Emergency extends for 15 more days in Maldives

Male, February 19: Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on Monday sought parliamentary approval to extend a state of emergency for 15 days in the Indian Ocean archipelago as the “the situation has not changed”, parliament’s Deputy Secretary-General Fathmath Niusha told the legislature.

Yameen imposed the state of emergency on February 6 for 15 days, having defied a Supreme Court ruling after it quashed convictions against nine opposition leaders, and ordered his government to release those held in prison. The state of emergency was to end on Tuesday.

The wide protest by thousands on Friday led several arrests including some journalists which made the situations worse.

This Emergency gives sweeping powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects. As the news of Emergency spread, a wave of protests broke out in the capital Male, with angry clashes between police and demonstrators. The government, however, maintained that Emergency was enforced for the welfare of citizens.

The unrest began in 2015 when Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader, was jailed on "terrorism" charges relating to the arrest of a judge during his tenure. The trial declared unfair by the UN, prompted widespread protests and resulted in the arrest of hundreds of dissidents.