Vice-president jailed for 15 years for trying to blow up president on speedboat

A former vice president of the Maldives has been jailed for 15 years for plotting to assassinate president Abdulla Yameen by blowing up his speed boat. Ahmed Adeeb, who was also sentenced to ten years on terrorism charges earlier this week, was said to have given orders for an IED to be planted on the boat. But the 34-year-old was tried and convicted behind closed doors in a case which has aroused suspicions over the nature of the evidence against him. “He was sentenced for 15 years based on seven anonymous witnesses,” said his lawyer, Moosa Siraj.

The FBI report clearly said it was not an IED, while Saudi investigators’ report said there was no evidence to say it was a bomb. We will definitely appeal against the verdict

Moosa Siraj, Mr Adeeb’s lawyer

Mr Yameen was unhurt in the blast in September last year but his wife and two aides were injured as it blew off the rear doors of the launch. The Maldives invited foreign agencies to examine the evidence but the FBI concluded there had been no bomb. However, the verdicts mean almost all of Yameen’s key rivals are in jail or exiled from the Maldives, a popular honeymoon destination that has been rocked by political turmoil in recent years. It comes a week after exiled former leader Mohamed Nasheed, now living in Britain, formed a united opposition group aimed at toppling Mr Yameen.

This was by no means a fair trial. The investigation was nowhere near complete. I think they closed the trial because they are afraid Adeeb might say something

Mr Adeeb’s wife, Mariyam Nashwa

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