Maldives’ Ousted Climate-Activist President to be Tried on Sunday


Former president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed is in jail awaiting trial, after being kicked out of office at gunpoint by supporters of the dictator he best in the country’s first democratic elections. From jail Nasheed has written an opinion piece in the Financial Times outlining his situation.

The police and military have received large pay rises, while coup financiers have been assured that planned new taxes will be shelved. The country’s biggest foreign investor, GMR, which is spending $500m revamping the international airport, has been hounded by a government of businessmen keen to get their hands on the contract.

The economy is in free fall, with the budget deficit approaching 30 per cent of GDP. Meanwhile, hundreds of pro-democracy supporters have been beaten, detained and, in some cases, tortured in what Amnesty International describes as a “human rights crisis”.

Nasheed says his conviction on charges that he abused his power is a foregone conclusion, with his only chance at avoiding further incarceration—Nasheed has been jailed by the Gayoom regime, sometimes in solitary confinement, for years—is a pardon by his former vice-president, now president Mohamed Waheed.

Source Article from http://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/maldives-ousted-climate-activist-president-be-tried-sunday.html

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes