Roundup: Maldivian president defends prison sentence of ex-leader

Maldivian President Abdul Yameen on Monday called for the acceptance of a 13-year imprisonment against his predecessor Mohamed Nasheed in a case that has brought international criticism to the Indian Ocean island nation.

According to the President's Office, Yameen said that if Nasheed wanted to appeal his sentence, he was allowed to do so under the law.

"The government calls on its international partners to engage constructively, based on mutual respect and dialogue in consolidating and strengthening democratic values and institutions in the country," said the president.

The statement was made amid concerns raised by the United States, Britain, India, the European Union and other international organizations over how Nasheed was tried and sentenced.

Amnesty International said Nasheed's conviction "after a deeply flawed and politically motivated trial is a travesty of justice."

The Human Rights Commission of Maldives said the former president was denied fundamental rights that guarantee a fair trial in line with the Maldives' obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The international community had also expressed their concerns over how hastened the trials were and have called on the government to ensure that Nasheed's constitutional rights are protected during the appeal process.

The Criminal Court on Friday sentenced opposition leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges.

Nasheed was charged with having ordered to arrest and detain controversial Criminal Court judge Ahmed Mohamed in his tenure. Last month, the police apprehended Nasheed at his home and his trial was hurriedly rushed through without adequate legal representation, his lawyers said.

Nasheed had called on supporters to confront President Yameen's "dictatorial regime" and "to take all of your lives in your hands and to go out onto the streets in protest."

Protests erupted in the capital of Male after the verdict was handed down with several people arrested, according to local reports.

However, the Maldives High Court on Sunday dismissed Nasheed's appeal against his Feb. 22 arrest order even as the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) threatened to launch a nationwide campaign to secure his freedom.

The opposition party stressed that Nasheed would remain the party's president and the candidate for 2018 presidential election.

"The MDP resolves ... to launch a national civil disobedience movement, to reform judiciary and ensure judicial independence, to launch protests and organize petitions, and to accept Nasheed's last appeal and establish a people's government," it said.

MDP spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said Nasheed was repeatedly denied legal representation and the right to appeal.

Nasheed's legal team resigned last week, saying that the court had refused them proper time to prepare a defense.

Nasheed was elected to office in 2008. In February 2012, he was ousted in what he claimed was a coup and was narrowly defeated in a 2013 presidential election by Yameen. Endi