Maldives Correctional Services says the lawyers of former President Abdullah Yameen were denied a meeting with their client because they refused to let themselves be searched before the meeting.
This comes after the Opposition voiced concern that the lawyers were denied a meeting with Yameen after they were allocated a time for the meeting and then refused time with their client upon reaching Maafushi Jail where he is serving an 11-year jail sentence.
The Opposition said that Home Minister Imran Abdullah was behind the decision to deny Yameen a meeting with his council and that it vehemently condemns this decision.
But Maldives Correctional Services tweeted to say that the lawyers were denied access to their client after they refused a search of the items they brought to the meeting.
It added that the meeting was canceled after their refusal.
Comments from former Vice President Mohamed Jameel Ahmed who is on Yameen's legal team also confirmed that the lawyers were denied access to their client because they refused to let the Prison officers check the files they had taken into the meeting.
In a tweet, Jameel said that Prison officers were ordered to go through the lawyers' files and that they were eager to read documents on the constitutional motion filed on behalf of the former President. He questioned how there would be peace in the country.
The constitutional motion the ex-Vice President was referring to is the one the Opposition filed yesterday at the Supreme Court claiming that Yameen's electoral rights have been denied because of the stalled appeal case at the High Court.
The appeal case at the High Court relates to the appeal filed on behalf of Yameen after he was found guilty of money laundering and accepting bribes last year by the Criminal Court.
