Media Eye News Bureau: Maldives President Abdulla Yameen has declared a 15-day state of emergency in the country and suspended as many as 20 constitutional rights for the duration along with the criminal procedure Act and several articles of the judicature Act which will suspend all basic rights and give powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects.
Yameen had been facing mounting pressure in Maldives as well as from the United States and India to release former president Mohamed Nasheed from a 13-year jail sentence, and free eight other political opponents from prison.
The Supreme Court had ordered the immediate release of jailed political leaders including self-exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed as well which led to President Yameen stating that the Supreme Court had overstepped its authority.
Yameen released a letter to the court which read that the order was an “infringement of national security and public interest.”
This further led to an impasse between President Yameen Abdul Gayoom and the Supreme Court which fuelled protests in Male along with soldiers deployed to the parliament building to stop lawmakers from meeting. However, it was announced that no curfew would be imposed on the citizens and that all schools and government offices would remain open despite the state of emergency.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has issued a travel advisory to Indian citizens as well asking them to avoid travelling to Maldives during this period.
