Yameen alleges framing, questions probe into Shamaan's case

Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom stated on Sunday evening that Mohamed Shamaan Waheed, former Controller General of Immigration, who was arrested on corruption charges, was framed and that the investigation into the case was not conducted properly.

Shamaan was arrested on the night of March 21 for allegedly misusing his official position to gain undue benefits from expatriate workers. Subsequently, the Criminal Court remanded him in judicial custody.

The High Court challenged Shamaan's case, concluding that his detention was proper. Subsequently, on June 18, the Supreme Court also decided that there was no need for his release.

During a meeting organized by Yameen's political party, the People’s National Front (PNF), on Sunday evening, he referred to Shamaan as a good acquaintance, noting that many people believe he has been wrongly accused. Yameen pointed out that Shamaan's trial is no longer ongoing and expressed that if justice were to be availed in this matter, the fairest course of action would be to reach a verdict. He added, “If there is time prolonged until a verdict, it gives room to speculate that there is a possibility to believe this is a case where the state will not prevail.”

Pointing to the Supreme Court's support for Shamaan's remand, Yameen also expressed concern over the conduct of the proceedings. The court’s custody verdict does not take into account the entire case, he said, adding that the accused has to remain in jail despite the trial being stalled.

In addition to the court progress of Shamaan’s case, Yameen also spoke about the information revealed so far by the investigation.

According to police, Shamaan was arrested after he, with his colleagues, allegedly extorted more than MVR 500,000 from a foreign national and took the money to his home after the expatriate was released from immigration custody.

CCTV footage of Shamaan's house has been obtained for the investigation. Yameen questioned whether it was logical for a delivery man who brought the money at Shamaan's behest to his home would display the money in a bag after getting off the elevator. He questioned why the man would act in such a way if it was not to frame Shamaan.

"Would he open the bag and count the money in it and show it to the CCTV? If it is brought at Shamaan’s instruction, it will be brought by someone he trusted, so will he bring the money and display it to the CCTV camera? These are very basic questions, they don't want to look at any of these things, it's called framing," he said.

When Yameen made these allegations, Shamaan's family had earlier leveled allegations against the government. Meanwhile, the family alleged that Shamaan was arrested for possessing a "video" of Homeland Minister Ali Ihusaan. The family did not specify the content of the video.

Regarding these allegations, police had earlier stated that there was no reason to frame Shamaan and that the story of Ihusaan’s video was not important for the investigation.