New Delhi accused Yameen regime of being unfair in the trail leading to the long prison sentences to the former president

Amidst the political crisis in the Maldives, New Delhi has sent waves of ‘dismay’ over the political arrests of Former Maldivian president Gayoom and Supreme court judges. Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi in a press release said:

Since the beginning of the political crisis in the Maldives, India has repeatedly urged the Government of the Maldives to allow all institutions, including the Supreme Court and the Parliament, to function in a free and independent manner, and to permit genuine political dialogue between all political parties. This has also been the demand of the international community at large.

New Delhi also accused Yameen regime of being unfair in the trail leading to the long prison sentences to the former president, supreme court judges and other political prisoners which includes Gayoom’s son-in-law. new Delhi further stated:

It is, therefore, with deep dismay that we learned that the former President of the Maldives, as well as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, are being sentenced to long prison terms without a fair trial. This casts doubt on the commitment of the Government of the Maldives to uphold the rule of law and will also call into question the credibility of the entire process of Maldives Presidential elections in September this year.

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Advocating for the democracy and peace, India calls it in the interests of all its ‘neighbours & friends’ in the Indian Ocean. Maldives Presidential elections are scheduled later this year, in such crucial time, pro-democracy Gayoom government is under Indian interests and New Delhi would like to see Gayoom contesting the elections, for which the Yameen government has barred the Islamic scholar and the fine stateman who ruled 30 years in the Maldives and maintained a friendly ties with New Delhi. The press release further said:

India believes that a democratic, stable and prosperous Maldives is in the interests of all its neighbours and friends in the Indian Ocean. It reiterates its advice to the Government of the Maldives to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by immediately releasing political prisoners including former President Gayoom and Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and creating the necessary conditions for the participation of all political forces in the Presidential Elections.

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Source: MEA

Mukhi 
The Kootneeti Indian Diplomacy Team

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