High Court Refuses to Entertain Appeal Over Unauthenticated Audio Evidence in Yameen Trial

The High Court has declined to consider an appeal regarding audio files submitted as evidence in the trial of former President Abdullah Yameen. The audio files, which the state claims contain Yameen's voice from 2013 conversations on his phone, have not been authenticated with an analysis report. In a decision issued yesterday by the High Court's Registrar, it was stated that decisions made by a judge at the initial stage regarding the acceptance of evidence can be debated and decided within the trial itself. The Registrar noted that appealing such matters instead of submitting them during the trial would cause the case in the lower court to stall and the trial to drag on. The Criminal Procedure Code allows appeals of pre-trial decisions only when there is no opportunity to further discuss and decide on those matters within the case. The Registrar cited Supreme Court judgments in support of this position. Hamza Latif, a member of Yameen's defense team, stated they will submit the Registrar's decision to the High Court's Council of Judges for review. The case concerns alleged embezzlement in renting out V. AR. The trial is ongoing in the Criminal Court for the second time. Yameen was convicted on December 25, 2022, and sentenced to 11 years in prison, which prevented him from contesting the 2023 presidential election. The second trial began on April 18, 2024, after the High Court ordered a retrial, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court.