A senior official of the government have said that no matter how many times Nasheed is given a retrial and no matter how impartial it is, it will be proven that he is guilty and he can be sentenced even from the first hearing.
“That is because, Nasheed admitted several times in the public that Justice Abdullah Mohammed was arrested on his orders. And the people of Maldives know and believe it. Even the international community saw it as that during that time.”
He said Justice Abdullah might have a reason to be arrested and disobeying a police summon order is a reason someone can be arrested too. “However, it is nothing other than a crime for a government to arrest someone and hide that person. Government does not have the right, not to provide the rights of the arrested person. Enforcing something that the government does not have constitutional rights to can only be classified under authoritarianism” said the official.
The official further said that, the PG bringing changes to the initial charges against Nasheed might not be something right too. But that still was done according to the constitution and without any constitutional amendments as well.
“While this is the reality, if Nasheed is freed, all other criminals in jail should be freed too. If the rights enjoyed by Nasheed is not given to other people, that is unfair. The constitution does not state that a president or a former president can enjoy impunity. “
Nasheed’s lawyers expressed concerns saying that they did not get proper opportunity to defend Nasheed. However, his lawyers never denied Nasheed’s own confession of arresting the judge and hiding him in MNDF Island.