COLOMBO: Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed has taken refuge in the Indian embassy in Male on Wednesday as police attempted to arrest him.
“Mindful of my own security and stability in the Indian Ocean, I have taken refuge at the Indian High Commission in Maldives,” Nasheed wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
The Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin has said that India has not made any decision whether to grant Nasheed refuge at the embassy.
Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected leader, was ousted from office in contested circumstances and his supporters have frequently clashed with security forces.
A local magistrate’s court, where Nasheed is on trial for abusing his powers, issued an arrest warrant for him on Monday after he missed a February 10 court appearance in a case relating to accusations that he illegally detained a judge during the last days of his rule.
His supporters believe the trial is a politically motivated attempt to prevent him from leading his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) into upcoming polls.
Imad Masood, spokesman for the country’s current president, Mohamed Waheed Hussain Manik, said that Police would wait outside the high commission. “If he doesn’t come, then police will begin to talk to high commission officials,” he said.
DND
