Raajje News Blog

#Maldives: The Supreme Court and the Judicial Services Commission have called upon the Parliament to stop interference in the judiciary and to respect the separation of powers as guaranteed under the constitution. The call was made in response to the decision by the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Government to summon before it the three Majistrates on the bench to hear the criminal case against former President Mohamed Nasheed. The summons to the Majistrates was for 3.45 on 9th October, just 15 minutes prior to the scheduled time for the first hearing in Nasheed's criminal trial. The Parliamentary Subcommittee has a majority of MPs belonging to Nasheed's party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and is headed by MDP MP Ali Waheed. Nasheed was arrested earlier today upon a court warrant issued due to Nasheed's violation of two court orders in the case. In separate press statements both the Supreme Court and the Judicial Services Commission provide legal and constitutional gr...

#Maldives: The police arrest of former President Mohamed Nasheed this morning shocked the populace of this tiny nation, as it did those interested parties outside the country. The news spread through local and international media like wildfire. Nasheed was arrested this morning by Maldives Police Service while he was campaigning in the southern island of Fares-Maathoda. MPS say the arrest was in response to a court order, ordering MPS to produce Nasheed before court tomorrow to face criminal charges lodged by the country's independent Prosecutor General, for Nasheed's actions in the arrest and detention of the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court in January 2012. Nasheed's party, Maldivian Democratic Party, has called for nation-wide protests against the arrest. Nasheed and his supporters, local and international, allege that the case is "politically motivated" in an attempt to prevent him contesting the presidential elections in 2013. The courts have three cases a...