A petition calling for the release of former President Mohamed Nasheed from his jail sentence has been submitted to the parliament. The petition submitted to the parliament by parliamentarian Eva Abdulla was signed by a total of 49 parliamentarians.
Speaking to media outside the parliament after submitting the petition, Eva Abdulla stated it has been internationally recognised the sentencing procedure of Mohamed Nasheed was not independent and fair. In this regard, Eva Abdulla said despite the numerous calls of the international authorities to release the former president, the government has not taken any heed.
Moreover, Eva expressed the petition was formed referring to the points noted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission, United Nations United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, adding the main aim of the petition was to release Nasheed and to voice out the public call to establish a strong, free and independent judiciary in the country.
Furthermore, Eva noted even though the main institution to heed the voice of the public is the parliament, in the past couple of years it was not the situation in the parliament. Eva expressed hope the petition is a beginning to reform the parliament to its initial and foremost job of serving the people.
While a petition was submitted to parliament, former President Mohamed Nasheed has announced his return to Maldives on November 1. Mohamed Nasheed is the first democratically elected president of the Maldives and one of the founders of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). He served as the president of the country from 2008 to 2012.
In March 2015, Nasheed was convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act of Maldives for arresting Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed during his presidency and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. However, after spending days in prison, since 2016, Nasheed has been living in the UK under asylum when he was released for medical treatment.