United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Maldives to grant clemency to former President Mohamed Nasheed.
This came during a meeting between the Secretary-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives Dunya Maumoon.
According to UN, Ban Ki-moon also encouraged the government to take strong ownership of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and stressed the vital role of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the climate change process, leading up to Paris in December.
He discussed the government’s efforts to make progress on the political dialogue with the opposition, and called attention to both national and international concerns over the situation of Nasheed.
“He urged the Maldives to grant clemency to Mr. Nasheed as it would send a powerful signal to advance the dialogue process in good faith,” read the UN readout of the meeting between the Secretary-General and the Maldivian Foreign Minister.
This comes shortly after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) ruled in favour of the complaint submitted by Nasheed, and called for his release. This decision has been rejected by the government.
The meeting took place on Wednesday, 30 September 2015, on the sidelines of the UN General Debate at the UN Headquarters. Foreign Secretary Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed, and Permanent Representative of Maldives to the UN Ahmed Sareer participated in the meeting.