High Court on Sunday upheld the 12-year verdict issued on Adhaalath Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdullah on terror charges.

Imran who was charged and found guilty of terror charges was sentenced to 12 years in jail in February 2016. He was arrested over a rally held by the opposition on May 1, 2015, alleging that his speech at the rally "was directly responsible for the violence that ensued during the demonstration."

Wednesday's hearing at the High Court will be the first hearing in Imran's appeal case.

Despite being sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment, citing "jail reconstruction," he was transferred to house arrest in October 2016.

In addition to Imran, former Chairman of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Ali Waheed was charged over the same rally. Waheed, who had traveled abroad prior to the charges, has since been granted political asylum by the United Kingdom.