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Maldives invites international agencies to observe ex president's trial

Xinhua, March 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Maldivian government said Wednesday said that it had invited the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the European Union to observe the trial of former President Mohamed Nasheed's appeal process in the High Court whenever it is scheduled to happen.

In a statement released by the Maldivian High Commission in Colombo quoting the Maldives Foreign Ministry, it said that the invitation has been send to the UN Secretary General, the Commonwealth Secretary General, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union.

"The government of Maldives will do whatever it can to ensure that former President Nasheed gets a transparent trial, where due process is followed," the statement said.

"Former President Nasheed on Tuesday decided not to appeal the case claiming that he was not granted enough time because of the delay in releasing End of Trial report from Criminal Court.

However, the court was not able to release the Case Report as former President Nasheed has refused to sign the Case Report and without the signature of former President Nasheed, the report cannot be finalized," the statement added.

On March 13, the Maldivian Criminal Court sentenced the opposition leader and former president to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges.

The state had raised the allegations against Nasheed for having abducted and detained the Criminal Court judge Abdulla Mohamed in 2012.

The court's verdict read that Nasheed was found guilty of terrorism because of the overwhelming evidence found against him." The court also finds that Nasheed had 'masterminded the unlawful ' abduction and detention of a sitting judge," the statement said.

The United States of America, United Kingdom, India and the aforementioned international organizations had raised their concerns over how Nasheed was tried and sentenced. "The government had repeatedly been responding to the concerns with the explanation that the government cannot involve itself in affairs of the judiciary and the government remains steadfast in ensuring the separation of powers as stipulated under the Maldivian Constitution and upholding the rule of law in the country," the statement said. Endi