Maldivians fear island nation may be slipping back into dictatorship

After three decades of one-man rule, many Maldivians hoped President Mohamed Nasheed, who was elected in the Maldives’ first free elections four years ago, would steer the tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean towards democracy. But the controversial arrest of a judge has stoked fears that the country could be in for more of the same, if not worse.

President Nasheed was a pro-democracy activist before being elected to office in 2008. Since then, his reputation has suffered. Critics accuse him of stifling the press and cracking down on dissent. And every evening for the past week, hundreds of protesters have hit the streets of the capital, Male, demanding the release of Criminal Court Chief Justice Abdulla Mohamed, who was arrested after he freed a government critic who had been detained without a warrant.

The government has accused Mohamed of corruption and political bias. Opposition parties, meanwhile, have joined forces to rally against the government, whom they accuse of foiling the constitution by arbitrarily arresting Mohamed. The Maldives Supreme Court and prosecutor general have also called for the judge’s release. The case is dividing the country’s leaders – the Maldives’ vice president Mohammed Waheed Hassan wrote in his blog Saturday that he was “ashamed and totally devastated” by the government’s actions.

“The most important and most precious dividend from the democracy struggle in Maldives has been freedom from fear. It is the knowledge that no one of us will be dragged out of our beds in the middle of the night,” he wrote. “The moment we deny this freedom from one person, we deny that freedom for all.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, the country’s foreign minister called on the United Nations to mediate the stand-off between the government and the opposition.