Nasheed’s trial a sham

New Delhi: Amnesty International on Thursday slammed the deteriorating human rights situation in the Maldives and termed the trial of former President Mohammed Nasheed "a sham".

Nasheed was sentenced on terrorism charges to 13 years in prison in March.

"Mohammed Nasheed's imprisonment came after a sham trial, but he is far from the only one locked up on trumped-up charges and after unfair trials. It is disturbing how far the Maldives government has co-opted the judiciary as a tool to cement its own holds on power," said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty's Maldives Researcher, at a media interaction here The AI report on the human rights situation in the Maldives was also released on the occasion.

The Amnesty report said political tension in the Maldives was on the rise over the past few years and the authorities have pursued criminal charges against a number of key opposition figures.

"Protests by Nasheed supporters have been met with a harsh response by the ruling reginme. At least 140 peaceful protestors have been arrested. Those detained include at least three MPs from Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), as well as other MDP politicians," Faiz said.

The human rights situation in the Maldives was deteriorating alarmingly as the authorities were muzzling peaceful protestors, and silencing critical media and civil society, while abusing the judicial system to imprison opposition politicians, the report said.

It was prepared after a five-day fact-finding mission to the Maldives, during which the AI delegation interviewed lawyers, human rights activists, journalists and political workers in the island nation.