Maldives’ ex-president graft conviction overturned

Maldives’ former president Abdulla Yameen was freed from house arrest on Tuesday after a top court overturned a moneylaundering and embezzlement conviction.

Yameen was sentenced to five years in jail and fined $5m in 2019 for embezzling $1m in state fundsand laundering the proceeds. Because of Covid-19, his jail term was shifted to house arrest.

After an appeal by Yameen, a three-member Supreme Court bench ruled on Tuesday there was insufficient evidence in the original case.

Two previous appeals were rejected.

Hundreds of supporters of Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives gathered at his residence in the capital Male after the verdict was announced.

The overturning of the verdict is a key moment in Maldives’ often-turbulent politics, as Yameen is now free to contest the next presidential election.

Yameen, who served as Maldives’ president from 2013 to 2018, is best known for drawing the country closer to China, invoking the ire of ally India.

He helped oust the archipelago’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, who fled into exile until 2018 when Yameen unexpectedly lost power in a national election.