Maldives Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Judges Charged With Terrorism

New Delhi: With just one day to go for Emergency to be lifted in Maldives, authorities have charged former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom with terrorism. Along with Gayoom, senior judges and police officials have also been charged for 'attempting to orchestrate an act of terrorism.'

The nine other people charged with include Gayoom, Supreme Court chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, Justice Ali Hameed, Gayoom's son and four other lawmakers. A former police commissioner has also been charged.

Yameen imposed a state of emergency on February 5 for 15 days to annul a February 1 Supreme Court ruling that quashed convictions against nine opposition leaders and ordered his government to free those held in prison. He later extended the state of emergency for another 30 days with parliament approval, a move challenged by the opposition.

Authorities on Wednesday said that investigation had proven that the SC order on February 1 was issued to further a 're-planned conspiracy' by a group of people, acting in their own interest. The statement from the authorities further said that 'certain decisions of the courts were influenced from outside, certain judges accepted bribes in lieu of decisions favouring certain interests to further their agendas.'

At a recently held press conference in Male, minister for legal affairs Aishath Azima Shakoor had said that the arrests and the state of Emergency were keeping in line with the Constitution of the island nations and that Maldives had no intention of extending the Emergency.