Attorney General deems Yameen's candidacy rejection decision correct

During Friday's Supreme Court hearing, the Attorney General's Office said that the decision made by the Elections Commission (EC) to reject the candidacy of former President Abdulla Yameen was correct.

The decision of the EC to disqualify Yameen's candidacy based on his ongoing 11-year prison sentence has been appealed to the Supreme Court on behalf of Yameen.

The Supreme Court ordered the Attorney General's office to intervene in the case.

The Counsel General of the Attorney General's Office, Fathimath Haleem, said that according to the Constitution and laws of the Maldives, the opportunity to contest in the presidential elections is not open to an individual serving a sentence delivered by the lower courts. She said that a pending appeal does not weaken the power of a verdict and highlighted that similar decisions have been taken by the courts of other countries.

She further highlighted that the Supreme Court has previously ruled that an appeal does not invalidate a sentence, citing another case related to Yameen. She clarified that a final judgment is not necessary to determine if an individual fulfills the requirements for a President.

"The prosecution does not believe that a case being appealed until a final judgment or a case being appealed should, in itself, be interpreted as diminishing the validity of the judgment," the prosecution said.

The Judge's bench posed questions highlighting that some countries determine that a sentence exists only in cases where all appeals have been exhausted. The State, however, said that according to the laws of Maldives, this principle is only applicable in cases of Hadd and Qisas.

The prosecution highlighted that the Constitution does not detail what will happen in a scenario where someone who is serving a sentence is elected as President. She further said that this scenario does not exist in the Constitution because a person serving a sentence does not qualify to become a President.

The State also said that the Prisons and Parole Act also prevents Yameen from contesting in the elections.

All seven judges of the Supreme Court are part of the bench presiding over this case.