Ex-President Yameen pleads 'not guilty' in Aarah case

Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Thursday pleaded not guilty to all charges in the money laundering case against him in connection to the sale of V. Aarah for resort development.

The Prosecutor General’s Office charged Yameen in November 2021, with money laundering and taking a bribe during the sale of Aarah to the former Parliamentary representative of Felidhoo constituency.

During the hearing held at the Criminal Court, the state presented Yameen with the opportunity to respond to the charges against him, that were read in court in the previous hearing.

In response, his lawyers stated that the charges were unclear. Despite the state re-stating and clarifying, his lawyers maintained that the charges were unclear.

 Finally, the presiding Judge, Chief Justice of Criminal Court Ahmed Shakeel said that the court believes that the state has done everything to clarify the charges.

Following this, Yameen stated that he has not done anything mentioned in the charges, and hence pleads not guilty to all.

 After Yameen’s declaration, the defence requested time to prep before the trial commences.

The Judge granted that time and announced that the next hearing will be held on February 16.

Previously, Yameen had requested to live stream the hearings in the money laundering case against him. However, former Felidhoo MP Yoosuf Naeem, who is also a defendant in the case, had objected to live-streaming the hearings.

Judge Shakeel has responded to Yameen’s request, stating that the hearings cannot be live-streamed at the moment as the Court lacks the resources to do so, but added that as soon as they acquire the resources for live streaming, the hearings in the case will be live-streamed as requested.