Author: Minivan News

Loss for Maldives as ‘Asia’s Mandela’ is deposed: Business Day

The Maldives used to be a paradise for tourists but not its inhabitants. Honeymooners went there to explore each other, not the country,” writes Moorcraft for South Africa’s Business Day.

“Until 2008, it was the longest-lasting dictatorship in Asia. Then a diminutive but charismatic human rights activist, Mohamed Nasheed (known to everyone as “Anni”), defeated the old dictator, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in the country’s first free elections.

Just 41, the young president was compared with Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, though he told me of his respect for Mahatma Gandhi. I got to know “Anni” when he was an opposition leader who had been imprisoned 23 times, sometimes in solitary confinement, and tortured by the Gayoom regime. I made TV documentaries about him and his beautiful country, an archipelago of more than 1200 islands.

“Anni” had promised he would give me the first TV interview on his first day in power. He kept his word as we chatted in his office, with furious ambassadors from major states pacing outside his office. The islands are strategically placed amid major (oil) shipping lanes, of interest particularly to India and China.

“Not many Islamic countries have had free and fair elections to form a multiparty democracy,” he said. Despite his own mistreatment, he preached forgiveness to the old regime, because it was an Islamic principle and practical politics. He said Mandela and SA’s truth and reconciliation process were his inspiration.

The previous regime had emptied the treasury. “Our finances are in bad shape,” he admitted. “We can’t consolidate democracy if we can’t pay wages.”

He was always a man of his word, but he faced a huge task of rebuilding his country. Nasheed became a green icon worldwide, not least because he held one of his cabinet meetings underwater, with his ministers wearing scuba gear, to publicise the dangers of global warming. He talked to me about eventually relocating his 350000 citizens to Sri Lanka, India or even Australia — as his country sank beneath the waves.

His victory was a beacon to the Islamic world. Free elections and multiparty democracy without a drop of blood spilled and not a single western soldier present.

So why was such an inspirational leader deposed this week? His supporters claim he was ousted in a military and police coup-cum-mutiny, although it was not that simple. The main issue was that he won the presidency but his reformist party was in a minority in parliament — Gayoom’s supporters were in the majority. Cohabitation was difficult. Also the judiciary, largely composed of ill-educated placemen appointed by the old dictator, was often at loggerheads with the new president. Tensions came to a head in the past month, when the army detained a senior criminal court judge.

Economic factors were also in play — like Obama, the new president created a crisis of expectations. Job prospects, especially for the young, did not suddenly improve when he took over. Even some reformers felt that the human rights activist of old was being heavy-handed with his political (or family/clan) opponents. And, crucially, he was attacked by the Islamist right wing, which argued he was too secular. The Islamist parties had never achieved much in electoral terms, but they were influential — as the increasing use of the veil indicated. And even foreign intelligence agencies fretted about Jihadist growth in some of the outlying islands.

Street protests in the past few weeks were met by police crackdowns, and then old-regime elements of the police joined the protesters. Nasheed explained that his only recourse to this was to call in the small and divided army, or resign. It was a bloodless coup.

Nasheed may decide to contest the forthcoming election or not, but the forces of the old regime led by Gayoom, an Egyptian-trained cleric, in alliance with the fundamentalists, could defeat the more secular reformists.

The deposed leader is, in effect, under house arrest, enjoying the “protection” of the army.

Nasheed became a world icon not least for the environmentalists. A stirring movie about his achievements, The Island President, has recently won awards at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals. Perhaps the visionary leader became more popular abroad than at home; a sad comment on a man who promised so much.

As in SA, lesser men are likely to replace the icon.

Moorcraft is a visiting professor at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.

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Rising Islamism Set Stage for Maldives Coup: Wall Street Journal

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s ouster of President Mohamed Nasheed, his political opponents fomented opposition among conservative Muslims by claiming Mr Nasheed’s government was trying to undermine their faith, writes Tom Wright for the Wall Street Journal.

Islamists calling for jihad against Mr Nasheed played a significant part in antigovernment protests that began in January. Events came to a head Tuesday when a band of armed police and army officers backed the protesters and forced Mr. Nasheed to resign.

The emergence of hard-line Islam is a relatively new development for the Maldives. But it is stoking concern in neighboring India that it could be used as a potential base for Islamist militants. It also raises questions about the stability of a country which sits on strategically important sea lanes used to transport a large portion of the world’s crude oil.

And the rise of conservative Islam could have an impact on the country’s tourism industry. Around 900,000 foreigners come to the country each year and the development of spas and bars to cater for them has angered some Islamist leaders.

Ahmed Naseem, the country’s recently ousted foreign minister, faced opposition at home last year when he became the first Maldivian official to visit Israel. He says religious orthodoxy has become the norm as more people go to study in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

“This country had no one wearing headscarves 10 years ago” but it’s common now, said Mr. Naseem. The political opposition, he added, capitalized on this growing religiosity by portraying Mr. Nasheed as un-Islamic. “They’re using Islam as a tool.”

The party of Mohamed Jameel, who was sworn in as Home Minister this week, issued a pamphlet last month in the local language entitled, “President Nasheed’s Devious Plot to Destroy the Islamic Faith of Maldivians,” according to a translation reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The pamphlet claimed that empty bottles of alcohol, which is proscribed for Maldivians, were found in offices of Mr. Nasheed’s government. It blamed the government for planning to sell land to Israel. And it said the then-president was working to undermine Islamic law in the country.

Mr. Jameel, in an interview Friday in his offices overlooking Male’s aquamarine harbor, acknowledged the pamphlet. He said Mr. Nasheed had at times lacked sensitivity toward Muslims.

“It’s one of the obligations of the state to protect Islam,” said Mr. Jameel, who went to a religious high school in Pakistan and got his doctoral degree from London University.

The Maldives, a country of almost 400,000 people, is almost entirely Muslim. The constitution makes Islam the state religion and minority faiths are not recognized. The legal system is a mixture of common law, a legacy of the former British colonists, and Quranic law.

After the December rally, the participation of Muslim extremists in antigovernment protests grew. During demonstrations earlier this week, a group of Islamists, their faces covered, trashed Buddhist statues in the National Museum.

For now, tourism has not suffered visibly. Most visitors arrive at an airport on its own island and are ferried to their resorts on uninhabited atolls, where alcohol is allowed. But as numbers grow, more tourists also are stopping off in Male, causing frictions.

“There are some fringe religious extremist elements and we hope the radicalism doesn’t hamper the Maldives’ image as a tourist destination,” an Indian government official said Friday.

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Maldives mishandled by India: Eurasia Review

The Government of India appears to have been caught napping in the Maldives on two counts, writes B. Raman for the Eurasia Review.

First, it failed to foresee the implications of some arbitrary actions of former President Mohammed Nasheed such as the arrest of the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court and disciplinary action against a Sandhurst-trained Colonel of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), who were perceived to be anti-Nasheed and advise him to desist from such actions.

These actions antagonised the judiciary and created fissures in the MNDF and the Police. These elements joined hands with anti-Nasheed protesters in forcing him to quit as the President.

Secondly, it failed to realise that despite his antagonising the judiciary and sections of the Police and the MNDF, Nasheed retained considerable popular support particularly among the younger generation and was in a position to take the battle against his opponents to the streets. Instead of keeping quiet till the street equations became clear and instead of desisting from any action that might be misinterpreted as granting legitimacy to the MNDF-engineered replacement of Nasheed by his Vice-President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, the Government of India prematurely made statements that were interpreted in Maldives as amounting to India’s abandoning its support to the democratically-elected President.

When Nasheed’s supporters, with a defiant Nasheed at their head, took the battle against their opponents to the streets, the Government of India found itself with its credibility badly weakened.

The result: the Government of India’s traditional position as the sole arbiter of political fortunes in the Maldives has been badly damaged and a number of international actors from the UK, the US, the European Union and the United Nations have rushed to the Maldives to try their hand in internal peace-making, thereby marginalising the traditional role of India. Only China and Pakistan have not yet entered the political fray in the Maldives. If they do, that will be ultimate humiliation for Indian diplomacy at its southern door-step.

We had earlier lost our clout in Sri Lanka as a result of soft and reactive reflexes and we stand in danger of similarly losing our clout -even if we have not already lost it – in the Maldives due to similar apologetic reflexes lacking in robustness of anticipation and action.

In the Net world, one could notice articulation of condemnation of the Government for failing to intervene militarily in the Maldives in support of the democratically-elected Government. Unfavourable comparisons have been made with the robust response of Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, to support the then President Abdul Gayoom against threats from foreign mercenaries suspected to be from the LTTE by sending Indian rapid action forces to the Maldives to neutralise the threat.

The hesitation of the Government of India to send rapid action forces in response to a reported SOS from Nasheed is understandable because the present situation is qualitatively different from what prevailed in 1988. The threat to Nasheed was not from external forces, but from sections of his own MNDF and the Police due to his perceived arbitrary style of governance. If the Government of India had sent the security forces to the Maldives this time, they would have been called upon to act not against foreign mercenaries and their local supporters, but against sections of the political opposition in the Maldives and their supporters in the MNDF and the Police.

Our security forces would have been able to overcome opposition from the MNDF and the Police, but then what about managing the messy sequel – with the Maldivian security forces many of whose senior officers were trained by us turning hostile against India?

The criticism of the Government of India for not intervening immediately through our armed forces is not quite justified. But there is a lot of actions short of direct military intervention which we could have taken – such as visibly and noisily strengthening our direct action capability in the vicinity of the Maldives, to convey a message to the contending forces in the Maldives and to external forces that might be tempted to take advantage of the situation to undermine Indian influence that India was prepared to use its armed forces if needed to protect its nationals and interests, and rushing a high level and stick-wielding emissary to Male to cajole, if possible, and to force, if necessary, the contending forces not to undermine democracy and not to allow any other external elements to come in and partake of the broth.

The Government of India failed to take any of these actions and now finds itself with diminishing options in the face of an unpredictably evolving situation domestically and internationally. In 1988, the international community recognised implicitly that the Maldives was India’s concern and that India had every right to act according to its wisdom.

Even though the situation seems to be slipping out of our hands, we can still retrieve it provided we show leadership befitting a big power and act resolutely on the lines indicated above. Evidence of such leadership and resolute action is missing in Delhi.

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“We will burn you, we can do anything because no one knows where are you are and no one will come to save you”

Police and military are “ransacking Addu City”, former President Mohamed Nasheed claimed in a meeting with press today, in retaliation for the destruction of police and court buildings on the islands on Wednesday night.

Addu is a stronghold of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and is the second most populated area in the Maldives, after Male’. Together, both cities make up 50 percent of the country’s population, and councilors at both were unanimously voted in on MDP tickets in last year’s local council elections.

Today, Nasheed claimed members of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) are “dragging people out from their homes and asking them if they are MDP or PPM. If they say MDP, they are spraying them with pepper, beating them and arresting them.”

Nasheed claimed that individuals in Addu have been stripped and handcuffed. Other sources in Addu claimed said that those arrested were being on Coast Guard vessels following the destruction of police and court buildings in the wake of the police crackdown on Wednesday afternoon. Fishermen reportedly claimed to have heard the sound of weeping coming from the moored vessels.

Minivan News was contacted by a man, identifying himself as an MDP supporter, who claimed to have been “arrested and beaten” yesterday on Hithadhoo in Addu City, at 1:30pm. He said he was released on Thursday night at 7:30pm.

He believes he was targeted because the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) in Addu sent a list of people who had participated in protests to the police.

He was taken from his house with his family: “They threw my sister like a dog, and said all kinds of very bad words to my parents.”

He said he was dragged from his house and trodden on by the military, then cuffed and thrown into their pickup “like a dog.”

He was taken to Gan with 33 others where the station had been burned.

“They poured petrol around us and said: “We will burn you, we can do anything because no one knows where are you are and no one will come to save you.”

The military and police members allegedly removed some peoples’ clothes, sprayed them with pepper spray, and made them all “dance like dolls. They were doing it for their own entertainment, smiling and laughing.”

He was released at 7:30pm last night. “They said ‘Tell no one I’ve seen this kind of thing or you will never see your family again.'”

He reported that the military and police were still searching for people on Friday evening. Mayor Abdul Sodig was said to be in hiding.

Military and police officials are going around with members of the opposition, the MDP supporter claimed. He also said those who attacked him had told his family at his house: “Now this is our government. We can do anything we want.”

Similar events were occurring in Thinadhoo and Fuvahmulah, also in the country’s south, former President Nasheed said: “We are losing a country as we speak.”

Minivan News was today informed that Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail, former member of the Special Majlis and the committee responsible for drafting the new Constitution, had flown to Addu with several lawyers to assess the situation in the remote island. The team was reportedly attacked, beaten and had their phones taken.

Several media outlets, including some foreign outlets, were scheduled to fly to Addu this evening with MDP representatives, but the trip was called off after organisers claimed that the violence had spread and they were unable to guarantee reporters’ safety at night.

Police statement

Police Spokesman Ahmed Shiyam said any arrests made by police would be conducted legally. Approximately 70 people were being questioned, he said, and noted that court warrants had been issued for the arrest of several others. He said he had no knowledge of people being held on boats.

Meanwhile new Commissioner of Police Abdhulla Riyaz has in a statement requested that the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) and Human Rights Commission of the Maldives closely monitor the treatment of all those who are brought into police custody related to the investigation of disturbances on the evening of February 8, which he said had “caused severe damage and harm to government and public property and as well as police personnel.”

“During these disturbances that occured in Male as well as other regions of the Maldives, several police stations and the police traning school in Addu was torched and severely damaged,” the statement read.

“The Commissioner of Police has instructed all police officials who are involved in this investigation to protect the rights of the detainees including the right to an attorney, right to food and other entitled human rights. The police commssioner also assured that all individuals who will be arrested with regard to the above disturbances will only be arrested in accordance with the constitution, rules and regulations of Maldives.”

During his meeting today, former President Nasheed said “I believe that what the people of this country want is clear from what is happening on the streets. We can bring the government to our terms by demonstrating on the streets, but I fear it is not the best course of action.”

He noted that the opposition “was only able to gather 300 to 400 people” each night during three weeks of protests against the detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed.

On Thursday morning the Criminal Court issued a warrant for Nasheed’s arrest, however police had not complied with it by Friday evening.

International support

Nasheed said that his party was not depending on the international community to bring fresh elections to the Maldives, and was relying on the Maldivian people to make their feelings felt: “In the absence of international support, we will have to go back to the streets and demonstrate”, Nasheed said. “We cannot join this government as we believe it is illegal.”

A Vice President, Nasheed contended, was expected to carry out the policies of the government were he to replace the sitting President: “He is not supposed to find a new cabinet or new policies.”

Nasheed also commented that he had been “aware for some time” that Dr Waheed had met with opposition leaders in his home, and in the last month “it was obvious” that he had leanings towards the opposition. He added that Dr Waheed’s party “hasn’t a single seat” in Parliament, and said he could “not see how would get a cabinet approved. How can he have control? He would have to rely on his masters.”

A foreign journalist asked Nasheed as to the identity of those “masters”. Nasheed speculated that Gayoom’s half-brother Abdulla Yameen and Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim were involved “because I have seen them at it. I am very sure it is the old order.”

Nasheed had met with the Indian High Commissioner Dynaneshwar Mulay prior to the press conference. A journalist asked if he “felt India has let you down”.

“I’m sure India with its ideals and policies will find the most amicable set of policies in the Maldives,” Nasheed responded.

Addressing the matter of international influence in the Indian Ocean, Nasheed said his government had always been clear on its friendship with the neighboring country, however the “present government has not been clear on its stance with regards to India and China”, adding that “there’s always room for maneuvering.”

“My policy on international relations is very simple – find a friend and be good to that friend,” he said.

The United States today recognised the government of Dr Waheed, and expressed hope that the Maldives would resolve the current issue internally, according to media reports.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that Washington “recognised the new government of President Mohammed Waheed Hassan as legitimate”, but clarified that it was collecting more information.

US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake is due to arrive in the Maldives tomorrow. High-level delegations from the UN and Commonwealth are currently active in the Maldives and meeting all parties.

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Nasheed calls for Dr Waheed to step down, hold elections in two months

Political unrest continues in the Maldives following the issuing of a warrant for the arrest of former President Mohamed Nasheed by the Criminal Court on Thursday morning.

The unrest was sparked three weeks ago after the military took Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed, into custody on the military training island of Girifushi – the same island used to hold Nasheed’s underwater cabinet meeting.

Nasheed’s government had accused the Chief Judge of political bias, among other allegations going back to 2005 under Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration. The judicial watchdog body – the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) – had concluded an investigation into allegations of political bias, however the judge sought an injunction from the Civil Court against his investigation. The JSC complied with the Civil Court order.

A warrant was also issued for the arrest of former Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim.

Minivan News is currently attempting to confirm the charges against the pair with the Criminal Court.

Nasheed resigned in dramatic circumstances on Tuesday, handing power to Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, after elements of the police sided with opposition protesters. The group had attacked the main military base in Male’, and then took over the state broadcaster, rebranding it ‘Television Maldives’ (TVM), its name under Gayoom’s government.

President Dr Waheed then held a press conference on Wednesday morning in which he pledged to create a “national unity government”, and praised the police defectors for their “great sacrifices in upholding the constitution”. He denied there had been a coup when challenged by reporters: “Do I look like someone who is attempting a coup?” Dr Waheed replied.

That afternoon former President Nasheed rallied Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters in Male’, announcing to his party and foreign media that he had been forced to resign under duress, declaring Dr Waheed’s government illegitimate and calling for elections.

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) last night denied using force against Nasheed prior to his resignation.

Thousands of MDP supporters, including many women, took to the streets for what the party claimed was a “peaceful” protest walk around Male’. A brutal police crackdown, in which Nasheed was beaten and 50 people were hospitalised, including MDP Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa, sparked a wave of violence and vandalism across the country’s islands directed at police buildings, courts and other public buildings. Dramatic footage of the protests and the injured was shared on social media networks.

Protests spread, police and courts damaged

At 11:00pm last night police released details of the damage caused to police property during public protests on the islands.

  • Protestors on Gaaf Dhaalu Atoll Thinadhoo set fire to the police station, magistrate court, atoll council office, and all police vehicles. Nine policeman were attacked and subsequently treated at the Thinadhoo Regional Hospital. Police officials have declared the area unsafe for local policemen as “MDP supporters have threatened to attack the residences of policemen.”
  • Similarly, on Faresmaathodaa island of the same atoll, protesters close down the police station and forced those officers on duty to return home.
  • In Addu City, which is synonymous with Addu Atoll and which hosted the 2011 SAARC Summit, protesters torched police stations in Hithadhoo and Gan islands, as well as the Addu Police Training School and all police vehicles. The buildings have been destroyed beyond repair, and criminals held in those police stations have been released by protesters.
  • In Raa Atoll Dhuveaafaru and Alifushi islands, MDP supporters marched into police stations, halted police operations and closed down the building with police officers inside.
  • In Shaviyani Atoll Milandhoo island, protesters forced themselves into the police station where they set two police motorbikes and a vehicle on fire. Following threats, all island police officers have been transferred to Funadhoo island in the same atoll.
  • On Gnaviyani Atoll Fuvahmulah island, protestors threw stones at police after they were prevented from closing down the station. Some police officers have been injured, and station windows have been smashed.
  • In Haa Alifu Atoll Dhidhoo island MDP supporters walked into the local police stations, halted operations and closed down the building, forcing the policemen off the island. Criminals held in the station were released.

Several governments have issued travel advisories urging tourists to avoid travel to the capital city of Male. Resorts and the airport island remain calm.

Controversial appointments

Meanwhile, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has made appointed several members of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s government to key posts.

Last night Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed of minority opposition Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP) was appointed Minister of Home Affairs.

Dr Jameel previously served as Minister of Justice under former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and briefly as Minister of Civil Aviation and Communication former President Mohamed Nasheed. Dr Jameel was also involved in a controversial pamphlet published by his party, the DQP, accusing the Nasheed government of conspiring with Jewish and Christian figures to “spread vice” among the Maldivan public.

The President also appointed Mohamed Nazim as Minister of Defence and National Security. Nazim previously served in the National Security Service under Gayoom, and in the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) under Nasheed.

Ilyas Hussein Ibrahim has been appointed as Immigration Controller, a position he held under Gayoom. He served as Director of the Center for Disaster Management under Nasheed.

Today, the President appointed Masood Imad as President’s Office Media Secretary. Imad previously worked as Gayoom’s presidential campaign manager in 2008, and has served as director of Maldives Airports Company Ltd. (MACL).

Foreign media informed Minivan News that Gayoom’s spokesman Mohamed ‘Mundhu’ Shareef was serving as acting spokesman for Dr Waheed’s government.

LIVE FEED – Refresh for updates

12:15pm – MDP Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik is being examined by doctors. He remains in a serious condition, a party spokesperson has said.

12:30pm – The Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for former President Mohammed Nasheed, as well as former Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim. Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed was released from military detention after Nasheed resigned at 1:00pm on Tuesday, February 7, and following the swearing-in of then Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

12:35pm – Security forces were reported as on their way to Nasheed’s home at Keneryge to arrest him.

1:49pm – Nasheed is reportedly giving a press conference inside his home of Keneryge, to both local and foreign media. He has reportedly claimed that the current government is illegitimate.

2:10pm – Nasheed’s wife Laila and his two daughters are currently in Sri Lanka, Solih has said. At Nasheed’s Male home Keneryge, the party says it is still unaware of the charges against Nasheed.

2:11pm – Minivan News has been informed by the UN in Male’ that UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, will arrive in Male’ this evening.

2:26pm – President Nasheed addressed reporters in Keneryge, his family home in Male’:

“200 or so police and 80 military officers helped the opposition change the government. Police and military were very brutal; they beat me very badly. We all fear for our safety.

“The Maldives is in a very serious situation. The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) said the judge [Abdulla Mohamed] is not fit to sit on the bench. All we wanted to do by arresting the judge was to implement the JSC’s ruling that he was not fit to sit on the bench.

“I never fought and I don’t want a war. When police come with a warrant we will go with them.

“I cannot believe that the Vice President hasn’t participated in the whole thing. Military officers very clearly told me that if I did not resign in an hour they would use arms.

“We went to [Republic Square?] at 5:00am [on Tuesday]. Police officers sitting there defied my orders. MNDF (military) officer told me that they wanted to have me gone. MNDF officers on my side then begged me to open the weapons vault. I refused.

“I went to the President’s office and wrote the resignation letter as I was instructed by the MNDF. I tried to hand the letter to my secretary but the MNDF grabbed the letter and took it to parliament.

“My advice to MDP and to citizens is not to do anything unwise. And keep all actions within the laws. I regret that I have heard nothing from the Prosecutor General about all this.”

“I have a team of lawyers and I think they will consider filing a case in the Supreme Court.”

2:55pm – Nasheed has gone upstairs into the building with former Special Envoy Ibrahim Zaki.

3:02pm – Laamu Atoll Gan island was without Dhiraagu internet services as of 8:00 this morning, following a public demonstration last night. Sources report that several have been arrested in the atoll.

Dhiraagu has said the outage, which had affected islands in Laamu Atoll, Gaaf Dhaal Atoll, Gaaf Alif Atoll, Thaa Atoll and Naviyani Atoll, was due to a likely lightning strike on the northern side of Meemu Atoll on Kolhufushi Island. Company Manager of Marketing Communications and Public Relations Mohamed Mirshan Hassan said the outage was not related to the social unrest.

As of 11:00am today, services had been restored to islands including Fares in Gaaf Dhaal, Herethere, South Feydhoo, Kolamaafushi and parts of South Hithadhoo, Hassan said.

3:07pm – A petition calling for the security of Mohamed Nasheed, his staff and the Maldivian people organised by environmental NGO 350.org has received 30,000 signatures.

“President Nasheed has been one of the strongest, most outspoken leaders on climate change willing to both state the truth and lead with action commensurate with his words. We need more leaders like him around the world, and for now we are doing what we can to assist in ensuring his safety and the restoration of peace and democracy in the Maldives,” writes founding member William Bates. He adds that the organisation hopes to convey their message to US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake before his upcoming visit to the Maldives, as well as other diplomatic envoys.

3:15pm – Major General Ahmed Shiyam has been appointed as Chief of Defence Force, after Major General Moosa Ali Jaleel respectfully retired from the position today.

4:10pm – Local newspaper Haveeru has reported newly appointed Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz as saying that he does not consider the court order to detain former President Nasheed and former Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim as an arrest warrant, and that he will only implement the order after looking into the legal bounds for making such an arrest. “However I never said I will not make the arrest,” he told Haveeru.

Riyaz would not give a comment on his intentions to follow or dismiss the court order.

4:30pm – There are several hundred MDP supporters outside Mohamed Nasheed’s house. Police were earlier seen in the area, but left. The atmosphere is one of a stalemate. Storms and bad weather have kept many people indoors today.

7:00pm – Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodig has confirmed reports that members of various opposition parties are leading the police to MDP members and supporters in Addu and beating them before the police arrest them. Approximately 100 individuals including minors have been beaten and arrested, and arrest warrants are said to have been issued for members of the city council.

Sodig sustained injuries during a targeted attack at the City Council yesterday, including a wrist fracture and head injuries; he said he is unsure if there has been damage to his brain as he is still in need of a CAT scan. He is currently “hiding in a safe place”. His family is also hiding in different places, he said.

8:11pm – UK Conservative Party MP and Chairman of the party’s Human Rights Commission expressed “deep concern” for the “severe setback for democracy and human rights in the past three days.”

“We understand that President Nasheed was forced to resign at gunpoint, was subsequently detained, and that when he addressed supporters of his party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), he was beaten and gassed by police, along with other MDP members.

“Today, we have learned that a warrant has been issued for his arrest. We condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms, and urge the Maldivian Government to return to the path of democracy and human rights, to guarantee the safety, security and freedom of Mohamed Nasheed and his supporters. We also urge the Government to ensure that the MDP and other political parties and activists can engage in the political process free from fear and repression, and to hold new free and fair elections as soon as possible, which Mohamed Nasheed and his party can contest.

“We encourage the British Government, the European Union, the Commonwealth and the international community to do everything possible to support the protection and promotion of democracy and human rights in the Maldives, and to seek guarantees for the freedom and security of Mohamed Nasheed.”

8:18pm – UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has “registered our concern about developments in particular the reports of attacks on members and supporters of the Maldivian Democratic Party.”

“It is for the new leadership to establish its legitimacy with its own people and with the international community with an independent review of the circumstances leading to what has happened earlier this week, and we hope that the new leadership will demonstrate its respect for the rule of law, including peaceful demonstrations.  I welcome the call for calm and order from the former President Nasheed to all his supporters,” Hague said.

9:30pm – MDP members and supporters have gathered at Dharubaruge for a meeting.

10:55pm – British MPs John Glen (Salisbury) and Karen Lumley (Redditch) have called for an end to the “coup d’etat” in the Maldives, saying “the international community needs to condemn the violence and recognise the truth behind what has happened.”

“It now seems very likely that the new ‘President’ – Nasheed’s former deputy Mohamed Waheed – was working quietly behind the scenes with the military and police to orchestrate an apparent legitimate handover of power for the world’s media, when the truth is that it is a coup d’etat by those who were beginning to have their interests threatened,” they jointly wrote on a political blog today.

11:01pm – A man has been brutally beaten in Addu Gan by police forces, who have reportedly been beating and arresting MDP supporters since this morning. An islander said the man’s son, a police officer, was in the police-occupied van at the time. “He was beaten over and over, he couldn’t stand up or sit down. He is a supporter of Nasheed,” said the islander, who requested anonymity.

11:05pm – Independent daily global news hour Democracy Now! has today aired a conversation with US-based environmental NGO 350.org founder Bill McKibben, “The Island President” director Jon Shenk, and former advisor to Nasheed Paul Roberts.

Calling Nasheed the ‘Mandela of the Indian Ocean,’ McKibben said Nasheed, “was a thorn in the side [of the U.S.] because he kept bringing up the topic of climate change, a topic they’re not that keen on. On the other hand, he — almost to a fault — was cooperative with U.S. efforts about climate change. The State Department owes him and I hope that they take this seriously.”

11:10pm – MDP meeting at Dharubaruge has concluded and people have left the area.

11:21pm – “MDP is a boat fit for every ocean. The boat won’t sink. The party will not fade away,” said Nasheed during tonight’s rally, which filled Dharubaruge as well as the road outside of the convention building. “I don’t believe that my strength has been weakened. We get strength from one another,” he told the crowd.

11:27pm – “We want to serve the people with kindness, and also a clean living. MDP has not come to power to enjoy the luxury and respect of a ruler. MDP has come to power to serve the Maldivians,” said Nasheed.

11:30pm – Citing MDP’s five key pledges (affordable living costs, housing and quality health care,  nationwide transport, and prevention of narcotics and drug trafficking) Nasheed said, “Maldivians would not believe that their countrymen were tortured or assaulted and left in pain. The Maldivian Democratic Party came with their activities after [the former regime] killed Evan Naseem, and the party’s main purpose is to bring proper justice to the Maldivians.”

11:40pm – “It wasn’t 24 hours since our government was toppled before [the new government] had put 500 people in prison without justice. There are almost 30 people now in the hospital for intensive care. Many Maldivian citizens have been disturbed and many are suffering pain and great loss,” said Nasheed. “I am out here again to bring back kind leadership to the Maldivians. I am not going home unless we achieve that for the Maldivians.”

11:45pm – “My main purpose is to bring democracy,” Nasheed told those gathered, reiterating that the party’s main target is a proper justice system.

11:46pm – He said the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has evidence against Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, who was released from military detention following Nasheed’s resignation on Tuesday. Nasheed called on the body to take action against the judge.

11:48pm – “Abdulla Mohamed is a person against whom the JSC has filed several cases regarding his disciplinary actions. He is not capable as a chief judge. If he is the chief judge, then the whole Maldives’ justice system would be ruined, I have observed.”

11:50 – Nasheed maintained his request that the JSC take action against Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed and reform the courts to align with the Maldives’ constitution, adding that the methods used to appoint the judges to the lower courts were against the constitution. “I have requested to re-order the court’s again according to the constitution,” he said.

11:52pm – Judges in the Maldivian court system must be educated to modern standards, Nasheed explained. He added that the constitution was drafted to ensure “a proper, lawful leadership.”

11:54pm – “Without proper justice, it is not possible to have a lawful government. And as we have seen in the last few days, that is not an easy thing to achieve.”

11:56pm – “As a president of Maldives, I do not regret any step I have taken. Whatever step I have taken, I have taken to benefit Maldivians and according to the constitution,” Nasheed continued.”I repeat: I will take those steps necessary to reform the Maldives’ justice system.”

12:02am – Stating that the Maldives’ justice system was for 30 years designed for people to hide their behavior, Nasheed described the Maldives courts as an arena maintained by businessmen to serve their own needs. “For the past 3 years, we [MDP] have been ashamed that the Maldives businessmen have taken advantage of the courts for their own purposes. ‘My resort, my island, my building, my land, my factory’-they’ve been using the courts to follow their own needs.”

12:05am –“The 30 year-old regime has been changed. The pain they gave to the people, we have stood and protested against it. The pain the Maldivians have seen during those days by the police and the army- those forces are not independent. Many Maldivians are angry because of the way police mistreat people.

“The police station has been co-opted by the businessmen to bring a coup to fulfill their needs. If that happens, we cannot bring the changes and development we want,” Nasheed said, stating that the police had to be friendly with the Maldivians to enact positive change. He further stated that the police had to be loved by the people as well.

“The Police is not a department of which people have to be afraid,” he said.

12:20am – Nasheed has said those who orchestrated the coup must be investigated and punished, however MDP does not seek control per se. “From what I know, the coup that has taken place in the Maldives has to be properly investigated. And the people who have been ruling the government unlawfully will know it. The international community will only accept the government after the government investigates the coup,” he said, adding that it was important for Dr Waheed to step down from his post. “I repeat, we are not looking to be the rulers of the country. What we need is the development of Maldives.”

12:25am – Observing that the constitution only offers two means  of changing the presidency (short of death)- by completion of the term or parliamentary vote- Nasheed insisted that a vice president could not take office by any other means.

12:38am – President Dr Waheed’s press secretary Ibrahim Hood has announced his resignation. He has worked for Dr Waheed since he first became Vice President in 2008.

12:46am – Saying he is not sad to have been ousted from the presidency, Nasheed said “when I go home tonight and sit on my swing, I will still be very happy. Being president of Maldives is not the only reason I ran for the presidency.”

He added that it is important for Dr Waheed to step down, but before that, “please free those who have been arrested.”

“Until those prisoners are free, we will not come to any discussion table,” he stated.

12:57am – Nasheed noted that if Dr Waheed steps down from the presidency, the Speaker of the Parliament must hold elections within two months, during which time the Parliamentary leader serve as national leader. “We request to have that election within two months,” he declared, adding that the party had been discussing holding mid-term elections before he resigned on Tuesday due to the difficulty of completing a five year term.

However, he continued that mid-term elections would disturb the political and social stability of the country. “But now, we are looking for an election.”

1:01am – During the two months prior to an election, Nasheed said the Parliament Speaker would be tasked with investigating the police actions of the last few days and reforming the courts. “These two months would be the most important days of the  Maldivian history.”

Nasheed said the party would support and respect the Speaker’s leadership in the event that Dr Waheed stepped down from office.

2:00am – UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, met journalists at the airport earlier this evening after he arrived in the capital. His purpose, he said, was to meet everyone, “not to investigate”.

“The investigation or clarification of what took place is primarily the responsibility of the judiciary and the parliament,” he said.

“We are concerned about the safety of the former President [Nasheed],” he added, stating that it was important he be treated with due respect to human rights and due process “like all Maldivians”.
“I would personally urge all actors to end the resorting to violence,” Fernandez-Taranco said.

“It should be clear that any solution to this crisis must be generated by national actors. There can be no externally generated solution to something that can be solved by Maldivians themselves.”

2:05am – Minivan News has been informed that arrest warrants have been issued by Meedhoo Court for the arrest of all Addu City Councilors. Two councilors are already in police custody, a source claimed. As in Male’, 100 percent of Addu City councillors were elected during the most recent local council elections on MDP tickets.

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The Commonwealth should threaten to expel the Maldives: Mark Seddon

Writing for the Huffington Post, UK journalist Mark Seddon has suggested that the Commonwealth should to threaten to expel the Maldives, following what the nation’s former government called a military coup d’etat on Tuesday, February 7.

“The Commonwealth should immediately threaten to expel the Maldives, as it did when the military seized power in Fiji. And the behemoth that is the European Union should threaten sanctions unless Mohamed Nasheed and his supporters are freed and returned to their rightful place – in government,” Seddon writes.

In his article, Seddon accuses the UK government of “waxing on about the importance of democracy in the Maldives while parading the accepted wisdom that Nasheed had somehow stepped down of his own volition, and been replaced by his vice president.”

“Prime minister David Cameron, despite having boldly declared that ‘Mohamed Nasheed is a friend of mine’, a few months back echoed this pusillanimity with his own: ‘this country does have strong links with the Maldives’, said Cameron, onion in hand, ‘and a good relationship with President Nasheed, but we have to be clear. President Nasheed has resigned, and we have a strong interest in the well-being of several thousand British tourists and in a stable and democratic government in the Maldives.’

“On the basis of that performance, just who would want to be a friend of David Cameron?” Seddon writes.

Observing that “The ‘Maldives Spring’ pre-dated that of the Arab Spring by six years,” Seddon continues that Maldivians “surely deserve a whole lot better from the international community? The mealy mouthed response from the British in particular just will not do. Diplomatic relations should be immediately suspended until the rule of law is once again established.”

Read more on the Huffington Post online.

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Dictatorships don’t always die when the dictator leaves office: Nasheed

Dictatorships don’t always die when the dictator leaves office, former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed has said in a New York Times Op-Ed.

“The wave of revolutions that toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen last year was certainly cause for hope. But the people of those countries should be aware that, long after the revolutions, powerful networks of regime loyalists can remain behind and can attempt to strangle their nascent democracies.

“I learned this lesson quickly. My country, the Maldives, voted out President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, its iron-fisted ruler, back in 2008, in historic elections that swept away three decades of his authoritarian rule. And yet the dictatorship bequeathed to the infant democracy a looted treasury, a ballooning budget deficit and a rotten judiciary.

“I was elected that year, and with the help of the International Monetary Fund, my government worked to cut the deficit, while also building a modern tax base. For the first time in its history, the Maldives — a group of islands in the Indian Ocean — had a democratically elected president, parliament and local councils.

“But it also had a judiciary handpicked by the former president, which was now hiding behind a democratic constitution. These powerful judges provided protection for the former president, his family members and political allies, many of whom are accused of corruption, embezzlement and human rights crimes.

“At the same time, new laws guaranteeing freedom of speech were abused by a new force in Maldivian politics: Islamic extremists. The former president’s cabinet members threw anti-Semitic and anti-Christian slurs at my government, branding as apostates anyone who tried to defend the country’s liberal Islamic traditions and claiming that democracy granted them and their allies license to call for violent jihad and indulge in hate speech.

“In response to these issues, my government asked the United Nations to help us investigate judicial abuses and ordered the arrest of Abdulla Mohamed, the chief judge of the criminal court, on charges of protecting the former president and corrupting the judicial system. However, in a dramatic turn of events on Tuesday, the former president’s supporters protested in the streets, and police officers and army personnel loyal to the old government mutinied and forced me, at gunpoint, to resign. To avoid bloodshed, I did so. I believe this to be a coup d’état and suspect that my vice president, who has since been sworn into office, helped to plan it.

“Choosing to stand up to the judge was a controversial decision, but I feel I had no choice but to do what I did — to have taken no action, and passively watched the country’s democracy strangled, would have been the greatest injustice of all.

“The problems we are facing in the Maldives are a warning for other Muslim nations undergoing democratic reform. At times, dealing with the corrupt system of patronage the former regime left behind can feel like wrestling with a Hydra: when you remove one head, two more grow back. With patience and determination, the beast can be slain. But let the Maldives be a lesson for aspiring democrats everywhere: the dictator can be removed in a day, but it can take years to stamp out the lingering remnants of his dictatorship.”

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“This coup will not be the last word”: Mark Lynas

Ousted President Mohamed Nasheed will not stop promoting democracy and freedom of expression in the Maldives, writes Mark Lynas in UK’s Guardian newspaper.

A former climate change advisor to Nasheed, Lynas warns that governments who value democracy “should not be under illusion about what has just taken place [in the Maldives.]”

“The first democratically elected leader of a 100% Muslim country, [Nasheed] swept away the 30-year dictatorship of Maumoon Gayoom in national elections back in 2008. Now the Maldives sadly sees its spring being rolled back: a leader elected through the ballot box has just been deposed by street violence and intimidation,” writes Lynas.

Lynas suggests that progress achieved under Nasheed was the fruits of an uphill battle which included multiple arrests and even personal torture.

“The former dictator Gayoom and his forces never accepted the outcome of the 2008 elections, and their networks of power and influence were increasingly threatened by Nasheed’s campaign against corruption in the judiciary. Indeed, this crisis was sparked by the arrest of senior court judge who had repeatedly refused to prosecute corruption cases in order to protect powerful allies from the former regime. Recently the opposition had begun to use inflammatory antisemitic and jihadi hate-speech to falsely accuse Nasheed of undermining Islam,” Lynas writes.

Lynas goes on to state that Nasheed’s efforts to make the Maldives “the world’s first carbon-neutral country was typically ambitious” and had seen progress, however “all bets are now off.”

Meanwhile, environmental NGO 350.org launched a petition early this morning calling for leaders world wide to apply diplomacy to ensure the safety of Nasheed “and the Maldivian people.” The organisation has called Nasheed a leading figure in the movement against climate change.

Expressing uncertainty over the Maldives’ current trajectory, Lynas concludes, “If I know the man at all, this coup will not be the last word.”

Red more on The Guardian.

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Police crackdown sparks riots across the Maldives – “acts of terrorism” say police

Thousands of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters, led by former president Mohamed Nasheed, have taken to the streets this evening to oppose what they claimed was an illegitimate government established yesterday in a bloodless military coup.

The protests  have spread across the country including the southern Atoll of Addu, where Mayor Abdulla Sodig has been beaten by protesters and taken to the Addu regional hospital. Hithadhoo police academy has also been set on fire, along with approximately 18 vehicles used for training purposes.

Minivan News has received rumours that 250 inmates at Maafushi jail have broken out of their cells and are rioting against the guards. Sources report that police are being deployed to the jail compound.

In Sri Lanka, demonstrations are being held outside of the Maldives Embassy. In the United Kingdom, Maldives High Commissioner Dr Farahanaz Faizal has resigned in protest.

The political chaos was triggered this afternoon after Nasheed rallied MDP supporters, declaring that his resignation had been under duress and called for the freshly-appointed Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan to step down and call for elections.

“Yes, I was forced to resign at gunpoint,” Mohamed Nasheed told foreign reporters after the rally. “There were guns all around me and they told me they wouldn’t hesitate to use them if I didn’t resign.”

Nasheed’s supporters then clashed with police and military forces near Republic Square, and were repeatedly tear gassed by the police. Dramatic footage of the crackdown has been shared on social media. More videos uploaded showed police kicking and beating protesters on the ground.

Amid the clashes, a group of opposition demonstrators infiltrated the crowds, attacking MDP supporters, according to witnesses.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed was reported among the injured, and received head injuries during the clashes. He was briefly taken under police custody before being released back into the crowd.

An injured protester

MDP’s former Chairperson Maria Ahmed Didi was also seen “dragged away by by her hair” – her whereabouts remain unknown – while MDP’s Chairperson Reeko Moosa Manik is in critical condition at ADK Hospital.

A Minivan News reporter was injured following what he described as a baton charge by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s ‘starforce’ officers.

“They were beating old women with batons,” he said. “It was just like the old days.”

Photos circulated on social media show heavily bloodstained protesters. There were unconfirmed reports that a woman had died, but the hospitals confirmed no deaths as of 9:00 Wednesday night.

Protests have meanwhile spread nationwide across the Maldives, including Addu City, with reports of islanders seizing police stations across the country.

A police spokesperson confirmed that protesters had been injured. He could not confirm the number of people arrested.

Several youth with head injuries were queued up for x-rays in the waiting area outside the reception area at IGMH.

One young woman who had gone to IGMH with her sister was being treated for a head wound. A gauze wrapped around her head was spotted with blood, and she claimed the wound was still bleeding as she went in for an X-ray.

“The police were just standing there and suddenly we were being beaten with batons and pepper spray was thrown in our face. They threw us to the ground and kept beating us,” she said.

Explaining that she, her sister and most women had joined the party’s “walk around Male” because they understood it was not a violent protest, the young woman said she had never seen indiscriminate beating of men and women on Male’ under Mohamed Nasheed’.

“It was just supposed to be a peaceful walk. That’s why we went, and why more women than usual went. But there was no warning of the attack, no announcements, we were all beaten even after we began retreating. My sister was almost trampled,” she said. “I just think it’s disgusting that the police could beat so many unarmed women.”

A reported photo of a protester taken from Facebook

Meanwhile, MDP MP and parliamentary group leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih believed approximately 35 individuals had been admitted to IGMH, with one in the ICU. Hospital staff said several were in serious conditions.

Describing the confrontation, Solih said the group was 20 feet away from the police line, which was not blocked the road, when the police began spraying tear gas, pepper spray, and throwing stones. He believes there may have been individuals behind the police who were launching some of the projectiles, but could not say whether they were affiliated with any political party.

“We are now just trying to collect everyone and see who has been injured,” Solih said, adding “I think [they police] were using more force than was necessary today.”

Solih claimed ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik was in serious condition with injuries to his stomach and back, while MP Mariya Didi was also seriously injured. Nasheed had been injured as well, but is being kept “in a secret location.” MPs Alhan Fahmy and Imthiyaz Fahmy, the party spokesperson, have been taken to jail, he added.

“I didn’t think Dr Waheed would do anything against civilians, I felt he would do something to protect them. But today I saw a totally different situation, and I am not so sure. I don’t think he has any control over the police and MNDF. They’re the ones running the government, Dr Waheed is just a puppet,” he elaborated.

MDP Party Member Omar Razak, Chairman of Works Corporation Limited, observed that the numbers of MDP supporters who turned out today to walk around Male’ trumped those who demonstrated on February 7 during the military coup.

“If we had the numbers yesterday that we had today we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he said, adding that the party members had been up all night with the protests on February 6. He said the party would continue to demonstrate. “They can’t keep doing this, beating people and sending them to the hospital every day.”

MDP Chairperson 'Reeko' Moosa Manik is in intensive care.

Riot squads arrived at IGMH around 6:15, but were replaced by MNDF forces at approximately 6:30. The situation was calm at 7:00pm, however the public was still gathered outside.

No deaths had been confirmed as of 8:00pm.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) was investigating the situation at IGMH at 6:45 pm.

The BBC’s Andrew North, who was covering the riots, reported “an ugly atmosphere in this tiny capital on the sea as darkness fell, with clashes continuing between Maldives security forces and supporters of the former president, Mohamed Nasheed.”

“We witnessed a baton charge by police on crowds gathered outside one of the main hospitals. People scattered as officers sprinted towards them, silhouetted against the lights of passing traffic.

“Inside the hospital, dozens of Mr Nasheed’s supporters are still being treated for injuries, following earlier scuffles in the main square. Among them is Reeko Moosa Maniku, chairman of Mr Nasheed’s Maldives Democratic Party – who was with the former president when the clashes broke out.

“A large head bandage and his shirt bloodied, he regained consciousness as we arrived. ‘The police said they would kill me’, he told us, as they beat me. Another MP was still unconscious in another ward.”

LIVE UPDATES – refresh this page:

7:15 – In a surreal moment, the state broadcaster was reporting on Disney’s financial profits as the protests took hold.

7:23 – Hospitals have been reported locked down and appointments cancelled.

7:29 – 50 people reported hospitalised. Police and army at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

7:31 – Reports of police looting the MDP’s headquarters. MDP supporters have alleged that President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan does not have control of police.

7:37 – A Thimarafushi councilor has claimed that police on the island have sided with the islanders, after they approached the police station. 12 police reportedly work on the island.

7:43 – MDP MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik is reported to be in intensive care in a “very critical” condition.

8:05 – MDP supporters on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll are protesting against the police. Vehichles and police buidling smashed up, reported haveeru.

8:06 – Police station on Milandhoo in Shaviyani Atoll reportedly taken over by MDP supporters

8:07 – Police station on Velidhoo in Noonu Atoll reportedly taken over by MDP supporters. Seven policeman on duty exiled from the island on a boat, reports Haveeru.

8:08 – Chairman of the Police Integrity Commission Shahinda Ismail told Raajje TV that police had used excessive force. The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives has also issued a statement expressing concern.

8:49 – Police released a statement announcing that the current protests have turned into a ‘violent act of terrorism’, citing that protesters are deliberately causing harm to the people and damaging public property, and vowed to take necessary measures to crack down the protesters.

9:02 – Windows at Vili Police Station in Maafanu ward have been smashed. A fight was taking place nearby between several civilians, with only a few police members involved, following the police raid on the MDP camp at approximately 7:45 pm, sources say.

9:03 – Minivan News has learned that Amnesty International will be dispatching a delegation to the Maldives following reports of senior MDP figures being detained.

9:06 – The UK High Commission has a team in the Maldives that called a meeting with all UK nationals this afternoon at a Male’ hotel. UK citizens present were registered. High Commissioner John Rankin expressed particular concern over the reported ‘no-travel’ list, which he said was believed to include several foreign nationals, including at least one UK citizen. He said President Dr Waheed Hassan had refuted knowledge of such a list, but had added that he would respect a court order if it was issued.

9:37 – British Prime Minister David Cameron has said responded to a question from UK MP David Amess, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group to the Maldives:

Amess: Does my right hon. Friend share my disappointment at the overthrow yesterday of the first democratically elected President of the Maldives in a coup d’état? Given our historical links with the islands, will the Government, by way of a message, do all they can to ensure that no violence results and that the democratic institutions remain?

Cameron: My hon. Friend is right. This country does have strong links with the Maldives and a good relationship with President Nasheed, but we have to be clear. President Nasheed has resigned, and we have a strong interest in the well-being of several thousand British tourists and in a stable and democratic Government in the Maldives. Our high commissioner is in the capital now and meeting all the political leaders. We call on the new Government to demonstrate their respect for the rights of all political parties and their members, and to ensure that the constitution is upheld. We advise British tourists to avoid non-essential travel to Malé island, and those using Malé airport and the tourist resorts should exercise caution.

10:01 – Police station, island court and atoll council office reported burnt down to ground by angry protesters in Thinadhoo (pop 6500) in Gaafu Dhaal Atoll.

10:02 – Police stations on Gan and Feydhoo in Addu Atoll (pop 35,000) set on fire. Fire continues to spread, after protesters smashed up fire rescue lorry.

10:03 – Police station and court reported taken over by protesters on Alifushi in Raa Atoll.

10:14 – Confirmed earlier reports that President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has appointed Dhivehi Gaumee Party (DQP) Deputy Leader Dr Ahmed Jameel Ahmed as Home Minister, and Mohamed Nazim from Maafanu Seenu Karankaage as Defence Minister . Both were sworn into the position at a ceremony held at the president office at 8:0opm tonight. Jameel was recently arrested by police under the Nasheed government on charges of hate speech. His party had published a pamphlet in Dhivehi entitled “President Nasheed’s devious plot to destroy the Islamic faith of Maldivians” (English translation).

10:27 – IGMH has confirmed no deaths as of 9:00pm this evening. ADK officials have confirmed to the media that 14 people were brought to the hospital with various injuries. Three have been hospitalised, including MDP Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, while the rest have been released after treatment.

10:32 – Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on Maldivian security forces to protect the country’s media “and to ensure that their rights are respected”, after reports that Nasheed’s opponents had “physically attacked at least one journalist and had threatened to kill another one.”

“After members of the police and army linked to the opposition staged a mutiny and forced the Nasheed to resign, members of the police also stormed the headquarters of the state TV station yesterday and took control,” RSF stated.

“We urge the new president, Mohamed Waheed Hassan, to take immediate steps to ensure the protection and the rights of all media workers, especially the journalists at the state TV station MNBC, who were expelled from their offices by the police,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“Undertakings must be given at once to defend freedom of information or else journalists are going to find themselves exposed to the same circumstances that prevailed before the country’s first democratic elections in 2008.”

After police and soldiers yesterday joined the opposition’s protests, they took control of MNBC – the Maldivian National Broadcasting Commission – and from there began broadcasting the opposition TV station VTV, which they then renamed Television Maldives (TVM), its name during the government of former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

11:30 – Protesters in Addu have reportedly set fire to Hithadhoo police academy and 18 police vehicles. Mayor Abdulla Sodig has reportedly been beaten by protesters and taken to the Addu regional hospital.

11:31 – Several sources have claimed that 250 inmates at Maafushi jail have broken out of their cells and are rioting against the guards. Sources report that police are being deployed to the jail compound.

11:32 – In Sri Lanka, demonstrations are being held outside of the Maldives Embassy.

11:33 – In the United Kingdom, Maldives High Commissioner Dr Farahanaz Faizal has resigned: “My conscience wouldn’t allow me to serve a government which had overthrown a democratically elected government in a coup d’etat,” she said. Farah said she has been made the MDP spokesperson for the party in Europe, and intends to remain in the UK “for quite some time.”

“In the last elections, over 25 percent of the vote for Mohamed Nasheed was cast from those nationals residing in Europe,” she said.

11:34 – Maafushi Council has refuted claims that the prisoners have broken out. Minivan News understands that the attempted break out was quickly controlled by prison officers.

11:45 – Military and police have met with press, urging the public to maintain calm and end the vandalism and arson attacks on state and public property.

Brigadier General Ibrahim Didi, who commanded the mndf during yesterday’s events, refuted the claims military forced the president to quit by threatening to use force. He also said that the military never joined the protestors and it was incorrect information: “We never had any role in yesterday’s protest. We tried to protect. But the president voluntarily resigned. We didn’t force him to resign,” Didi said. “There is nobody among us who can put a gun to President Nasheed, and there was no plan to bring down the former president by using weapons. I say this with full guarantee.”

He insisted that the military had not participated in Tuesday’s alleged coup attempt, which saw police join opposition protesters and attack the capital’s military headquarters, and suggested that reporters “ask the police about it.”

12:12 – Police have confirmed that two policemen in Male’ were stabbed, between 9:30pm and 10:00pm, near ADK hospital. Both are reported to be in a stable condition and no suspects have been arrested.

12:24 – Former Assistant Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz, who was dismissed by the Nasheed government, has been reappointed as Police Commissioner. Riyaz had sued the government following his dismissal, and the civil court ruled that he had been unlawfully dismissed. He has reportedly been an active member of the opposition following his dismissal.

12:55 – The state broadcaster has shut down its broadcast for the evening as the political chaos continues. Social media remains extremely active.

1:05 – The coalition of opposition parties formed following the ‘December 23’ coalition to “defend Islam” have called on its supporters to come out to protect the state and public property. The opposition DRP has also condemned the MDP for instigating the protests, to end the rule of the “lawfully appointed” President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

1:15 – Minivan News understands that Mohamed Nasheed is safe with party supporters.

1:16 – The MDP is trying to get its Chairperson ‘Reeko’Moosa Manik out of the country for urgent medical treatment. However immigration authorities are reportedly refusing to allow him to leave as he is on a “travel blacklist” issued by the courts, MDP sources report.

1.19 – According to the former State Minister of Tourism, yesterday “the entire pre-Islamic collection at the National Museum was destroyed by a group who broke in. The incident has not been reported in any media so far. Apparently, the scene was photographed but the museum is under police control now and they are not giving information to anyone.”

2:11 – Amnesty International has issued a statement demanding that Maldives security forces “stop using violence against supporters of Mohamed Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party, a day after he was forced to resign the presidency under the threat of violence by the military and police.”

“Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that Nasheed and a large number of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members were marching peacefully through the streets of the capital Malé when police attacked them first and then failed to protect them from a violent counter demonstration.

“Some of the MDP demonstrators were cordoned off by the police in a narrow alley where a mob shouting anti-MDP slogans began to beat them. One eyewitness saw Nasheed’s face covered in blood. He was then seen to be rushed away. Later a video emerged on the internet showing the police arresting him.

“MDP chairperson, and Member of Parliament, Reeko Moosa was first attacked by the police and then a mob attacked him with broken glass bottles. Police reportedly did not stop them. He is in a critical condition from the injuries and is receiving treatment at the intensive care unit of the Indira Ghandi Memorial Hospital.

“At least five MDP members of parliament are detained at the Dhoonidhoo Detention Center. One of the detained MPs, Mariya Ahmed Didi, who had been released from police custody last night was attacked by the police as she was attending today’s demonstration.”

“We are extremely concerned about the latest developments in the Maldives,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director. “The new authorities must ensure the right to freedom of expression and assembly and we want to see an investigation into the attack on Mohamed Nasheed and other protesters. Those responsible for the attack on demonstrators must be brought to justice.”

“MPs and others held in Dhoonidhoo Detention Center should have access to their family and lawyers, and they must receive adequate medical treatment and a thorough and independent investigation should be made into the reasons for their arrest,” added Zarifi. “They should be released unless the government can charge them with a cognizable criminal offense through a fair and impartial process.”

2:48 – Robert Blake, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, is scheduled to arrive in the Maldives on Saturday.

Dramatic footage of the protest and crackdown on Wednesday afternoon:

Footage of police beating a protester filmed from a balcony:

Former President Mohamed Nasheed and former MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi being dragged out of a shop by police on Wednesday afternoon:

Al Jazeera reports on the protest on Wednesday afternoon:

Scene in a Male’ hospital, Wednesday afternoon:

Riot police inside the MDP headquarters this afternoon:

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