Clooney beats Blair in Maldives asylum battle
The former president of the Maldives has been granted refugee status by Britain in a victory for Amal Clooney over Cherie Blair.
Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected leader of the Indian Ocean archipelago, was jailed on terrorism charges last year but was allowed to travel to Britain in January for spinal surgery.
Nasheed is represented by human rights lawyer Clooney, wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney.
The case pitted her against Cherie Blair, QC, wife of former British prime minister Tony Blair and the founder of Omnia Strategy, an international consultancy that advised Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on ‘‘democracy consolidation’’.
Clooney condemned her legal rival earlier this year, saying: ‘‘I think it is very sad that the former prime minister’s wife has decided to work against the people of the Maldives.’’
Nasheed had been allowed to travel to London for medical treatment in a deal brokered by the governments of Sri Lanka, India and Britain. He had promised to return to the Maldives but decided to stay in London, where his wife and children live.
He said yesterday: ‘‘President Yameen has jailed every opposition leader and cracked down on anybody who dares to oppose or criticise him. In the past year, freedom of the press, expression and assembly have all been lost.
‘‘Given the slide towards authoritarianism in the Maldives, myself and other opposition politicians feel we have no choice but to work from exile, for now.’’
The United Nations, the United States and human rights groups have said that the case against Nasheed was politically motivated.