President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said today that he will not influence the judiciary and lacks the authority to free former President Abdulla Yameen, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence in Maafushi jail.
Speaking at a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) campaign rally in Alif Alif Rasdhoo ahead of the September 9 presidential election, the president said he did not comment when the Supreme Court overturned Yameen's first conviction. The president's authority under the jails and parole law could only be exercised after the appeal process is completed, he said.
"President Yameen having to stay in jail is their concern. We're all concerned about that. But I don't have the power to make a decision in the middle of a trial. I have the discretion to do what I can within legal bounds after all the court stages are completed," he said.
Solih urged opposition supporters to not "force me to meddle in and influence" Yameen's cases.
"I won't do that," he said.
Opposition Progressive Party of Maldives-People's National Congress (PPM-PNC) supporters have been protesting on almost every island that the president has visited on campaign trips. The protesters mainly objected to Yameen's imprisonment. Solih said today that opposition supporters making their voices heard was not a problem.
"You should voice out. There's no problem with that. But I just explained clearly how things can be done. There's nothing I can do about it [Yameen's sentence] at this stage," the president said.
Yameen's trials
After Yameen left office, he was placed under investigation and questioned by the police over the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal that occurred during his administration.
In 2019, Yameen was charged with money laundering over a USD 1 million check deposited to his account amid alleged corruption in the leasing of Gaaf Alif Vodamulla. The Criminal Court sentenced Yameen to five years in jail on November 28, 2019 and the High Court later upheld the verdict.
But an issue that went unnoticed in the previous stages emerged during the Supreme Court appeal. The number on the deposit slip and the number on the transaction information about the USD 1 million check deposited to the SOF account did not match. The Supreme Court, therefore, decided that it was uncertain whether the money in Yameen's account came from state coffers.
The number on the check and the deposit statement was 0494502. The number on the account statement was 0495402.
Following his release, Yameen was awarded the PPM-PNC presidential ticket on August 19, 2022. At the time, trials were ongoing at the Criminal Court on two additional cases. Yameen was charged over the Vaavu Aarah and Raa Fuggiri leases in 2021.
The Aarah case was filed at court while hearings were taking place in the Fuggiri case. The Fuggiri trial stalled after the Aarah hearings began. After the Criminal Court delivered its verdict in the Aarah case, the Fuggiri trial resumed with consecutive hearings held close together in recent weeks.
The prison sentence and USD 5 million fine imposed in the Aarah case was appealed at the High Court but hearings stalled after judges took leave.
