Nasheed has played into the hands of opposition parties in the Maldives

The current political situation on the Maldives divides opinion. In a recent article on Comment is free, Mark Seddon posed an important question when he asked why David Cameron has not spoken up for his "new great friend" in politics, the ousted president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed. He also provides the answer when he quotes Nasheed in one of his interviews as saying: "I could do what the old dictator, Gayoom, would have done, and put these people who are plotting to overthrow me under house arrest. But then that would completely defeat the object of the democratic revolution we have won."

Unfortunately for both Nasheed and his Maldivian Democratic party (MDP) that is exactly what he did do when he arrested the Maldives's chief judge of the criminal court, Justice Abdulla Mohamed, on 16 January. Detained by the army on his orders, Nasheed then refused to release him despite protests from the supreme court in the Maldives, the European Union and the United Nations. Nasheed also denied him access to a lawyer and contact with his wife and children. Mohamed was only finally released over three later when Nasheed resigned on 7 February. readmore