Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has been denied further leniency by the Maldives Correctional Service (MCS), after the former leader, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence for bribery and money laundering, requested additional concessions while currently serving his term under house arrest and monitored movement within Malé.
The request to allow Yameen to participate in political activities and meet his supporters was made through his lawyers, who insist that, while concessions were given to Yameen during the Ibrahim Mohamed Solih administration, he should be released.
MCS confirmed to Maldives Republic that Yameen had requested for easing of the terms of his house arrests, which was denied by on the grounds that it would violate the law. MCS would not disclose further details.
While President Mohamed Muizzu had pledged to free President Yameen as soon as his administration took office, progress on the case has remained slow. Yameen, increasingly frustrated with the Muizzu administration even through the initial hand-over and interim phase between administrations, severed ties with the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People’s National Congress (PNC) coalition on the fourth day of the Muizzu administration. Yameen then initiated the process of registering a new political party; the People’s National Front (PNF).
What President [Muizzu] said was that the administration would not interfere with the judiciary and do anything to bring about a certain verdict. We will only know [the progress] when a verdict is delivered.
Spokesperson for the President, Mohamed Shahyb, responding to queries by the press at a President’s Office media briefing.
Shahyb reiterated that the administration will not influence the judiciary and that the institution’s independence will be known once a verdict is delivered.
President Muizzu, however, had reiterated, during his presidential campaign, that he would push to expedite Yameen’s trials and quash the ‘unfair’ and ‘politically motivated’ sentence.