(Photo: AP)

Colombo: Exiled former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed Tuesday urged India to "act swiftly" to help in resolving the ongoing political crisis in the island nation that escalated after President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency and troops arrested the top judge of the country. President Abdulla Yameen declared the state of emergency on Feb. 5, having defied a shock ruling from the Supreme Court that quashed convictions ranging from terrorism to corruption and ordered the release of nine leading opposition figures, on grounds that the cases against them were politically tainted. Mr Nasheed was an opposition leader under a former government and became the country's first democratically elected leader in 2008, but was ousted and jailed in 2012. More bafflingly, the same bench of five judges which had dismissed a petition filed by Nasheed in 2015 alleging procedural irregularities by a criminal court that had sentenced him to 13 years in prison, ordered his release and that of eight other politicians on those very grounds. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but later granted medical leave last year to travel to Britain, where he was granted asylum. Saeed and Hameed were arrested earlier Tuesday when security forces stormed the Supreme Court building in the capital, Male, just hours after President Abdulla Yameen declared a 15-day state of emergency. The crisis had worsened Monday when President Yameen declared a state of emergency and, within hours of the emergency declaration, two top judges, Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another judge, Ali Hameed, were arrested. The people of the Maldives have a legitimate request to world governments, especially to India and the United States.”

Expressing concerns over Yameen’s delay in implementing the Supreme Court ruling to immediately release political prisoners, Nasheed had earlier said, “This deliberate refusal by the government to uphold the Constitution further destabilises the Maldives and wider Indian Ocean security.”

Meanwhile, the US on Tuesday commenting on the ongoing political chaos in the island nation said that it was ‘troubled and disappointed’ and has asked President Yameen to implement the Supreme Court ruling. A statement issued by the party in Colombo said, “We would like the Indian government to send an envoy, backed by its military, to free the judges and the political detainees, including former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, from their detention and to bring them to their homes. As the international community – including India, the United States, United Kingdom and United Nations – chimed in to support of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the government shifted into damage control mode.
Former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed calls from exile for other countries to intervene in a political crisis engulfing the island nation. Nasheed asks India to help release prisoners and the United States to curb leaders' financial transactions.