Reference No: 107/10/2012
8 October 2012

The MDP Expresses Deep Concern Over President Nasheed’s Arrest Warrant to Summon Him to an Unlawful Court

The Maldivian Democratic Party is deeply disturbed and worried by the court warrant issued to arrest the Party’s Presidential Candidate and the Maldives’ first democratically elected President, Mohamed Nasheed, and produce him to a widely disputed court.

The court order was issued by the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court on 7 October, Sunday, while Nasheed had appealed the legality of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court with the High Court on Sunday and the appeal process has not yet been exhausted.

Furthermore, the MDP notes with grave concern the state proceeds to prosecute President Nasheed while the UNHRC, ICJ, CoNI report, Amnesty International, FIDH, other leading human rights groups and our bilateral partners have expressed deep concerns over the independence and competence of the Maldivian judiciary.

The MDP calls on all its organs, members and supporters to protest against the arrest warrant issued to summon him to an unlawful ad hoc court.

Additionally, the MDP strongly calls on the international community, our development partners to immediately engage in dialogue with Dr.Waheed to maintain maximum restraint and to not do anything that would disrupt peace and stability of the country.

“We are currently on presidential campaign trail by boats in the Southern atolls. This trip has been organized for months and immediately after the dates of the trip were announced, the courts decided to summon our candidate to a court that is unlawfully established. Leading experts and lawyers have questioned the legitimacy of this court” said Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, MDP spokesperson for international affairs.

“This is not about justice. This is a politically motivated trial to invalidate our candidate’s candidacy and to deliberately disrupt the MDP’s presidential campaign. We are in the largest voting centers and it is very clear who will win the elections. They can only win the elections by invalidating his candidacy. We are deeply disturbed by the developing situation. We do not believe he will have a fair trial,” added Hamid.

ENDS