Maldives’ criminal court has found former vice-president Ahmed Adheeb and former prosecutor general Muhthaz Muhsin guilty in two different cases.Mr. Adheeb, once considered a key confidant of Mr Yameen, was given 15 year imprisonment in a case of the alleged attempt to assassinate President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, using a bomb on the presidential speedboat in September last year while Mr. Muhsin got a jail term for 17 years for conspiring to kidnap the President.
The court gave its rulings on Thursday night in a closed door sitting.One more case is pending against the former vice-president while there are three others against the former prosecutor general, according to defence counsels of the two.Moosa Siraj and Husnu Suood, lawyers for Mr. Adheeb and Mr. Muhsin, told THE HINDU on Friday morning that they would move the High Court, challenging the rulingsOnly five days ago, Mr. Adheeb was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on a terrorism charge for possession of firearms. The third case against him concerns misappropriation of state funds.
Mr Siraj said the sentences against the former vice president in the two cases would run consecutively.Among the other cases relating to Mr. Muhsin is the alleged attempt to arrest Mr. Yameen in February this year by producing fake documents. The ruling on Ahmed Nihan, a magistrate charged in the President arrest case, is also expected shortly, Mr. Suood adds.