Ex-President of the Maldives arrested for alleged illegal detention of criminal court chief judge
The case against him had been dropped, however Mohamed Nasheed was charged again under tougher anti-terrorism laws with the same allegation
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Your support makes all the difference.Ex-President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed has been arrested under an anti-terror law for the alleged illegal detention of the then criminal court chief judge, Abdullah Mohamed, while in office in January 2012.
The case against him had been dropped last week, however Nasheed was charged again on Sunday under tougher anti-terrorism laws with the same allegation – ordering the arrest and detention of the judge, who had been accused of corruption.
Nasheed, a former human rights campaigner, had been the country’s first democratically elected President but resigned in February 2012 following a mutiny by the army and public protests over the judge’s detainment.
He had previously taken refuge at the Indian high commission in Malé, the Indian ocean archipelago region’s capital, to avoid being arrested in connection with the same case.
Current president Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, a half-brother of the country’s ex-autocratic ruler, Maumoon Abdul Gayyom, has been under mounting pressure recently from Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party.
Recently Yameen has arrested his defence minister, accusing him of plotting a coup.
Mr Nasheed’s party described his arrest as “a desperate and reckless attempt by President Yameen to cling onto power in the face of growing opposition.”
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