Yameen faces possible lawsuit over bribery claims against Qasim and Siyad

Jumhoory Party (JP) stated on Saturday that it is considering legal action against former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom after he, in a recent press interview, accused the party’s leader Qasim Ibrahim and his son, Ibrahim Siyad Qasim, of bribing Supreme Court judges back in 2018.

In an interview earlier this week to ‘Adhadhu’, Yameen spoke about the controversial order issued by the Supreme Court on February 1, 2018, instructing the release of opposition political leaders who were detained at the time; Qasim, former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, Adhaalath Party (AP) leader Imran Abdulla, former Maldivian vice president Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Gafoor, then-Dhiggaru MP Faris Maumoon, and former defense minister Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim.

The incident came at a time of intense political turmoil in the Maldives, with Yameen up for re-election later that year.

The order was never enforced, as Yameen declared a state of emergency and had two of the Supreme Court judges dismissed, then-Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed. The court then revised the order to omit the part instructing the release of opposition leaders.

Siyad, the deputy managing director of Villa Group and managing director of Villa Shipping, was arrested on February 6, 2018, in the ensuing crackdown, on allegations of conspiring to overthrow Yameen’s administration. He was later charged with bribing Abdulla Saeed and Ali Hameed by giving them USD 2.4 million to purchase a property from Malaysia. Siyad was initially remanded in jail pending the outcome of his trial, but was released in July 2018.

In his recent interview, Yameen said that Qasim and Yameen purchased properties in both Malaysia and Hulhumale’ for the Supreme Court judges involved in the February 1 order.

“The government still has these documents. You ask Qasim’s children who underwrote and issued the document authorizing money for the purchase of apartments on his behalf,” said Yameen.

In a statement on Saturday, JP’s chief spokesperson Ali Solih said dismissed the allegations as “baseless.”

He said that the JP condemns Yameen for making such remarks and is considering legal against him.

The threat of legal against Yameen comes at the heels of similar warnings by his elder half-brother, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who he also accused of involvement in the alleged conspiracy.