India dismayed over Maldives situation as ex-President and Chief Justice sentenced for 19 months

A court in the Maldives Wednesday sentenced for 19 months in jail former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and the sitting chief justice for obstruction of justice,

The opposition leaders in the Maldives, where a state of emergency was earlier imposed by President Abdulla Yameen in February triggering a political crisis, had sought Indian intervention as a regional power to restore democracy and civil rights.

India's Ministry of External Affairs in a statement on Thursday 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.

"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 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 Presidential elections in September this year," said India.

  India said that it "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 Ali Hameed and creating the necessary conditions for the participation of all political forces in the Presidential Elections.