Maldives regime: Judges tried to ‘ overthrow’ govt
‘NO CURFEW’ Invites international community to visit and assess situation
MALE/NEW DELHI: President Abdulla Yameen’s regime targeted detained Supreme Court judges on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to overthrow the government, as the world community called for a swift resolution of the political crisis in the Maldives.
The police force, which is backing Yameen, said it had evidence that detained Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another top judge had attempted to “overthrow the constitutional government”.
Three judges of the Supreme Court, perceived as loyal to Yameen, announced that their bench could preside over cases. These judges had on Tuesday rolled back an order clearing former president Mohamed Nasheed of terror charges and freeing eight imprisoned political leaders.
The government also said it had i mposed emergency to address “internal aspects of governance” and invited its development partners and representatives of international organisations to visit the Maldives to assess the situation.
“The Maldives would like to invite its development partners and representatives from international organisations and asso- ciations to visit the Maldives to assess the situation in the Maldives and witness the safety and security of Male, for their own citizens as well as to engage with the government and key stakeholders in the country,” a foreign ministry statement said.
It said that no curfew has been imposed and the general movement of people, services and businesses will not be affected.
The Indian Ocean archipelago, which has seen a number of polit- ical crises since the ouster of its first democratically elected president Nasheed in 2012, plunged into political chaos last week with the Supreme Court’s order.
The Yameen regime refused to implement the ruling and instead imposed emergency.
On Wednesday, Nasheed on Twitter accused Maldivian authorities of ill-treating judge Ali Hameed. He added that former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, also detained, had stopped eating.
The UN human rights chief on Wednesday Zeid Ra’ad al-hussein called the emergency “allout assault on democracy”, adding that the resulting suspensions of constitutional guarantees “create a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of the president.”
On Tuesday, EU spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said the bloc “expects the state of emergency to be lifted without delay”.