Violent protests in the Maldives - The Guardian

On behalf of the Maldives government, I must respond to the letter (2 October) about the situation here. It claims "the outlook for democracy in the Maldives is deteriorating"; many in the Maldives would agree, but for very different reasons. On Monday, there was the murder of Dr Afrasheem Ali, an MP. His death was a result of the climate of violent protest which is now threatening our democracy and which includes the supporters of former President Nasheed. We hope that all the signatories to the Guardian letter would join with us in disowning that violence and urge the former president to do the same.

In response to the specific issues raised by the letter, Nasheed is being investigated by our judicial system which, unlike in his time as president, is completely independent of the government. The claims of an "island arrest" are completely untrue; in any judicial process, the accused is asked to remain in the country. This applies in the UK or US, as much as it does in the Maldives.

A date for presidential elections will be set in line with our constitution between June and September 2013. This will no doubt be contested by a wide range of candidates and will, as with the previous elections in 2008, be open to international observation. There is no evidence that 2,000 people have been detained. There have been arrests – all for violent criminal acts associated with demonstrations that have endangered life or property.

The government takes reports by Amnesty International very seriously and has asked that it reports any alleged abuses to the independent Human Rights Commission of the Maldives and the independent Police Integrity Commission, which monitor every demonstration. We are also inviting several human rights bodies to come to the Maldives and see the situation for themselves.
The government is concerned about the future of our democracy if the current level of violent protests continues. Dr. Ali's death shows us all why we all need to work together to bring back peace to the streets.

Dr Hassan Saeed
Special adviser to President Waheed