Maldives top court reverses ruling after judges’ arrest

THE Maldives president yesterday welcomed a Supreme Court move to reinstate the convictions of high-profile political prisoners after he arrested two top judges and declared a state of emergency, plunging the upmarket holiday paradise into chaos.

President Abdulla Yameen attracted international censure for his refusal to comply with last week’s shock Supreme Court order to release his jailed political opponents and to quash the con- viction of Mohamed Nasheed.

Exiled opposition leader Nasheed has said he will run against Yameen in presidential elections due later this year, and the court’s ruling had appeared to pave the way for his return to the honeymoon islands.

But late on Tuesday the remaining three judges reinstated his controversial 2015 terrorism conviction and reversed their earlier order to free eight other political prisoners.

A statement onYameen’s website yesterdaysaid his administration welcomed the court’s U-turn, which the judges had said was made “in light of the concerns raised by the president”.

The worsening political turmoil has led several countries to warn against travel to the country, which depends heavily on tourism, at the peak of the holiday season.

The 15-day state of emergency imposed earlier this week gives the government sweeping powers to arrest and detain individuals and curtails the powers of the judiciary and the legislature.

Maldives Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another judge were arrested at dawn Tuesday after security forces stormed the court complex in the capital Male.

In a televised address to the nation hours later, Yameen said the judges were part of a plot to overthrow him.

“I had to declare a national emergency because there was no other way to investigate these judges,” he said.

“We had to find out how thick the plot or coup was.”

Yameen has had almost all the political opposition jailed since he came to power, in an escalating crackdown on dissent.