UNITED NATIONS: The UN today said it is closely monitoring the situation in the Maldives and called for transparency in legal proceedings against former president Mohamed Nasheed, who has been arrested on terrorism charges.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the UN is aware of the arrest of the former president and is closely monitoring the situation in the Maldives.
He said during a conversation initiated by Maldivian Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon over telephone yesterday, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jens Toyberg-Frandzen, "stressed the need for full respect for due process and transparency of the legal proceedings" against Nasheed.
Toyberg-Frandzen also appealed to the Maldivian government to allow for peaceful political dissent and for ways to seek to engage with the Opposition, in the interest of long-term political stability in that country, the spokesperson said.
Nasheed was arrested on Sunday under anti-terrorism laws for allegedly ordering the arrest a senior judge in 2012 that triggered violence in the Indian Ocean island. He had to spend a night in jail.
Nasheed appeared before a court yesterday with his arm in a makeshift sling. The court ruled that the opposition leader will remain in custody until the case against him was complete.
Nasheed, Maldives' first democratically elected leader in 2008, had taken refuge at the Indian High Commission in Male to avoid being arrested in connection with the same case in February 2013.