Trial of ex-Maldives president politicised, unfair

United Nations, May 2: The trial and conviction of former Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed has been vastly unfair, arbitrary and disproportionate, a senior UN human rights official said. Addressing a press briefing at UN Headquarters in Geneva, Mona Rishmawi, chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), confirmed that she had headed a UN delegation to the Maldives from April 20-23 to examine the broader issues related to the criminal case against Nasheed, an official statement issued by the UN News Centre said on Friday. In March 2015, Nasheed was convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act of Maldives for arresting Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed and sentenced to 13 years in prison.