MUO: Secret sentencing cannot be accepted

Maldives United Opposition (MUO) have said that conducting trials behind closed doors and rushing to passing the sentence is not something that can be accepted.

In a press release issued by the coalition today following the sentencing of the former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb, former Prosecutor General (PG) Muhuthaz Muhusin, MNDF Staff Sargent Hassan Rikaz and Corporal Ahmed Amir last night, the MUO said that the charges that were brought forth against them and the heavy sentences prove that the political stage of the country in on the decline.

Criminal Court sentenced the former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor to 15 years and he two body guards, Hassan Rikaz and Ahmed Amir to ten years in prison after being found guilty of detonating an IED onboard the Presidential Launch “Finifenma”.

And the former Prosecutor General Muhuthaz Muhusin to 17 years in prison after being found guilty in an attempt to arrest the President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom with a false court order.

The opposition coalition said that the four that were sentenced last night were robbed their constitutional right to a fair and just trial and the trial was against the regulations of a fair justice system.

MUO said that they are directly in violation with the Islamic Sharia Law.

The MUO press release said that the negligence of the Justice System is affecting the view of the international community on the Maldives and is losing the trust of investors obstructing the development of the country.