The Joint Opposition in the Maldives, a political grouping challenging President Abdulla Yameen, has expressed deep concern over reports of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s “rapidly deteriorating” health in prison.
It has sought the international community’s help in pressuring the Government of Maldives to shift Mr. Gayoon, 80, to his home under house arrest, so he could be treated for vertigo, a medical condition that manifests in dizziness, often leading to a fall.
Earlier this week, Maldivian media reported that prison officials brought in doctors from the capital Male to examine Mr. Gayoom’s health that had reportedly worsened. According to the Maldives Independent, the former President was not able to meet with lawyers because doctors advised him against moving. “We have also lodged the matter with the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives,” his close aide Abdul Aleem told the newspaper.
In June this year, a Maldivian court sentenced Mr. Gayoom to 19 months’ imprisonment for “obstructing an investigation” into an alleged plot to oust President Yameen. A former strongman, Mr. Gayoom ruled the Indian Ocean Archipelago state for 30 years until 2008.
His sentence came as part of a series of dramatic developments in the Maldives since early this year. Mr. Yameen declared a state of emergency in February, after a top court freed dissident Opposition leaders from jail. The octogenarian politician, a half-brother of Mr. Yameen, was arrested in February, along with the Chief Justice and a Supreme Court judge, for their alleged role in trying to impeach the President.
With exactly a month left for the Maldives’s scheduled presidential elections, the opposition has expressed fears that it could be delayed or rigged. Reports of a shrinking space for dissent in the Maldives have also drawn international criticism. The EU on Thursday said it continues to “monitor closely the situation in the lead up to the presidential elections”, taking note of prevailing allegations and decisions that may negatively affect voter confidence. “It is crucial that the pre-electoral environment is transparent and conducive for credible and inclusive elections,” the EU delegation said in a statement.
“The Maldives government’s intimidation of the political opposition and media threatens prospects for free and fair elections in September 2018, rights watchdog Human Rights Watch said in its report, which government authorities have denied.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for greater democracy and the restoration of an independent judiciary in the Maldives, ahead of the September 23 elections, news agency AFP reported.