The Maldivian opposition Saturday accused President Abdulla Yameen of resisting local and international pressure to comply with a landmark Supreme Court order to free nine political prisoners. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said Yameen was yet to release any in line with Thursday's shock decision of the apex court to quash the dissidents' convictions. "Although Yameen has said he will abide by the ruling, he is yet to comply with the order delivered more than 36 hours ago," Colombo-based MDP spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said on Saturday morning.
The court on Thursday night said that cases against the nine dissidents, including former president Mohamed Nasheed, were politically motivated and asked the government to release them immediately. It also ordered the reinstatement of 12 legislators who were expelled for defecting, and effectively gave the opposition a majority in the 85-member assembly. In a statement issued overnight, the joint opposition, which includes Nasheed's MDP, said it feared the regime would ignore the release order and that it would trigger further unrest in the nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims.
The court on Thursday night said that cases against the nine dissidents, including former president Mohamed Nasheed, were politically motivated and asked the government to release them immediately. It also ordered the reinstatement of 12 legislators who were expelled for defecting, and effectively gave the opposition a majority in the 85-member assembly. In a statement issued overnight, the joint opposition, which includes Nasheed's MDP, said it feared the regime would ignore the release order and that it would trigger further unrest in the nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims.
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