[JURIST] Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Tuesday that the Maldives government had taken a step back [press briefing] by sending former president Mohammad Nasheed back to prison. Nasheed was sent back to jail [JURIST report] on Sunday, one month after his 13-year prison sentence was commuted to house arrest. Colville stated that the UN “had been encouraged by the Government’s earlier decision to move Mr. Nasheed to house arrest after widespread national and international criticism of the clearly flawed trial which resulted in him being sentenced to 13 years in jail in March this year,” and expressed “deep concern” over the recent move. He also said that unnecessary force was used against Nasheed’s supporters who gathered around his residence. In the statement, Colville encouraged the government to consider early release and to review Nasheed’s supporters’ criminal cases as well.

The Maldives judiciary has generated significant controversy over the last two years. In March the Criminal Court of Maldives [official website] sentenced Nasheed to 13 years in prison for terrorism-related charges. The charges related to actions [JURIST report] taken three years ago by the former president, which included the arrest and detainment of a top judge. In May a senior official at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] said [press release] that the trial and conviction of Nasheed was “vastly unfair, arbitrary, and disproportionate” [JURIST report] and urged action to resolve the deepening political crisis. In October the OHCHR expressed concern [JURIST report] over the Supreme Court’s prosecution of five members of the Maldives Human Rights Commission [official website]. In March 2014 the Supreme Court dismissed [JURIST report] the country’s four top election commissioners, giving each a six-month jail sentence and three-year suspension for “disobeying orders.” In November 2013 the Supreme Court suspended [JURIST report] the nation’s presidential election for the third time.