Maldivian Supreme Court Asks President Abdulla Yameen to Comply With its Orders
Dissidents must be released because their trials were politically motivated and flawed, the Supreme Court said in a statement.
Male, Feb 4: The Maldivian Supreme Court dealt another blow to beleaguered President Abdulla Yameen today,asking him to comply with its order to release political prisoners and reinstate dissident lawmakers. The government had expressed "concerns" over the judicial order and resisted complying with it, but the court said there can be no excuses. Dissidents must be released because their trials were politically motivated and flawed, the Supreme Court said in a statement.
"There is nothing preventing the prosecutor general fromseeking a re-trial after the order has been implemented (andprisoners released)," it added.
Thursday's order to restore the seats of 12 governmentMPs who defected to the opposition would effectively reduceYameen's party to a minority and expose him to the risk ofimpeachment.
Police detained two opposition lawmakers who returned tothe country today as the political crisis in the Indian Oceanarchipelago nation deepened with its top court pitted againstthe president.
The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) saidits MPs tried to stage a meeting in defiance of a weekendorder suspending parliament, but they were pushed back byarmed troops.
Security forces have been deployed inside the nationalparliament - known as the People's Majlis - since March lastyear when Yameen ordered them to evict dissident lawmakers.
The president's crackdown on dissent has tarnished theMaldives' image as an upmarket holiday paradise and sparkedcalls from the United Nations and several countries to restorethe rule of law in the fledgling democracy.
But the Yameen government has so far refused to complywith the shock ruling, resisting international pressure. In a national television address today, Attorney General Mohamed Anil remained defiant.
"Any Supreme Court order to arrest the president would be unconstitutional and illegal," Anil said. "So I have asked the police and the army not to implement any unconstitutional order." Yameen also sacked two police chiefs after the court's decision.
Atul Keshap, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka and theMaldives, led international criticism of the Yameengovernment's refusal to respect court orders.
"What security risk prevents the #Maldives #Majlis frommeeting tomorrow? Why are MPs pepper sprayed in the streetsand arrested on arrival at airport?" he tweeted today.
Former president and current opposition leader MohamedNasheed described the government's refusal to obey the SupremeCourt as a "coup".
Nasheed, who was controversially convicted of a terrorismcharge and jailed for 13 years in 2015, urged police andtroops to uphold the constitution.
"Statements made today by AG Anil... to disobey SC ordersis tantamount to a coup. They, and President Yameen mustresign immediately," he tweeted on Sunday.
"Security services must uphold the constitution and servethe Maldivian people."
Nasheed, the country's first democratically electedleader, was toppled in 2012. He was barred from contestingelections after his 2015 terrorism conviction, which wasinternationally criticised as politically motivated.
He has been in exile since 2016, when he left on prisonleave for medical treatment. He is currently in Colombo,meeting Maldivian dissidents based in Sri Lanka.
The MDP - which is led by Nasheed - has expressed fearsthat any move by the government to resist the Supreme Court'sorder may trigger unrest in the nation of 340,000 SunniMuslims.