Nasheed Office: House arrest authorization letter needs to be complied with though under investigation

The office of imprisoned former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed has said that the letter authorizing the rest of Nasheed’s sentence to be carried out under house arrest was legitimate, even though police were investigating the parties involved in handing over the document.

Police have questioned Nasheed’s lawyer Hassan Latheef and brother Dr. Ibrahim Nashid in their investigation.

Statement released by Nasheed’s office on Wednesday said that the letter handed over to Nasheed had been printed on Maldives Correctional Service’s letterhead, had the authority’s letter number, the authority’s seal, and had been handed over to Nasheed by Correctional Service.

The office said that therefore the government had to take responsibility, and the innocent party should not be negatively affected by something government had to take responsibility for.

“Even though Maldives Police Service may be looking into the document handed over to President Mohamed Nasheed by Maldives Correctional Service, and even though they may take action against any person(s) who did it – if something wrong has happened, government needs to give back the ease in punishment authorized through the letter to President Mohamed Nasheed,” read the statement.

Nasheed has appealed to government to allow him to spend the reminder of his sentence under house arrest as had been authorized by the disputed letter.

Police have not revealed any information regarding the case so far. And have not made any comment about the legitimacy of the letter.