Soldiers convicted of evidence-tampering in boat blast freed

Two soldiers convicted of thwarting an investigation into the explosion on President Abdulla Yameen’s speedboat were freed Wednesday.

Ahmed Thiham and Moosa Zameer were sentenced last week to four months and 24 days on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing justice.

But they were freed as they had been kept detained for more than eight months, a prisons official said.

The pair were arrested in October and kept detained for the duration of the investigation and trial, which lasted more than eight months.

The president escaped unhurt from the September 28 explosion, but his wife and two aides sustained minor injuries. The blast set off a crisis that saw the arrest and impeachment of Yameen’s deputy, and a purge of the cabinet and the security forces.

Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, accused of masterminding the blast, was convicted of terrorism and handed a 15-year sentence earlier this month.

The court found him guilty of ordering two of his military bodyguards to plant a bomb on the Finifenmaa boat on the eve of the blast. The pair were given ten-year jail terms each.

The head of the armoury, Ahmed ‘Papa’ Fayaz Ali Riza, was meanwhile handed a two-year sentence for obstructing justice. Prosecutors said Fayaz had ordered Thiham and Zameer to board the boat in the aftermath of the blast and remove potential evidence from the scene.

Three teams of foreign experts inspected the boat following the blast.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it found no trace of explosives. The home ministry said the Saudis had found traces of a powerful explosive, RDX, on the boat, and said the Sri Lankans had concluded the explosion was caused by a bomb.

None of the reports were made public.