UN Working Group On Arbitrary Detention


Maldives rejects UN decision on detained ex defence minister
The foreign ministry said it “does not agree” with the UN’s finding that Mohamed Nazim was detained illegally.
30 Jan 2017, 9:00 AM


Jailed MP Mahloof petitions UN rights panel
Mahloof’s petition is the fourth from a high-profile Maldivian politician to come before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention since early 2015. In September, the specialised UN agency ruled that former President Mohamed Nasheed’s conviction on a terrorism charge was politically motivated.
22 Aug 2016, 9:00 AM


Supreme court upholds verdict against Maldives ex-president
The supreme court has upheld former President Mohamed Nasheed’s 13-year jail sentence on charges of terrorism.
27 Jun 2016, 9:00 AM


Imran petitions UN rights panel over terror conviction
A local human rights NGO has petitioned the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Sheikh Imran Abdulla’s behalf, requesting a judgment declaring the Adhaalath Party president’s terror conviction illegal.
14 Apr 2016, 9:00 AM


Amnesty International submits Colonel Nazim’s case to UN rights panel
Amnesty International has petitioned the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim’s case, seeking a judgment declaring his imprisonment illegal.
14 Feb 2016, 9:00 AM


UN panel rejected government’s appeal of Nasheed ruling
A UN human rights panel rejected the government’s appeal of its judgment declaring former President Mohamed Nasheed’s imprisonment illegal, the opposition leader’s lawyer Jared Genser told the press in London yesterday.
26 Jan 2016, 9:00 AM


Nasheed petitions lower courts to secure release
After appealing former President Mohamed Nasheed’s 13-year sentence at the Supreme Court this week, the opposition leader’s lawyers are now petitioning the lower courts to secure his release from prison. They are “seeking a solution through the judiciary” as urged by President Abdulla Yameen.
22 Dec 2015, 9:00 AM


Supreme Court to consider UN ruling on Nasheed’s imprisonment
“The government has maintained the position that the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is one that should be considered by the Supreme Court. This will now be done given that the Court has accepted the appeal already filed by the Prosecutor General, with substantive arguments to be heard at a later date,” the foreign ministry said today.
14 Dec 2015, 9:00 AM


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


Lawyers step up campaign for Nasheed’s release, call for sanctions
Jared Genser, Amal Clooney, and Nasheed’s wife, Laila Ali, briefed the British press yesterday on the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s (WGAD) opinion, which said the opposition leader’s conviction in March was politically motivated and breached international law. The heavyweight lawyers are seeking “travel bans and targeted financial sanctions against Maldivian government officials who have been implicated in serious human rights abuses.”
06 Oct 2015, 9:00 AM


Jailed ex-defence minister to petition UN too
“We attempted to exhaust local remedies from the Maldivian judiciary, but it seems that the courts have absconded from trial by refusing to hold hearings,” Nazim’s lawyer Husnu Suood said. An appeal of Nazim’s conviction on weapons smuggling charges has been stalled since April.
01 Oct 2015, 9:00 AM


Lawyers defend call for targeted sanctions to secure Nasheed’s release
Reiterating calls for targeted sanctions against Maldivian government officials if Nasheed is not released, the opposition leader’s international lawyers Amal Clooney, Jared Genser, and Ben Emmerson said his case is “emblematic of a broader, brutal crackdown on democracy and human rights involving not only the former president, but also large parts of the population.”
25 Sep 2015, 9:00 AM


‘We worry for his safety’: Nasheed’s daughter at UN Human Rights Council
“My father, Mohamed Nasheed, former president of Maldives, was imprisoned by the Maldivian government on fabricated charges of ‘terrorism.’ He is the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. Although I know him as my tenacious and also brilliant father, who has tirelessly risked the majority of his life trying to establish basic human rights in our country,” said Meera Laila Nasheed at the UN Human Rights Council yesterday.
25 Sep 2015, 9:00 AM


A Political Trial or the Trial of a Politician?
The case of the former President Mohamed Naseed is in danger of being manipulated for purely political ends. It is therefore important that we remind ourselves of the facts so that judgment does not become clouded, writes Toby Cadman, partner at Omnia Strategy.
17 Sep 2015, 9:00 AM


Government responds to UN on ex-president’s terrorism trial
The Maldivian government, in a response to the UN working group on arbitrary detention today, contended a terrorism conviction against former president Mohamed Nasheed was not politically motivated and that allegations of lack of due process is factually incorrect.
10 Jul 2015, 2:10 PM


Omnia Strategy helping government respond to UN working group on arbitrary detention
27 Jun 2015, 8:07 PM