COLOMBO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen was freed on Thursday after the country's High Court overturned a conviction against him by a lower court for money laundering and bribery.

The former president was sentenced to 11 years in prison on December 25, 2022, by the Criminal Court on charges of bribery and money laundering over kickbacks from a private company during his tenure as president.

On Thursday evening, the High Court overturned the lower court's verdict which sentenced Yameen to 11 years in prison on charges of money laundering and bribery.

The High Court also overturned the Criminal Court's verdict which sentenced the former president to seven years in prison over money laundering charges and ordered a retrial.

Earlier on the day, the High Court ordered a retrial be granted to Yameen on the charges of accepting bribes in the lease of Vaavu Atoll Aarah.

With these rulings, the High Court has now freed Yameen of the entire 11 years in prison. The verdict came ahead of the April 21 parliamentary elections.

Yameen was fielding candidates from a political party he formed while serving his sentence. Enditem

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