Criminal Court schedules Monday hearing as Yameen’s Fuggiri trial resumes

The Criminal Court has scheduled a hearing for 09:15 am on Monday in the bribery and money laundering case against former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom concerning the lease of R. Fuggiri. 

The hearing comes as proceedings in Yameen’s cases have resumed after nearly a year without hearings at the Criminal Court.

The court restarted hearings on September 29, beginning with pre-trial motions in the V. Aarah case, where Yameen and former MP Yoosuf Naeem are accused of bribery and money laundering linked to the MMPRC. During that session, the prosecution requested the court to reject defence evidence submitted to show that the USD 1 million allegedly deposited into Yameen’s account was from a dollar-exchange transaction rather than a bribe.

The Criminal Court had previously halted the Aarah trial after the prosecution appealed the High Court’s decision not to admit new evidence. However, the Supreme Court ruled in July that the disputed evidence was inadmissible, upholding the High Court’s position and clearing the way for the retrial to proceed.

With the Aarah case now back in motion, the Criminal Court is continuing hearings in the Fuggiri case, where Yameen faces separate charges of bribery and money laundering over the island’s lease.