Home Commentaries & Articles In Landmark Ruling, Maldives Court Orders Mohamed Nasheed’s Release

In Landmark Ruling, Maldives Court Orders Mohamed Nasheed’s Release

Mohamed Nasheed
The ruling could allow Nasheed to challenge current President Yameen Abdul Gayoom in this year's election.
Mohamed Nasheed
The ruling could allow Nasheed to challenge current President Yameen Abdul Gayoom in this year’s election.

New Delhi: The Maldives Supreme Court has quashed the “terrorism” conviction against the island nation’s former President Mohamed Nasheed, and ordered the release of several other jailed politicians.

The ruling could allow Nasheed to challenge current President Yameen Abdul Gayoom in this year’s election.

The Supreme Court ruling on Thursday came after an opposition alliance petitioned the top court to temporarily remove President Abdulla Yameen for misrule, rights abuses and “unprecedented corruption”.

Maldives has been mired in political unrest since Nasheed, the first democratically elected leader of the Indian Ocean archipelago, was ousted in 2012. Nasheed was later sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges.

The Supreme Court found that the guilty verdicts had been influenced by the government, saying that prosecutors and judges had been influenced “to conduct politically motivated investigations” into the allegations leveled at Nasheed and the other opposition leaders.

The court also reinstated 12 parliament members who were stripped of their seats after they defected to the opposition last year.

With this development, the opposition has a clear majority in the parliament to impeach the president.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) hailed the ruling, describing it as a “death knell for President Yameen’s corrupt and criminal dictatorship”.

Yameen, 58, assumed office in 2013 after winning a controversial election against Nasheed.

Yameen’s presidency has been marked by political intrigue, turmoil, and allegations of corruption, which have severely dented the Maldives’ image as a tourist paradise.

In 2015 Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected leader was jailed on “terrorism” charges relating to the arrest of a judge during his tenure.

The trial, declared unfair by the UN, prompted widespread protests and resulted in the arrest of hundreds of dissidents.

Since then, almost all key opposition leaders have either been jailed or gone into exile. In 2016, Nasheed sought political asylum in the United Kingdom after traveling there on medical leave from prison.

The president’s office said in a statement that it was trying to “vet and clarify” the court’s decision but would comply with it.

The Administration will “work to engage, and consult with, the Supreme Court in order to comply with the ruling in line with proper procedure and the rule of law,” said Ibrahim Hussain Shihab, a spokesman for the president’s Office.

Mohamed Nasheed

Reacting to the developments in Male on Thursday, Nasheed said he welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision and urged Yameen to “abide by this ruling and resign”.