Nasheed’s residence in Addu attacked during early hours

The home in which former President Mohamed Nasheed is staying during his trip to Addu was last night pelted with stones, the party has claimed.

Nasheed’s residence was attacked at around 1am on Monday morning, with the party telling local media that the incident has been reported to police.

With the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) president visiting the southern atolls on party business, a rally held in Feydhoo on Friday was attacked by youths wielding wooden planks and rocks before the party’s local headquarters were torched.

All seven suspects arrested in connection with the attack in Feydhoo have since been released, prompting condemnation from the MDP. Nasheed himself has today expressed thanks to the local police, noting the difficult circumstances in which they are working.

Nasheed – recently elected as MDP party president – lodged a complaint with Metropolitan Police Service in the United Kingdom earlier this month following a death threat sent to his phone while attending the Conservative Party conference.

The MDP’s offices in Malé were also attacked on three successive nights last month, with a number of attacks on the homes of its MPs accompanied by continued SMS threats.

Speaking in Fuvahmulah during the trip to the southern atolls, Nasheed suggested that senior politicians were behind the attacks and that the government was failing to deal with escalating gang violence.