The state has submitted new evidence after witness statement proceedings had concluded in the case where former President Abdulla Yameen is being charged with money laundering and accepting bribes, and former Felidhoo Member of Parliament Yoosuf Naeem is being charged with bribery over the lease of Vaavu Atoll Aarah.

Witness statement proceedings in the case concluded on August 25th, and today's hearing was scheduled to be centered around debating the evidence.

During the hearing, the defense attorney requested more preparation time to debate the evidence. Yoosuf Naeem's lawyer had also requested time to prepare, in order to obtain transcripts of witness statements and to further analyze them.

The prosecution had also submitted new documents into evidence during the hearing, stating that the defense failed to provide further details of the defense witnesses. They added that several new pieces of information came to light during the witness statement proceedings, noting that the new documents question the credibility and their witness statements.

These documents included meeting minutes from the Economic Youth Council and attendance sheets of Malé City Deputy Mayor Ahmed Nareesh, one of the defense witnesses.

The defense had moved to request not to recognize the new documents submitted into evidence. They noted that these documents could have been obtained before and that the timeline to submit new evidence had long passed.

Chief Judge Ahmed Shakeel noted that a decision will be made on the documents during the next hearing, scheduled for November 17th.