Ex-Maldives Prez Nasheed to appeal jail sentence in SC

Former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, who is serving a 13-year jail sentence on terror charges, will challenge the verdict against him in the Supreme Court.

Nasheed, who had earlier decided not to appeal his prison sentence, has now opted to move the country’s apex court, his lawyers said last night. 48-year-old Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected leader, was sentenced to 13 years in jail in March over the arbitrary arrest of chief criminal judge Abdullah Muhammed during his presidency. The former President had earlier said he would not seek a legal remedy but instead opt for a political solution. 

Nasheed is not someone “who will remain unrelenting”, his lawyer Hisan Hussain was quoted by Maldives Independent as saying. As his jailing gets prolonged, it is very clear to him that “the Maldivian economy is being adversely affected as a result of foreign pressure”, the lawyer said. 

Therefore, he has now decided “to seek a solution through the judiciary as urged by President (Abdulla) Yameen,” Hussain said. Nasheed resigned as the Maldives’ leader in February 2012 after weeks of protests over the arrest of judge Mohamed on corruption allegations.