Maldives high court on Thursday overturned the conviction of former president Abdulla Yameen. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison on graft and money laundering charges.
A three-judge bench in the archipelago nation held Yameen's 2022 trial as unfair and ordered the lower court to restart the criminal proceedings.
"The lower court ruling was not fair," judge Hassan Shafeeu said.
Yameen was convicted in December 2022 of corruption and money laundering over kickbacks from a private company while he was president. The bench ruled that due to the actions of the lower court during the trial, Yameen was unable to exercise his rights. Last year, due to the conviction, Yameen was unable to contest the September presidential elections.
The verdict of the court came ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections, in which Yameen is fielding candidates from a political party he formed while he was serving.
Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) was part of the opposition coalition that launched the ‘India Out’ campaign seeking to exploit anti-India sentiments.
