Criminal Court rejects charges against former VP Adeeb

The Criminal Court has rejected the case against former Vice president Ahmed Adeeb by the state. 

The court found that the seven charges brought against the former Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb were brought unlawfully.

He is charged with two counts of embezzlement, unlawful influence to obtain an unfair advantage, and misuse of official capacity.

Police have previously said that Adeeb was set to plead guilty to the charges. However, during the hearing on Sunday, Adeeb said that he was forced to sign the plea agreement proposed by the former Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham and Assistant Commissioner of Police Ahmed Riyaaz in exchange for medical care.

The hearing saw the presiding judge Ismail Rasheed pose a number of questions regarding the plea deal in Sunday’s trial. He also questioned the validity of the plea deal.

The judge decided that the plea deal was not backed by the criminal procedure code and that the seven charges against him were brought after the period for charges to be brought in the case lapsed, meaning that the charges were unlawful.

Medical care in exchange for the admittance of guilt was not something that the PG office can do. The act can be viewed as “torture”, according to the verdict by the judge. The investigation into Adeeb was also deemed as in violation of international conventions and unlawful.