Male’, Maldives —The Advisor of Opposition Coalition and a former President of Maldives, Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has called on to the government to transfer the former President, Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, who is paying a five year sentence in jail for money laundering, home for the upcoming Ramadan month.
Had the government any sincerity, they will transfer Former President Yameen home for Ramadan.
Former President Waheed
While it has been only 487 days since former President Yameen was imprisoned, the upcoming Ramadan month on the 13th of April will be the second Ramadan month former President Yameen will have to face in jail.
While speaking at a PPM event, former President Waheed stated that former President Yameen was imprisoned under an unlawful verdict and that he needs to be freed. Waheed stated that if the incumbent government of Maldives consists of any sincerity or kindness in them, then they will change former President Yameen to his home for the upcoming Ramadan month.
The family of former President Yameen had requested the Home Ministry on March 18th to change him to home arrest. This comes while President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had said that the government did not receive any requests from the Former President Yameen, with medical reports which require him to be changed to home arrest unlike the former Vice President, Ahmed Adeeb and Former Managing Director of Maldives Media and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Abdullah Ziyath.
Prior to this, the Opposition coalition had also requested the Home Minister, Imran Abdullah to change Former President Yameen to house arrest, to which Minister Imran stated that Yameen was offered leniency based on his health, and was told to travel abroad for carrying out tests which cannot be performed in the Maldives, which Yameen is said to have rejected.
President Yameen’s lawyer Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has stated that they have noticed that the incumbent government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been pressuring former President Yameen to go to abroad.
Minister Imran responded that the first thing to do is to go to abroad and get his tests done after which the authorities can decide what a stress free environment for former President Yameen is. Minister Imran also mentioned that at present, former President Yameen is in the most stress free environment that a jail can establish.
While it has been more than a year since former President Yameen was put in jail, the opposition coalition of PPM and PNC have repeatedly protested in the capital city Malé, calling for his release and his transfer to house arrest.
As former President Yameen continues to serve his five year sentence for money laundering, the High Court of Maldives has sustained the Criminal Court’s verdict, which is now in the process of being appealed at the Supreme Court by President Yameen’s lawyers. Along with this, there are currently more charges of money laundering and accepting bribery against him.
