India criticises prison terms to former Maldivian Prez, CJ

India on Thursday criticised the life imprisonment awarded to former Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and its Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed by its court and asked the Maldives Government to release all political prisoners.

Reacting to the court order, India said the long prison terms to these people without fair trial casts doubt on the commitment of the Maldives Government to uphold the rule of law. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said such an act puts a question mark on the credibility of the entire process of Presidential elections in Maldives scheduled for September.

A Male court on Wednesday sentenced Gayoom along with eight other persons 19 months in jail for allegedly plotting to oust incumbent President Abdullah Yameen. Apart from Gayoom and Saeed, Justice Ali Hameed, Gayoom’s son and four other lawmakers, and a former police commissioner have also been charged.

“Since the beginning of the political crisis in the Maldives, India has repeatedly urged the Government of the Maldives to allow all institutions, including the Supreme Court and Parliament, to function in a free and independent manner, and to permit genuine political dialogue between all political parties. This has also been the demand of the international community at large,” the MEA said in a statement.

“It is, therefore, with deep dismay that we learned that the former President of the Maldives as well as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are being sentenced to long prison terms without fair trial. This casts doubt on the commitment of the Government of the Maldives to uphold the rule of law and will also call into question the credibility of the entire process of Presidential elections in September this year,” the statement added.

“It reiterates its advice to the Government of the Maldives to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by immediately releasing political prisoners including former President Gayoom and Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and creating the necessary conditions for the participation of all political forces in the Presidential Elections,” the MEA added.