India urged to send troops to the Maldives

The opposition in the Maldives pleaded with India to send troops to the islands Tuesday after the president declared a state of emergency and arrested supreme court judges and political opponents.

The island state plunged i nto political chaos l ast week when the high court quashed the convictions of nine opposition leaders and ruled that their trials were politically motivated.

President Abdulla Yameen defied the court’s ruling and, instead of freeing the jailed politicians, he accused the supreme court of planning “a coup” against him.

On Sunday, Yameen declared a state of emergency and government t r oops stormed the supreme court building . They arrested Abdulla Saeed, the chief justice, and another judge.

“I declared the state of emergency because there was no way to hold these justices accountable. This is a coup. I wanted to know how well planned this coup ( is),” Yameen said.

Police also arrested the president’s half- brother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, an 80-year-old former dictator of the Maldives who has become an unlikely opposition figure.

Mohamed Nasheed, a former president, has been leading the opposition from his exile in Sri Lanka.

Tuesday, he appealed to India to send an envoy supported by troops to force Yameen into releasing prisoners.

“On behalf of Maldivian people we humbly request: 1. India to s end envoy, backed by its military, to release judges and political detainees including President Gayoom. We request a physical presence. 2. The U. S. to stop all financial transactions of Maldives regime leaders going through U.S. banks,” he tweeted.

The Maldives, a country of 400,000 people, is known to many as a tourism destination but its political scene is fraught and chaotic.

Nasheed is a British-educated politician, who was best known for stunts to demonstrate the effects of climate change, such as holding a cabinet meeting underwater. He was elected in 2008 but forced from power in 2012 after the police and much of the military deserted him.

He was later convicted of terrorism charges and jailed, but was able to leave the country for health reasons and sought asylum in the U. K. The supreme court voided his terrorism conviction last week, and ordered a retrial.

Yameen took power in 2013 and has cracked down on political opponents and independent activists.

One third of the country’s lawyers had their licences suspended after they signed a petition demanding the government respect the independence of the judiciary.

India intervened in the Maldives in 1988 to foil a coup against the government, but it is considered unlikely they would heed Nasheed’s call for intervention this time.