After a Newsmaker event held at the National Press Club in Washington DC on 30 April, attended by Mohamed Nasheed’s wife Laila Ali, his legal team has submitted a petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The petition calls the arrest, trial, conviction, and ongoing imprisonment of Mohamed Nasheed an outrageous and extraordinary violation of his fundamental human rights under the Maldives Constitution, Maldivian law, and international law that the Government of the Maldives has collectively violated.
It also calls upon the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to, ‘issue an opinion finding Nasheed’s ongoing detention to be in violation of the Maldives obligations under the relevant provisions of the ICCPR and UDHR; call for his immediate release; request the Government investigate and hold to account all those responsible for his unlawful arrest, detention, trial, and imprisonment; and request the Government award Nasheed compensation for the harm caused by being deprived of his liberty.’
According to lawyer Amal Clooney, Nasheed’s legal team is making five key points in their UN filing.
1. Nasheed’s trial was politically motivated to remove him from office.
2. Nasheed was denied the presumption of innocence.
3. The court was biased because two judges submitted witness statements.
4. Nasheed was denied right to counsel.
5. Nasheed was physically abused.
The full petition:
http://perseus-strategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Nasheed-Mohamed-Maldives-UNWGAD-Petition-4.30.15.pdf
