Criminal Court of the Maldives has commenced the retrial of the 7 charges pressed by the state against former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb.
High Court of the Maldives had ordered a retrial of the charges against Adeeb, after ruling the Criminal Court had rejected the charges wrongfully. The Criminal Court conducted the first hearing of the retrial on September 30.
The Prosecutor General’s Office pressed 7 charges against Adeeb, including two charges for participating in embezzlement of state funds, two charges for money laundering, two charges for influence peddling and one charge for illicit use of an official position. At the preliminary hearing of the trial, Criminal Court Judge Ismail Rasheed rejected the charges citing the lack of sufficient credible evidence against Adeeb, as the charges are largely dependent on confession agreements signed between the defendant and the PG Office, which holds no validity in court.
However, Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem said sufficient evidence has been collected for over 150 charges against Adeeb for his role in the embezzlement of state funds through Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC). Noting none of the charges would require a confession statement from Adeeb for it to be proved in court, Shameem said the evidence collected against the former vice president is enough to hand him a prison sentence of 806 years. However, Shameem said the PG Office will only press all charges if Adeeb refuses to go ahead as per the agreement made between him and the PG Office to cooperate with the investigation and plead guilty for 7 charges.
Former Vice President Adeeb had previously been sentenced to 33 years in prison, after being convicted of terrorism and corruption charges. The sentences were later overturned by the Supreme Court of the Maldives, after ruling the investigation was carried out under political influence, violating the international conventions signed by the Maldives.
Adeeb has also served a sentence of 3 months and 18 days, which was imposed for his attempt to flee the country while his passport was seized under the orders of the Supreme Court. The sentence was completed on January 3, 2020.