Maldives court issues arrest warrant against former President Nasheed

The Maldives government said on Wednesday that an arrest warrant had been issued against former President Mohamed Nasheed for his failure to return back to the island country to serve the remaining of his 13 year sentence.

Officials from the President's Office in Male told Xinhua that although Nasheed had been granted medical leave to visit Britain, he had failed to return back to the Maldives to serve his sentence.

Officials added that they hoped to convey news of his warrant to the British government in the coming weeks.

A statement issued by the government earlier on Wednesday said that the order against the former president is in conjunction with investigations, pursuant to a 2011 Audit Report, being carried out by the Maldives Police Service in relation to amounts in excess of MVR 1.8 million as well as the Maldives Correctional Service seeking to have him brought back to serve the remainder of his 13 year sentence from which he was initially granted extraordinary medical leave.

The statement added that arrest warrants were also issued against former Vice President of the Maldives Mohamed Jameel and two others.

Nasheed was granted a political refugee status by Britain in May after he left to undergo an urgent back surgery in January.

Nasheed was last year sentenced to 13 years in jail by a Maldives court on charges of terrorism.

The Maldives government said the former president had signed an undertaking to return after his treatment and had left his brother to act as a guarantor.

Nasheed was elected into office in 2008 and in February 2012, he was ousted in a coup. Endit