The High Court on Sunday rejected the request for a stay order on the 11-year jail term of former President Abdulla Yameen over the V. Aarah Lease Corruption Case.

The court however did grant a stay order on imposing the USD 5 million fine.

On August 6, Yameen requested the High Court to postpone the execution of the Criminal Court's verdict after he was found guilty of money laundering and accepting bribes in connection with the lease deal. At that time, an appeal was filed in the High Court.

The High Court, in its order, said that if a lower court convicts a person in a criminal case, it does not specify the procedure to be followed to defer the execution of the sentence by the lower court when the verdict is appealed in a higher court. The court noted that it is not reflected in any law in the criminal justice system.

The high court said that courts are not legislative institutions and interpreting a law or rule by giving a translation that is not in the law amounts to encroaching upon the powers of Parliament. The existing law and the Criminal Procedure Code do not specify the five criteria for the execution of a criminal conviction. It further added that an appeal against a judgment empowered by law is not a reason for the dilution of the power of the judgment and the court has not been allowed to defer the execution of such a sentence until it is explained by law.

In the past, orders have been issued to postpone criminal convictions, but "in the light of the rulings of the Supreme Court of Maldives, it is now clear that the execution of the sentence of a person convicted by a lower court in criminal cases can be postponed." The High Court noted that Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom had not explained to the trial the legal reason for not complying with this or any legal procedure requiring him to move away from it.

The high court said that if the execution of the sentence is deferred without any provision or rule on the execution of sentence in criminal cases, "the result will be to remove the equality of law, introduce a lawless law into the system and misuse the procedure".

Therefore, since the delay in the execution of a person in a criminal case by lower-level courts is not in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, the laws made thereunder and the Code of Criminal Procedure, it cannot be ordered as requested by Yameen to postpone the execution of a criminal sentence under the Criminal Procedure Code," the High Court order said. However, the fine can be postponed as it is not a criminal conviction," the high court order said.

The High Court's opinion was held by Justice Mohamed Saleem. Judge Huzaifa Mohamed supported it.