Former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of terrorism for ordering the arrest of a judge when he was in power in 2012.
The verdict is the latest chapter in three turbulent years in which Nasheed, the Indian Ocean archipelago’s first democratically elected leader, was ousted in disputed circumstances, then narrowly defeated in a controversial election, and then, last month, cleared over the incident for which he has now been convicted.
“The prosecution’s evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Nasheed ordered the chief judge’s arrest, or forceful abduction and detention, on Girifushi island,” Maldivian Justice of the Supreme Court Abdulla Didi said.
The three-judge bench’s verdict was unanimous, and the administration of Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen, who denied that the prosecution was political, confirmed the 13-year sentence.
Nasheed’s election in 2008 ended the autocratic 30-year rule of Yameen’s half-brother, former Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
The announcement last month that Nasheed had been arrested on terrorism charges brought thousands onto the streets of Male, leading to clashes with security forces.
Nations, including India and the US, have expressed concern about Nasheed’s treatment and trial.
Human rights group Amnesty International said the conviction was a deeply flawed, politically motivated travesty of justice.
Tension had been rising again as the verdict approached and hundreds of Nasheed’s supporters, some waving “Free Nasheed” posters, gathered outside the criminal court on Friday night and the police said they had briefly detained 13 men.
In a statement in court, Nasheed urged his supporters to come out onto the streets in protest, according to a text released by his office after his sentencing.
“I appeal to all of you today to ... work towards forming a government that would pave the way for the people’s development and prosperity,” he said.
The arrest of the judge in 2012 triggered a crisis in which Nasheed said he was forced to resign at gunpoint. His allies said he was ousted in a coup.
Yameen then became president in November 2013 in an election whose second-round runoff was canceled when early results put Nasheed ahead. When the second round was rerun, Nasheed lost by a narrow margin and conceded defeat.
The prosecutor-general last month withdrew criminal charges that had been brought against Nasheed over the judge’s arrest, only to issue an arrest warrant shortly afterward on new charges of terrorism relating to the same incident, bringing thousands out onto the streets in protest.
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