Govt has no role in Nasheed’s trial- Govt

The government has revealed that the government has no role in the trial against Nasheed which held its first hearing yesterday.

Spokesperson of the government Abbas Adil Riza said that Nasheed is facing criminal charges for ordering the military arrest and detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed and the case was brought by the country's independent Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizz. He said that it was Nasheed’s government which was ruling when Nasheed arrested Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdullah on February 16.

Abbas said: “Nasheed did it during his rule. The Prosecutor General ordered Maldives Human Rights Commission to investigate the case during Nasheed’s government. The case was investigated by the members of the Commission appointed by Nasheed during his rule. Prosecutor General is prosecuting Nasheed based on this investigation. So where is the role of the present government in this case?”

Abbas said that the accusations that the trial against Nasheed is politically motivated and is a plot of the present government are baseless and a distortion of the clear reality.

“Such accusations are hurled against the government by Nasheed and his supporters out of desperation trying to open a way out. They are trying to deceive the people in order to gain popularity. However, they cannot achieve this. No sane person with a sound intellect will accept their lies,” he said.

Criticising Nasheed and MDP, Abbas said that MDP is now acting as a terrorist organisation and are fanatics of Nasheed.

“MDP is run like a gang. The leader is Nasheed. He is backed by a few loud people. That is how they conduct their national congress. If any member’s raises any view against Nasheed’s view that member will be cut off from the group. They emulate the style of Prabakaran. If anyone is against him that is the end of that person. This is how MDP works. No one can challenge Nasheed in anything. If Nasheed wants to break the law and challenge the constitution he will do it and no one is allowed to say a word against it,” he said. Abbas said that Nasheed illegally arrested and detained Judge Abdullah in the same manner.

Abbas also said that the government has informed the foreign ambassadors to the Maldives on the updates of the trial of Nasheed. He said that he does not believe that the ambassadors will have any doubts regarding how the Maldivian the judiciary procedures work.