The Criminal Court has acquitted former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb after rejecting 7 charges brought against him by the state.
Identified as a key suspect in the MMPRC scandal, the state has charged the former VP with two counts of embezzlement, unlawful influence to obtain an unfair advantage, and misuse of his official capacity as well as two counts of money laundering.
The former VP agreed to these charges under a plea bargain with the State Prosecutors in exchange for him pleading guilty to these charges.
Police had said under this plea bargain, the former VP would be granted permission to seek medical treatment.
In the hearing held this Sunday, Adeeb said that he signed the plea deal as a last resort to secure the chance to seek medical treatment and that former Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham proposed the deal.
Also in the hearing, presiding judge Ahmed Rasheed questioned the legal validity of such a plea deal.
In today’s hearing, Judge Rasheed said that the plea deal does not fit the criminal court procedure and that the 7 charges brought against him were placed unlawfully as the period to charge him for the crimes has passed.
The judge also said that the Prosecutor General’s Office cannot include medical treatment as a condition in a plea deal and that this would constitute as ‘torture’. He also said that the trial against the former VP went against International conventions.
With the court’s decision today, Adeeb who has been sentenced to remain under police custody has now been freed as the 33 years jail term sentence against him has also been canceled.
