MALDIVES – The Maldives’ top judge was arrested Tuesday as security forcesstormed the Supreme Court at dawn, in a deepening confrontation withPresident Abdulla Yameen who has declared a state of emergencylink>inthe troubled honeymoon islands.
The detention of Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another Supreme Courtjudge raised the stakes in a dramatic clash after Yameen refused to complywith an order to release nine political dissidents.
Police said both men were under investigation for corruption and that thecourt’s top administrator had also been detained.
Yameen has presided over an escalating crackdown on dissent that hasbattered the image of the upmarket holiday paradise, and left almost allthe political opposition jailed since he came to power in 2013.
On Monday he even ordered the arrest of his estranged half-brother andformer president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had sided with the mainopposition.
The 80-year-old — president for 30 years until the country’s firstdemocratic elections in 2008 — was taken from his home in the capital Malearound midnight on Monday, according to a tweet from his daughter YumnaMaumoon.
“I have not done anything to be arrested,” Gayoom said in a video messageto supporters posted on Twitter. “I urge you to remain steadfast in yourresolve too. We will not give up on the reform work we are doing.”Court stormed
Heavily armed troops and police special operations units stormed theSupreme Court in the early hours, the court said on Twitter, as police usedpepper spray to disperse hundreds of people gathered outside.
The court’s shock move in support of the political dissidents on Thursdayalso included an order for the government to restore the seats of 12legislators sacked for defecting from Yameen’s party.
The opposition now has the majority in the assembly — meaning they couldpotentially impeach the president.
But the government, which has ordered police and troops to resist anyattempt to arrest or impeach Yameen, said the court was not above the law.
“The Supreme Court ruling stands in defiance of the highest authority inthe country: the constitution,” spokesman Ibrahim Hussain Shihab said in astatement. “The Supreme Court must remember that it too is bound by law.”
He said the government would “facilitate calm” and ensure the safety of allcitizens and tourists “throughout this unusual period”.’Martial law’
The court’s decision also paved the way for exiled former president MohamedNasheed — the nation’s first democratically elected leader who wascontroversially convicted of terrorism in 2015 — to run for president thisyear.
Yameen, who has faced several unsuccessful opposition attempts to impeachhim for alleged corruption, responded by shuttering parliament and onMonday his administration announced a 15-day state of emergency.
“The reason for the declaration is that the Supreme Court’s ruling wasobstructing the functioning of the government,” presidential aide AzimaShukoor said on national television.
The declaration gives sweeping powers to security forces to arrest anddetain individuals, curtails the powers of the judiciary and barsparliament from impeaching Yameen.
But it must be officially conveyed to parliament within two days, accordingto officials.
Nasheed, who has expressed fears of unrest, said the declaration amountedto martial law, while an opposition legislator called it a “desperate move”.
“(This) is tantamount to a declaration of martial law in the Maldives,”Nasheed said, urging regional super power India to intervene. – AFP