Nasheed has no obstructions to filing appeal case, says Criminal Court

Criminal Court has said that the verdict summary on the sentence against former President Mohamed Nasheed has been issued, which means that his team has no obstructions to filing an appeal case to the upper court.

The Criminal Court official who spoke to Sun Online said that the full report is delayed due to Nasheed’s refusal to cooperate with the court, by declining the court’s request to sign his statements.

In addition to Nasheed’s statements, statements by another witness - who is presently abroad - also remain to be signed, said the court.

Earlier today, supporters of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) submitted a letter to Criminal Court requesting to issue the verdict summary.

Nasheed was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to 13 years in prison by Criminal Court, on 13 March 2015.

In a circular dated 27 January 2015, Supreme Court said that rulings from lower courts and tribunals should be appealed within ten days of ruling, by submitting a form mentioned in the circular to the respective court or tribunal.

Subsequently, all relevant documents from those cases have to be submitted to the High Court within seven days of the form being submitted to the lower court or the tribunal, read the circular.

Supreme Court further said that when the High Court receives the documents, the relevant parties in the case have to be notified within seven days and procedural steps have to be taken in order to move forward with the appeal.