Maldives police break up Oppn protests; many hurt

Male, February 17 

Dozens of pro-opposition supporters were injured and many were arrested after police in the Maldives broke up countrywide protests demanding the resignation of President Yameen Abdul Gayoom and the release of his political opponents from prison.

Thousands of people took part in the protests in the archipelago nation yesterday despite the country being under a state of emergency.

Several persons were hospitalised with injuries and many protesters were arrested, but hospital and police officials refused to provide numbers. The injured included about 10 reporters who were covering the protest.

The police said in a statement Saturday that the demonstrators had ignored warnings that the right to protest has been suspended under the state of emergency.

“In spite of the warning, certain political leaders encouraged this protest, encouraged citizens to face off against security services personnel,” the statement said.

The Maldives has been in political turmoil since February 1, when the country’s Supreme Court ordered the release of several of Yameens political opponents imprisoned after trials that were criticised locally and internationally for alleged violation of due process. The prisoners include Mohamed Nasheed, the country’s first president elected in a free election, who could have been Yameens main rival in his re-election bid later this year.

The Maldives became a multiparty democracy in 2008 after decades of autocratic rule. However, Yameen has rolled back much of the country’s democratic gains and freedoms since being elected in 2013. — AP

‘We don’t want any trouble between India & China’

• Exiled former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed on Saturday said his country, which is in a state of emergency, does not want any trouble between India and China
• “We don’t want India and China against each other, not at all,” he said at an interaction at “The Huddle”, a thought conclave, conducted by ‘The Hindu’ Publication in Bangaluru
• China earlier had opposed any military intervention in the Maldives, saying such a move would further complicate the situation, a day after Nasheed sought India’s help to resolve the political crisis in the island nation