14 June 2018, MALE: The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party strongly condemns yesterday’s sentencing of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, and Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed to 19 months’ imprisonment for ‘obstruction of justice’.

President Gayoom and the justices’ arrest, trial and sentencing were egregiously unjust and politically motivated, and directly orchestrated by President Yameen.

The MDP welcomes the strongly worded statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs today, which states that the former President and the justices did not receive a fair trial, and that the sentencing casts doubt of the Government of Maldives’ commitment to uphold the rule of law, and the credibility of the entire process of presidential elections. The MDP shares India’s sentiments, as well as the concerns expressed by other members of the international community.

It is clear as daylight that President Yameen intends to steal the upcoming presidential elections, by jailing all his opponents, preventing opposition candidates from contesting, and using the politicised Elections Commission to rig the vote.

Maldivians must remain vigilant, and work peacefully to prevent this electoral theft from taking place. The MDP calls on the international community to impose targeted sanctions on regime leaders and senior officials in the Maldives, particularly those who are implicated in human rights abuses, who are working to undermine the Constitution, and are helping President Yameen to steal the presidential elections.

ENDS