The office of the former President Mohamed Nasheed has announced that high profile lawyers، including the wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney، Amal Clooney، will represent in his legal team to secure his release.
The office had announced in a statement released on Tuesday that the legal team will consist of، Jared Genser، who had represented Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyil; Amal Clooney، the wife of Hollywood star George Clooney، who had defended former Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and also Wikileaks founder Julian Assange; and Ben Emmerson، a judge on war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
Jared Genser is the founder of Freedom Now and an expert at freeing prisoners of conscience who has represented such clients as Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Liu Xiaobo.
Ben Emmerson QC، is a barrister at Matrix Chambers and expert in international human rights law who is currently the British judge on the Residual Mechanism of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
Amal Clooney، is also a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers and expert in international human rights law who has served as a senior advisor to Kofi Annan when he was the UN Envoy on Syria، as counsel to the UN Inquiry on the use of armed drones and as counsel to political prisoners Yulia Tymoshenko، former Prime Minister of Ukraine، and Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy.
Following the formation of the legal team، the officer of the former President Nasheed quoted him saying “I am very pleased to have such an extraordinary team agree to take up my legal defense internationally،”
“I am determined to ensure the world understands the injustice of my detention and the broader suffering of the Maldivian people under President Abdulla Yameen،” he added.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges. He had decided not to appeal the case، thus، it is unclear how the team would work to secure his release after a deadline to file a formal appeal against his conviction and sentence lapsed late last month.
The office of former President Nasheed did not disclose any further information on the works of the legal team.