HC upholds denial of Sun's evidence protection order in Fuggiri trial
The trial court had held that there was no need to pass an order protecting the evidence and that giving the evidence to the state was not making it public.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
High Court on Monday upheld the trial court's decision not to issue an order protecting evidence submitted by Sun Construction and Engineering and Sun Investment in the R. Fuggiri trial related to the MMPRC corruption scandal.
Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, Krik Riza and Sun Construction and Sun Investment are facing charges in the Criminal Court in connection with the alleged irregularities in the lease through Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) to develop R. Fuggiri for tourism.
On February 14, Sun company filed an application for an order to protect evidence in the case seeking protection of 12 pieces of evidence in the case.
The evidence includes:
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A statement given by Sun Investment's owner, Dh. Meedhoo MP Ahmed Siyam, to an internal investigation
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Statements of some foreigners who have worked with the company
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Board of Directors' Resolutions
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The Sun company had sought restraining the state from disclosing it
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The reason cited was that the evidence contained sensitive information of some people who were already working with the company and had worked in the past
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The evidence sought for protection is because if the information is made public in any way, it undermines the company's business and the company's internal interests and undermines the trust of the employees who handle the company's operations.
However, on February 21, the trial court had held that there was no need to pass an order protecting the evidence and that giving the evidence to the state was not making it public.
On March 20, Sun had challenged the trial court's decision in the High Court on the ground that Sun company, which has been doing extensive business in the country and abroad, had not been fully recognised by the trial court at the time of the decision.
The High Court on Monday upheld the trial court's decision in the case.
The High Court in its judgment said:
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The appeals filed by the appellants cannot be construed as sufficient to allow the ambiguity of the appeal
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Not clear that there is any legal ground for the appeal to be accepted by the court, or to make a decision on these objections
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Therefore, there is no place to proceed with the matter as the appeal was proposed
The High Court on Monday also reserved its verdict on an appeal filed by one of the accused in the Fuggiri case; Ahmed Krik Riza, Kurikeelahiya, K. Male, who was not satisfied with the trial court's decision on the pre-trial submissions in the case led against him. In this case too, the High Court had upheld the trial court's decision.
Timeline of the case
In the charges against the two Sun companies and Riza, the prosecution has alleged that Sun Construction, through MMPRC, entered into the Fuggiri lease deal with Classic City Island Holdings Limited on September 9, 2015.
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May 29, 2016: USD 1.1 million of Yameen's bribe received through Riza was released to Sun Construction through an account opened in the name of Riza at the Bank of Ceylon at Yameen's behest
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May 31, 2016: Showing it to be a dollar-laundering transaction, the cheque was deposited in an account opened in the name of Sun Construction in the State Bank of India
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June 7, 2016: The money was transferred as an 'in-house fund transfer', to an account opened in the State Bank of India in the name of Sun Investment
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June 7, 2016: After raising an additional USD 1,000 for the money, the state accuses Sun Investments of laundering USD 1.18 million as an 'inter-company fund transfer' into an account opened in Yameen's name with the Islamic bank.
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Sun Construction and Sun Investment are facing charges of money laundering
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Riza charged with money laundering and being a middleman in bribery
