Supreme Court of Maldives has accepted the cases appealing to review the sentences passed on former President Mohamed Nasheed, President of Adhaalath Party Shiekh Imran Abdulla and former parliamentarian Ahmed Nazim.
The appeal to review the sentence passed on former President Nasheed was submitted by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Appeals to review the sentences on Imran and Nazim were filed by the defendants themselves.
Former President Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment by the Criminal Court, which found him guilty of terrorism for the arrest of former Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed. Meanwhile, Imran was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment, when he was found guilty of terrorism for delivering a speech at the 2016 May Day rally, which allegedly incited violence. Furthermore, Nazim was found guilty of deception and fraud and was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment. After considering the reasons behind the cases, the Supreme Court has announced the decision to review the sentences.
In 2016, the Supreme Court upheld the Criminal Court sentence on Nasheed. As for Sheikh Imran, the sentence passed on him was upheld by the High Court, upon which he filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, only for it to be rejected.
In the case of the former Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim, before a lower court or even the High Court could convict him, the Supreme Court sentenced him to 25 years of imprisonment.