The High Court has canceled the scheduled preliminary hearing today regarding the freezing of former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s accounts. The case currently at High Court is concerning bank accounts of President Yameen that are said to hold more than MVR 100 million. While Criminal Court had ordered the freezing of his accounts, the case had been appealed for dismissal at the High Court.

The hearing is scheduled for 10:00 am this morning. There is currently no information on when the next possible hearing would be held.

While the Criminal Court had ruled to freeze the former President's Bank of Maldives (BML) accounts, President Yameen’s attorneys had appealed the dismissal of the case at High Court on 24 December 2018.

The first preliminary hearing in the case was held on 14 February 2019, behind closed doors.

All of President Yameen’s bank accounts had been frozen under three different Criminal Court orders. The Criminal Court had proceeded to impose all of these orders upon the appeal of the Maldives Police Service.

Upon a different sentence from the Criminal Court concerning charges of money laundering,  President Yameen’s legal team had also appealed the dismissal of this case at High Court. The Criminal Court had ordered the detention of President Yameen for the remainder of his trial and he was transferred to Maafushi prison on 18 February 2019. This detention had been ordered under an appeal from the Prosecutor General’s Office. State lawyers had argued during the Criminal Court hearing that he had attempted to influence witness testimony through bribery and other means.

The High Court had accepted the case concerning President Yameen's detention on 21 February 2019.