Mohamed Nasheed seeks leave extension, Male hits out

Jailed former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has sought a two-month extension of his medical leave in the UK, even as the Maldivian envoy to India on Wednesday accused Mr Nasheed of misusing his visit to “deceitfully” tarnish the country’s reputation.

Maldivian high commissioner to India Ahmed Mo-hamed said that despite Mr Nasheed serving a 13-year jail sentence on terror charges, the Maldivian government had provided him with a diplomatic passport and allowed him to travel to the UK when he could have received medical treatment in the Maldives itself.

“Despite this transparent and open dealing, President (Abdulla) Yameen has granted (leave) to (Mr) Nasheed to travel for medical treatment, (but Mr) Nasheed has misused his opportunity to deceitfully tarnish the reputation of (the) Maldives,” Mr Mohamed was quoted as saying by news agencies.

Mr Nasheed (48) arrived in London for treatment on January 21 after he was granted 30-day prison leave by the Maldives government to undergo an urgent spinal cord surgery.

“By damaging the reputation of the Maldives government and its constitutional offices, (Mr) Nasheed very conveniently forgets that he is exercising his freedom of speech because he has been given a diplomatic passport to travel abroad and if as he says human rights is in danger, he would not be sitting in the UK,” the envoy was quoted as saying, adding that, “there is no public information” as to whether Mr Nasheed has consulted any medical personnel and sought treatment.

The Maldives government announced in Male on Wednesday that Mr Nasheed has asked for a two-month extension to his medical leave in the UK. The Abdulla Yameen government, however, stated that a decision in this regard is pending.

Correctional service spokesperson Hassan Ali told Haveeru daily that Mr Nasheed had requested an extension of two months for his medical leave, which had expired on Tuesday. “The process of granting him an extension is underway.”

The envoy, however, did not mention the fresh request by Mr Nasheed.

Maldives foreign minister Dunya Maumoon previously had accused Mr Nasheed of using prison leave for publicity after he met Prime Minister David Cameron and held a press conference in the UK.

Highlighting the Maldives government’s steps to reach out to other parties, the Maldives envoy to India stated that President Yameen on February 11 had announced reconvening of the political party talks with the aim of “accelerating progress, development, and national unity of the country.”

Invitations for dialogue have been sent out to five political parties, including Mr Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Adhaalath Party.

Talking about the visit of a Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) delegation, including foreign secretary S. Jaishankar who was representing external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Mr Mohamed said the visit went “very well” and the CMAG meeting is scheduled for February 24.

He said the main agenda was how to strengthen democracy in the Maldives and how the Commonwealth could be involved. Mr Mohamed said having an Indian presence in the CMAG team that visited the Maldives “will help us a lot.”