US senate urges Maldives to redress “injustice” of Nasheed’s jailing
Expressing “profound disappointment” with the bipartisan resolution, which was passed unanimously on Thursday, the government has defended the opposition leader’s conviction on a terrorism charge and insisted that there are no political prisoners in the country.
09 Apr 2016, 9:00 AM
The United States senate unanimously adopted Thursday a bipartisan resolution calling on the Maldivian government to redress the “injustice” of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s imprisonment and release other political prisoners.
The non-binding resolution states that since January last year President Abdulla Yameen has “increasingly cracked down on dissent within his own party and the political opposition, presided over the erosion of judicial impartiality, and put increasing pressure on civil society.”
The Maldives is “strategically important due to its location, which straddles major trade routes in the Indian Ocean,” whilst “increasing civil rights violations in the Maldives fuel instability and pose a threat to regional security,” it added.
The senate resolution comes ahead of an upcoming review by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group of the Maldives’ progress on resolving a year-long political crisis, which was triggered by the imprisonment of Nasheed and former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim in March 2015 after rushed trials that drew widespread condemnation over apparent lack of due process.
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