Oppn to protest until Nasheed freed

An opposition lawmaker in the Maldives said her party will press on with street protests until the government frees a former president and current opposition leader.

Mohamed Nasheed, the Indian Ocean nation’s first democratically elected president, was arrested a week ago for allegedly ordering the military to detain a Criminal Court chief judge in 2012 and ignoring a Supreme Court order to release him.

Nasheed, who had resigned after weeks of protests and lost the 2013 election, has been charged him under the country’s anti-terrorism law.

Eva Abdulla said her Maldivian Democratic Party and another ally decided yesterday that opposition supporters would stage nightly demonstrations until Nasheed is released.

Opposition lawmakers planned to stage a protest in Parliament when President Yameen Abdul Gayoom is scheduled to make a speech opening a session next week.

On Friday, thousands of Nasheed’s supporters took to the streets of the capital, Male, to demand his 

freedom.