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Maldives police break up massive protest by opposition

Xinhua, November 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Maldivian police on Friday broke up a mass protest organized by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) as thousands of its supporters clashed with police.

The protest which began earlier on Friday was to be staged for 73 hours, demanding the release of MDP Leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The protesters broke confinement and headed to the streets of capital Male in defiance of the restrictions put in place by the authorities but were blocked off and pushed back by police to the Artificial Beach area.

Police also asked the protesters to leave the area immediately stating that the protest was no longer staged in a peaceful manner.

The Police's Internal Security head Hamdhoon Rasheed on Thursday said demonstrators would only be allowed to protest until midnight Friday and would be confined to the Artificial beach area. He said that the decision was made on home minister's Umar Naseer's orders.

Hamdhoon said the decision to constrict the right to protest had been taken to ensure that the rights of pedestrians and motorists are not infringed.

He urged MDP to abide by the new terms.

The protesters on Friday, however, said that they would continue the protest for 73 hours and 13 minutes and put forward several demands to the government including the immediate release of jailed former president Nasheed.

Home Minister Naseer, however, on state television on Friday said Nasheed had been sentenced by a court of law and the only option for the ex-president was to prove his innocence in court.

"We will not release Nasheed unless a court orders to do so," Umar stressed.

The second demand included the release of jailed former defence minister Mohamed Nazim, religiously conservative Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla and 1,700 other political detainees.

Umar reiterated that the government had no authority to influence or intervene in the matters of the judiciary.

Although police were in the process of clearing off the Artificial Beach area after breaking up the protesters, several opposition supporters continued to be in the area vowing to continue the protest for 73 hours. Endit