Maldives ex-president struggles to access int'l legal team

The international legal team of jailed former Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed has been asked to register with the attorney general's office before meeting their client, local media reported on Monday.

The opposition leader was sentenced to 13 years in jail last month on terrorism charges in a trial heavily criticized by foreign governments, the UN and Amnesty International for its apparent lack of due process.

Nasheed's international legal team is made of heavyweight human rights lawyers including Amal Clooney, who has advised the UN and is the wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney, Jared Genser, the founder of renowned campaign group for political prisoners Freedom Now and Ben Emmerson QC, a former UN rights chief on counter terrorism.

Local media outlet Minivan News reported the three are planning a visit to see the jailed opposition leader.

The international team is to push for Nasheed's "freedom from arbitrary detention" through international lobbying mechanisms such as the UN working group on arbitrary detention, the opposition leader's domestic legal team has said.

The working group's decision on Nasheed's detention will affect the international community's policies towards the Maldives and will inform decisions on possible sanctions, lawyers said.

However the Maldives government led by President Abdulla Yameen has insisted that the trial of Nasheed was independent and called on the international community not to interfere with what he has described as an internal matter. Endi