Advertisement
Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and his lawyer Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed were present at a hearing held at the High Court on Tuesday to deliver the verdict in the appeal case.

High Court backs Yameen's pre-trial motion dismissal

However, judge Hassan Shafiu, who presided over the three-member High Court bench that adjudicated the case, had a dissenting opinion.

11 April 2023
Advertisement

By Fathmath Ahmed Shareef

High Court on Tuesday upheld the trial court's decision to reject Yameen's pre-trial submissions in the case filed against him in connection with the R. Fuggiri lease deal through MMPRC.

Yameen, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence in connection with the lease deal of V. Aarah through MMPRC, has been charged with money laundering and accepting a bribe, in connection with the Fuggiri lease deal:

Yameen had challenged the Criminal Court's February 14 decision to reject the pre-trial submissions.

Following the appeal, the High Court directed the trial court to stay the proceedings in the Fuggiri case till the disposal of the appeal.

In Tuesday's proceeding, the High Court ruled that there was no reason to modify the Criminal Court's ruling dismiss Yameen's pre-trial submissions.

However, judge Hassan Shafiu, who presided over the three-member High Court bench that adjudicated the case, had a dissenting opinion. 

In his opinion, Shafiu said that the court had not examined whether the evidence presented by the state in the Fuggiri case was credible or not. Shafiu said that the trial court had wrongly decided not to entertain the pre-trial submissions.

Shafiu said the ruling should be set aside and pre-trial submissions should be allowed to be filed within seven days.

Despite Shafiu's dissenting opinion, Yameen won the appeal as the other two judges on the bench, Dheebanaz Fahmy and Mohamed Faisal said they favoured upholding the Criminal Court ruling. 

Yameen's appeal was based on three points.

  • Judge Ali Nadeem, who is hearing the Fuggiri case at the Criminal Court, refused to accept Yameen's request to reject some evidence, but did not specify how that decision had been reached

  • The defence request to reject the testimony of former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb and former MMPRC Managing Director Abdulla Ziyath was rejected in violation of the law and regulations

  • Yameen's request to disclose particular documents was dismissed without basis 

Yameen's lawyers pointed out in the court:

  • While the lower court on February 14 rejected Yameen's submissions, the new evidence law came into force on January 18

  • Even during the hearing before deciding on the acceptance of the application, the judge did not respond to requests for a decision on the acceptance and evaluation of evidence under the Evidence Act

Yameen had requested the High Court for a total of five things, including the request to reject the testimony of Adeeb and Ziyath.

Comments

profile-image-placeholder