Supreme Court to deliver ruling on admissibility of new evidence in Yameen’s Aarah retrial

The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing in the case concerning former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom over the alleged embezzlement of the lease of Vaavu Aarah for tourism development.

According to the court’s schedule, the bench will convene at 9:00 am on July 1 to deliver its decision on the state’s appeal seeking to admit new evidence in Yameen’s retrial.

Yameen was convicted by the Criminal Court on 25 December 2022 and sentenced to 11 years in prison for money laundering and accepting a USD 1 million bribe.

However, after a lengthy appeal process, the High Court quashed the conviction in late 2023 and ordered a retrial. In the same ruling, the High Court held that new evidence submitted by the prosecution could not be admitted during the retrial.

The state subsequently appealed that part of the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Hearings on the matter were previously concluded, but the case was reopened after a change in the bench. The most recent hearing was held on 29 September last year, during which presiding Justice Aisha Shujoon said the bench needed to clarify several outstanding issues before reaching a decision.

Justice Shujoon is presiding over the case, with Justice Dr Mohamed Ibrahim and Justice Abdullah Hameed also on the bench.