Amnesty joins calls for Nasheed’s release
Human rights advocacy group Amnesty International has called on the Maldives to release former President Mohamed Nasheed or give him a fair trial, in the wake of the government’s rejection of a UN rights panel’s finding that his continuing imprisonment on a terrorism charge is arbitrary.
03 Oct 2015, 9:00 AM
Human rights advocacy group Amnesty International has called on the Maldives to release former President Mohamed Nasheed or give him a fair trial, in the wake of the government’s rejection of a UN rights panel’s finding that his continuing imprisonment on a terrorism charge is arbitrary.
“The Maldives government’s rejection of an as yet unpublished UN decision criticizing the imprisonment of former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed underscores the insidious disregard for judicial independence in the country,” said Amnesty International on Thursday.
The government on Wednesday revealed that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) had ruled in Nasheed’s favor, but said that it “does not accept the decision” and “will not be made to act on the basis of a non-binding opinion.”
The opinion of the five-member panel was delivered to the government on September 17. It will be communicated with Nasheed’s lawyers on October 5.
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