November 12, 2019 – The Criminal Court has appointed a panel of judges to hear Ex-President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom’s money laundering case.
The Court appointed the bench after President Yameen requested for his case to be heard by a bench of judges rather than his case being heard and decided by one single judge.
According to the declaration made today by the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court – Judge Ali Rasheed Hussain, the decision for the case to be heard by a bench of judges was made bearing in mind the type and gravity of the case and section 58 of Law No. 22/2010 (Judicature Act).
Section 58 of the Judicature Act provides that ‘…..the senior judge of a superior court has discretion to assign a panel of judges consisting of an add number to adjudicate a case taking into consideration the nature, type and other factors surrounding the case.’
The newly formulated bench consists of 05 judges of the Criminal Court and they are: Judge Ali Rasheed Hussain, Judge Ahmed Shakeel, Judge Mohamed Sameer, Judge Ali Adam and Judge Husain Faiz.
The case was previously heard by the Criminal Court Judge Ahmed Hailam. Following the recent suspension of Judge Hailam, the last scheduled hearing of the case where President Yameen was to be sentenced, was cancelled. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 17 November.
