Maldives SC seeks help from India as the President declares war

As the Maldives is moving back and forth on the military rule, the Abdulla Yameen government is learnt to be looking to suppress the country’s Supreme Court.

Even as they appealed to India and other democratic countries for help, sources in the Maldivian apex court stated that Yameen was looking to sack SC judges, including chief justice Abdulla Saeed, by filing false cases against them.

A top source anonymously was quoted by TOI, "The chief of judicial administration, Hasan Saeed, had his home raided on bribery charges and judges are being intimidated. We need India to take tough measures to ensure that rule of law is implemented in the Maldives.”

The SC ruling that ordered the release of all political prisoners including Mohammed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president is yet to be taken into action.

According to the sources in New Delhi, the Embassy of India in Male was in touch with ‘all relevant agencies’ involved in the crisis.

The ruling also reinstated 12 MPs, giving the joint opposition led by Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party a clear majority in parliament.

However, instead of releasing the prisoners, the country's police chief and the Maldives National Defence Force announced the orders would be taken from attorney general Mohamed Anil and not the SC.

The Attorney General further accused the SC of preparing to impeach Yameen which is not only illegal but will also face resistance by the government.

He stated that Yameen's removal would plunge the country into a ‘national security crisis’.

A top official shared that the SC was unsettled with the Yameen government misleading the international community for the past few years.