Criminal Court has returned all cases against former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb that were filed at the court by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The decision to return the cases was made at the Judges Council meeting held last Wednesday.
The Criminal Court on Sunday said the decision was made as the investigations that led to the former VP being charged were deemed by the High Court as having been influenced.
The High Court recently overturned all convictions against Adeeb and ordered the Criminal Court to conduct a retrial on the case that tied Adeeb to the explosion that occurred aboard the presidential launch in 2015 and an additional graft conviction. However, the Criminal Court returned 15 cases filed against Adeeb by Prosecutor General’s Office including those on which retrials were ordered.
In their order to conduct a retrial last month, the High Court referred to the controversial February 1 Supreme Court order, stating that the order and the terror charges that followed were politically motivated and violated the rights assured by the Maldivian constitution and criminal procedural laws. They also noted that the police investigations into the cases were also politically influenced.
Announcing their decision to return the cases, the Criminal Court noted that High Court’s decision that the police investigations of the case was influenced and conducted in violation of procedures should be accepted and followed by the Criminal Court. While a re-trial would be based on the same investigations, it would in turn make the re-trial baseless, the Criminal Court stated.
Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham on Sunday confirmed that 15 cases were returned to the Prosecutor General Office by the Criminal Court. However, the Criminal Court’s decision was not supported by Bisham.
Speaking to AVAS, PG Bisham said she does not believe the Criminal Court can return a case that they were ordered to conduct a retrial on by the High Court.
“High Court is an upper court, a lower court cannot choose to reject an upper court order. Therefore, we will still continue to work as per the High Court order”, said the PG.
Adeeb is currently being detained for the his trial over the explosions that took place on the presidential launch. As the High Court was of the opinion that Adeeb should be detained during his trial, he was remanded for 15 days by the High Court. While the 15 day period will expire next Tuesday, the Prosecutor General requested the Criminal Court to extend his remand, which was subsequently rejected by the Court as a result of their earlier decision to return the cases back to PG Office without pursuing a retrial.
The Prosecutor General will be appealing the High Court’s verdicts freeing Adeeb at the Supreme Court.
While all verdicts against Adeeb have now been overturned, he is serving a 15-day sentence over contempt of court. He is serving his sentence under house arrest due to his current health condition.
Ex-VP Ahmed Adeeb
