Maldives’ first elected president on trial

MALDIVES: The Maldives' first elected president said he did not expect a fair hearing as he went on trial on Monday in a case that could see him banished to a remote island and disqualified from future elections.

Nearly eight months after he was toppled as leader of the Indian Ocean archipelago, Mohamed Nasheed is due to appear in the dock over accusations that he abused his power by ordering the arrest of a senior judge during his tenure.

The arrest fuelled already simmering anti-government protests which culminated in a police mutiny in February and led to Nasheed's deputy being installed as president.

The climate change campaigner, who was tortured during previous stints in jail for his political activism, insists that he was threatened by armed rebel officers and forced to announce his resignation on television.

“The judiciary in the Maldives is so deeply politicised, there is no chance of a fair trial, particularly in a case as political as this,” Nasheed told AFP by email over the weekend.

The 45-year-old became leader after the Maldives held their first democratic elections in 2008 following three decades of autocratic rule by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

The country is made up of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered across the equator and is better known as a honeymoon hotspot rather than a hotbed of political activism.

A conviction could see Nasheed handed a jail term of up to three years in prison or banishment to an small islet, a move that would disqualify him from running for office.

AFP