Proceedings of the criminal trial against former President Mohamed Nasheed began today, in a sitting of Hulhumalé Magistrate Court bench in Malé, at the Justice Building. The Prosecutor General is prosecuting Nasheed under Section 81 of the Penal Code, for unlawfully arresting a man who committed no offence. President Nasheed is alleged to have ordered the unlawful and unconstitutional arrest and detention in communicado of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdullah Muhammad during his presidency, in January this year. Presenting the prosecution case at today’s hearing, Assistant Public Prosecutor Abdullah Rabiu said that President Nasheed was being prosecuted for “unlawfully arresting Abdullah Muhammad, Chief Judge of Criminal Court, on the night of 17th January this year, and keeping him in detention at Kaafu Atoll Girifushi until the 7th of February this year. When Nasheed was given the chance to respond to the prosecution, Nasheed asked his lawyer Hisaan Hussain in a whisper, “I should reject the accusations, right?” When Hisaan answered in the affirmative, Nasheed stood up and stated before the bench and pleaded not guilty. After pleading not guilty, Nasheed said that the prosecution brought against him is “a prosecution brought by the Prosecutor General against independent, democratic system”. He also said that the objective of the prosecution was to prevent him from running for presidency in the elections to be held in 2013. He described the prosecution as “a political activity”. After Nasheed’s statement, his lawyers brought up three procedural issues. First was to challenge the legality of the decision of the Hulhumalé Magistrate Court to conduct hearings in Malé. Second issue was that of the legality of the Hulhumalé Court itself. Also, Nasheed’s lawyers claimed that the summon served to Nasheed for the hearing was not delivered to him in accordance with the regulations. In responding to the procedural issues raised by Nasheed’s lawyers, Prosecutor Raabiu said that Hulhumalé Court was a court established by the constitutional authorities entrusted with creation of courts, and that no institution having constitutionally-conferred authority had declared the Court to be unconstitutional or illegal. He also said that Hulhumalé Magistrate Court’s jurisdiction included Malé too, by virtue of two decisions made by the High Court of the Maldives and the Supreme Court. Raabiu also said that it is inappropriate for Hulhumalé Magistrate Court to address the procedural question of whether the Court is constitutional or not. The bench retired for a brief time to decide on the procedural issues, and when the bench resumed, the presiding judge said that summon was served to Nasheed in accordance with relevant rules and regulations. He also announced that the other issues were rejected. When the prosecution was given permission to present evidence, a number of individuals, as well as video recordings of Nasheed’s speeches and a video footage of MNDF arresting Chief Judge Abdullah Muhammad were also presented.