaction in the case where Yameen was charged, saying it was a dollar-exchange transaction. However, Chief Criminal Court Judge Ahmed Shakil ruled that some of the evidence presented to defend him against money laundering was not correct and that it was an attempt to show that something that had not happened, had happened. The judgment also noted that certain gimmicks of the case pointed towards money laundering.

Yameen's PPM-PNC did not accept the verdict. The coalition called it a "haram verdict" in which they maintain that charges were framed under political influence.

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