Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on Monday declared a state of emergency, ordered security forces into the supreme court and arrested a former president, in moves the opposition called a "purge" in the Indian Ocean island nation.
Maldives police also arrested Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another Supreme Court judge on Tuesday, dramatically escalating the legal battle with the archipelago's top court.
Police said in a Twitter message they had arrested Saeed and Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed "for an ongoing investigation". The gave no details about the allegations or charges against the two judges.
The president has defied a Supreme Court ruling handed down last week, which revoked terrorism charges against nine leading opposition figures including the country's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, who is now in exile.
The court ordered the opposition figures, six of whom are being held in the country's main jail on a sparsely inhabited island, to be freed.
"The President has been compelled to declare a state of emergency due to the risk currently posed to national security," said a statement from Yameen's office on Monday. "Implementation of the Supreme Court ruling is – in its current form – incompatible with maintenance of public safety."
Police arrested another former president, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom -- who is also Yameen's half-brother -- at his residence along with his son-in-law. Gayoom ruled the country for 30 years until 2008, and is now in the opposition. Gayoom's son Faris is one of the jailed opposition figures ordered freed by the court.
No comments:
Post a Comment