Former Maldives Vice President, Ahmed Adeeb (pictured) has been convicted of plotting to assassinate the Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom, by setting off a bomb on his speedboat in September 2015. He’s been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Adeeb who was once a close confidant of Gayoom, was impeached in November last year after being accused of the assassination plot.
Following a closed-door trial yesterday, the Criminal Court found the ex-VP and two of his military bodyguards guilty of attempting to kill the President who was with his wife and others in the boat. Gayoom escaped unhurt, but his wife and two others were slightly injured.
After being enlisted to look into the incident, FBI investigators reported there was no evidence that a bomb was behind the blast. However, President Gayoom who is accused of jailing and silencing his rivals in the country, seems to have found a way around it. Adeeb was arrested by the police and tried in secret following allegations he wanted to topple Gayoom. Reporters were barred from the trial after the court invoked national security concerns and said it would not make the hearings or verdict public.
With the sentencing, almost all of Gayoom’s key rivals are either living in exile or in jail in the island nation, which has been rocked by political turmoil in recent years.
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