MALDIVES-POLITICS/CLOONEY Amal Clooney pushes ahead for release of jailed Maldives President

Record ID: 136222

  • Title: MALDIVES-POLITICS/CLOONEY Amal Clooney pushes ahead for release of jailed Maldives President
  • Date: 5th October 2015
  • Summary: MALE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, MALDIVES (FILE - SEPTEMBER 7, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CLOONEY ARRIVING WITH DRUMMERS WELCOMING HER MAAFUSHI, MALDIVES (FILE - SEPTEMBER 8, 2015) (REUTERS) HARBOUR (SEEN FROM BOAT CARRYING CLOONEY) CLOONEY AND LEGAL TEAM GET OFF BOAT CLOONEY ENTERING PRISON TO VISIT NASHEED CLOONEY HAVING IDENTITY PAPERS CHECKED BY GUARDS MALE, MALDIVES (FILE
  • Embargoed: 20th October 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Maldives
  • Country: Maldives
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3T12CC2LAAM4S4CI0FQ6KZYHN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Lawyer for jailed former Maldives President, Amal Clooney is emboldened by a recent United Nations ruling that his detention is in violation of international law, the human rights lawyer, wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, told a London news conference on Monday (October 5).
    "The first democratically elected president of the Maldives is a political prisoner and the government of the Maldives must release him. These were the conclusions reached by the United Nations in a detailed legal opinion issued last Friday by its Working Group on Arbitrary Detention," said Clooney.
    Mohamed Nasheed was jailed for 13 years earlier this year on terror charges related to the arrest of an allegedly corrupt judge when he was still president in 2012.
    The UN has said his trial was seriously flawed, and his 13-year jail sentence was commuted to house arrest in July.
    But last month police took him back to prison, in a surprise move that drew fresh criticism from the UN and the United States and many other countries and rights groups.
    The UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) confirmed Nasheed's detention was illegal on a number of grounds. Legal experts from a wide range of countries on the panel said there was no legal basis for the charges, that Nasheed was prosecuted for his political opinions and that he did not get a fair trial.
    Clooney, who is working pro-bono on the case, said getting Nasheed released is about so much more than just his personal fate.
    "Why, some of you may be thinking, should this matter to you? Isn't this just about one case, about one man? Well it's not, because firstly it's one man who happens to represent the Maldives greatest hope for democracy. He remains a hugely popular figure in the country and his imprisonment has actually led to the largest protest movement ever in Maldivian history. But his imprisonment is also part of a much larger crackdown on freedom and the rule of law," she said.
    Clooney said the Maldives was entering a "darker period of repression" and urged governments to impose travel bans and targeted sanctions against individuals who are guilty of serious human rights abuses in the country.
    Nasheed's wife was by Clooney's side facing the media.
    "We won't give up, we won't rest, we won't stop, we will keep going. We will continue this fight until he is a free man and he can come home," said Laila Ali.
    Last month Clooney went to the Maldives where she met with the former president in jail.
    The Maldives government has rejected the UN ruling.
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