Former Maldives, President Mohamed Nasheed has been
convicted of a terrorism charge by a criminal court and
sentenced to 13 years in prison, reports Aljazeera .
The three-judge bench on Friday unanimously found
Nasheed guilty of ordering the arrest of a chief judge in
January 2012 when he was leader of the Indian Ocean
island nation.
“Nasheed is found guilty of arresting and illegally
detaining judge Abdulla Mohamed,” judge Abdulla Didi
told the court in a verdict just before midnight. Nasheed
was then taken to Dhoonidhoo prison, near the capital
Male.
Nasheed has denied ordering the arrest. His supporters
say the charges are aimed at eliminating him as a
challenger against incumbent President Yameen Abdul
Gayoom in the 2018 presidential election.
A statement released by his office on Friday called the
trial “blatantly politicised”.
“President Nasheed was repeatedly denied legal
representation, denied the right to appeal, his defence
witnesses were prevented from taking the stand, and
prosecution witnesses were routinely coached by the
judges and the police,” it said.
At court, the former president called on Maldivians to
“confront the dictatorial power of this regime”.
“The Maldivian judiciary is full of corruption and
disgrace. Judges are routinely accepting the vile money
of bribery,” said Nasheed.
“These judges have no fear of the day of judgment, and
no shame in this world. The consequence of their actions
is injustice to the public, and the thwarting of this
country’s development.”
Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said the
verdict dealt a blow to the young democracy seven years
after it embraced multi-party elections following three
decades of rule by former strongman Maumoon Abdul
Gayoom.
“Democracy jailed for 13 years on March 13, 2015,”
declared MDP spokeswoman Shauna Aminath. “Nothing
good will come out of this. It’s a sad, sad, sad day for
the Maldives,” she added.
The ruling came four days after Nasheed’s lawyers quit
in protest against what they called a biased trial aimed
at destroying his political career.
Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected
leader, was originally cleared of the charge last month
but a few days later the prosecutor general had him re-
charged and arrested under tough anti-terror laws.
Before the brief hearing in February in which the court
denied him bail, police forcibly dragged Nasheed into
court, refusing him to speak to journalists and ignoring
his plea to be allowed to walk in himself.

newswirengr.com/2015/03/14/not-in-nigeria-maldives-ex-president-sentenced-to-13-years-in-jail/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

so you want to jail baba iyabo..

The guy seem to be a victim of a politically induced judicial decision. . You don't want innocent men going to jail just because you want politicians in jail. .

Ok

Let Buhari bcome president, you ll be shocked.

.

Seriously some politician in this nation need to go and rest in jail o.

He was not allowed legal representation, not allowed appeal, not allowed witnesses to testify, not allowed so many rights.

This is politically motivated and somehow he will triumph.