JURIST - Paper Chase: Maldives court issues second arrest warrant for ex-president

[JURIST] A Maldives court issued a second arrest warrant on Monday for former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed [JURIST news archive] on charges of the illegal detention of a judge. The charges against Nasheed stem from his unilateral order to arrest [JURIST report] Chief Justice Abdulla Mohamed on corruption charges in January, when Nasheed was still president. Nasheed remains in the Indian embassy, where he fled last Wednesday to escape an arrest warrant [AP report] for failing to appear to face the charges against him. Nasheed claims that the charges against him are politically motivated [Al Jazeera report], arguing that his successor, current President Mohamed Waheed, will not hold a fair election. The Indian foreign ministry said that it was currently in touch with Maldivian authorities in efforts to resolve the situation. In the mean time, the ministry calls on Waheed to hold a fair election.

In October Nasheed was arrested [JURIST report] for leaving the capital city of Male in contravention of a court summons and a court-imposed travel ban. Nasheed twice failed to appear in court to face abuse of power charges. Earlier in October a three-judge panel was forced to postpone the first day of Nashed's trial after he violated his travel ban [JURIST report], leaving Male in a boat that day in order to campaign in the Maldives' southern islands. A week earlier the Hulhumale Magistrate Court had issued an order prohibiting Nasheed from leaving the city [JURIST report] without official permission. Nasheed's supporters claimed that the move was politically motivated to limit the ex-president's ability to campaign for the election scheduled for November 2013.