PPM MP proposes criminalising calls for sanctions, tourism boycott
MP Ahmed Nihan, PPM parliamentary group leader, meanwhile called Nasheed’s high-profile lawyers Jared Genser and Amal Clooney “enemies of the state” after the pair launched a campaign lobbying for targeted sanctions against state officials in the wake of a UN rights panel declaring the opposition leader’s imprisonment arbitrary and politically motivated.
10 Oct 2015, 9:00 AM
MP Riyaz Rasheed of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) submitted a bill to the parliament on Thursday proposing the criminalisation of calls for a tourism boycott and sanctions against the Maldives.
Riyaz’s bill reportedly states that calling for sanctions or a tourism boycott either in the Maldives or overseas, encouraging such calls, and participating in or endorsing a campaign for sanctions or a tourism boycott constitutes a criminal offence that carries a penalty of between two to 10 years in prison.
Based on the severity of the offence, the bill also proposes house arrest as a punishment as well as fines between MVR500,000 (US$32,532) and MVR5 million (US$324,254). Persons found guilty of the offence would also be deprived of state benefits and have their business licenses revoked.
The bill comes after the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) adopted a resolution backing targeted sanctions against state officials if the government continues to detain former President Mohamed Nasheed in defiance of a UN rights panel ruling declaring his imprisonment arbitrary and illegal.
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