Maldives state of emergency lifted

The emergency was lifted effective noon on Thursday despite “a diminished threat to national security, because the nation can now continue without further losses incurred, and upon the advice of the security services and in an effort to promote normalcy”, the president’s office said.

The move comes after the criminal court over the past week issued disputed orders to keep high-profile detainees in custody, eleven of whom have been charged with terrorism and bribery over an alleged conspiracy to remove Yameen from office.

The administration insists emergency rule since February 5 was necessary to resolve a “constitutional crisis created by two justices of the Supreme Court who conspired with political actors to violate both the constitution and standard legal norms and practices in order to illegally overthrow a lawful government, and whose actions constituted an imminent threat to national security.”