MALE: The Maldives’ top judge received death threats before his arrest in aregime crackdown, his lawyer said on Thursday ahead of a United NationsSecurity Council hearing on the island nation’s political crisis.Chief Justice Abdullah Saeed was warned he would be “cut into pieces” if hedid not overturn a court order quashing convictions against high-profilepolitical dissidents, his lawyer Hisaan Hussain said.
Saeed was arrested as President Abdullah Yameen declared a state ofemergency in the honeymoon islands after refusing to obey the court order.
The top judge was accused of accepting bribes to impeach the regime leader,who has jailed most of his political opponents.
“The Chief Justice was forcefully dragged on the floor from his chambers byuniformed security personnel in riot gear after he told them they were incontempt of court,” Hussain said. He did not say who issued the threats.
Saeed is among two top justices detained in a sweeping crackdown by Yameen,who has doubled down since the Supreme Court cleared his political rivalMohammad Nasheed, among other regime critics, of terrorism charges.
The remaining three judges restored the conviction Tuesday “in light of theconcerns raised by the President”, after Yameen declared the state ofemergency and accused the justices of trying to overthrow him.
The international community has censured the president for imposing specialemergency provisions that allow the military to detain suspects for longperiods without charge.
The UN has urged Yameen to lift the state of emergency, and will discussthe crisis gripping the Indian Ocean archipelago in a closed-door meetingat the Security Council today.
“The Maldives have seen in recent years attacks on political opponents, onjournalists, on civil society and human right defenders, and what ishappening now is tantamount to an all-out assault on democracy,” UN rightschief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement yesterday.- AFP