The trial against former President Mohamed Nasheed was conducted under a process recognised under national law and international law, the Maldivian government has said.
This came at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, today, regarding the government’s submission of its response to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in relation to a case filed by the former President.
Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison in March 2015 for ordering the abduction in 2012, during his presidency, of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed.
Barrister and Partner at Omnia Strategy LLP, Toby Cadman, appointed by the government to advise and assist with the submission, said, “It is quite clear that the process was conducted under a process recognised under national law and international law, and it of course naturally follows that such a process cannot be deemed to be arbitrary by any standard.”
Maldivian Ambassador to Belgium and EU, Ahmed Shiaan, said that Nasheed is not a victim of a politicised process, and that he has been properly charged and faced a trial for an extremely serious offence - one that was aimed at interfering with an independent judiciary and circumventing the rule of law.
Shiaan said, “Nasheed’s petition to the UN Working Group seeks to divert attention from the offence committed by him when he was the President of Maldives. The government has submitted a comprehensive and a very detailed response to the allegations contained within the petition demonstrating that they are either factually incorrect, or mischaracterisations of the reality of the position.”
The group emphasised the severity of Nasheed’s actions in the unlawful arrest of the judge, which was widely condemned and criticised by the international community at the time.
Cadman, acknowledging that there have been criticisms over the trial process, pointed out that none of those criticisms were so serious as to render the entirety of the proceedings a denial of justice.
He said that any irregularities, actual or perceived, can be addressed on appeal - an option still available to Nasheed - and urged the Working Group to dismiss the petition on this basis.