Maldives arrests ex President |
Maldives authorities arrested former President and current opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed on February 22, ordering him to stand trial for his 2012 decision to arrest a senior judge. Nasheed`s supporters protested in the streets of the capital, Male, following the arrest in a sign that the Indian Ocean archipelago nation, in just its seventh year of multiparty democracy following 30 years of autocratic rule, could be plunging into political uncertainty. Nasheed was being charged under anti-terrorism laws. Nasheed resigned as president in February 2012 following weeks of public protests against his order to arrest Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed. In 2013, he lost the presidential election to current President Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, a half-brother of the 30-year autocratic ruler, Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom. The arrest comes weeks after a key ally of Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, whose support helped him win the presidency, defected from the ruling coalition to align with Nasheed in the Maldivian Democratic Party to launch a series of protests to force Gayyoom to resign.
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