Maldives judge held for warrant against President

Maldives Police said on Monday that the "arrest warrant" issued against President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom was prepared using "falsified information".

The Maldives police is investigating a complaint against President AbdullaYameen relating to embezzlement of state funds.

The Maldives police arrested a judge and the former prosecutor-general on Sunday night after an “arrest warrant” was issued against President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

The former prosecutor-general, Muhthaz Muhsin, was released on Monday, but Ahmed Nihan, the judge, was remanded by the High Court for seven days, according to the Maldives Police Service.

Warrant against President is false, say Maldives police

Maldives Police said on Monday that the “arrest warrant” issued against President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom was prepared using “falsified information”.

A release issued by the police stated that in the early hours of Monday, a group of individuals employed the assistance of a magistrate court judge to issue the “said arrest warrant”. They said it had also “tried to hand over the document to police officials to prompt action by the MPS [Maldives Police Service] for the false court order”. The release did not provide names of the individuals.

Opposition allegations

Police arrested former prosecutor general Muhthaz Muhsin and a judge, Ahmed Nihan, in connection with the warrant on Sunday night, and the prosecutor was released on Monday.

A statement issued by Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, international spokesperson of the Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), accused President Yameen of “obstructing the MPS and others from completing a proper investigation into these serious allegations”.

It added that former President Mohamed Nasheed telephoned Brigadier General Zakariya Mansoor of the Maldives National Defence Force and advised him to follow the laws and the Constitution of the country. Mr. Nasheed is now in the U.K. after taking a temporary leave on medical grounds from his 13-year-long prison term.

Maldives police are investigating a complaint against the President of embezzlement of state funds and the warrant was issued in connection to that case. President Yameen has not responded to the allegations against him. Mr. Nihan is the second sitting judge to be arrested in recent years after a conflict with the government. The arrest of a top judge in 2012 led to the fall of the country’s first democratically elected President, Mohamed Nasheed, who was later sentenced to 13 years in prison for ordering the arrest.