Security forces do not need to abide by the current government’s ‘unlawful’ orders or support its actions, says former President Mohamed Nasheed.
Nasheed said this through a post on his official Twitter account on Friday, where he commented on opposition leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s son and lawmaker Ahmed Faris Maumoon having being detained.
MP Faris unlawfully held in prison for over 55 days. The security services must not support President Yameen's unlawful actions.
— Mohamed Nasheed (@MohamedNasheed) September 8, 2017
Allied opposition parties, which includes Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party, has called on authorities to release the parliamentarian.
Faris has been integral to the opposition’s reform efforts, having spearheaded a number of no-confidence motions against the parliament speaker – described to be a ‘rubber stamp’ by the opposition.
His legal team has filed five successive habeas corpus writs since his arrest over bribery allegations on July 18. Lawyer Ibrahim Shameel said that the last of these were filed on Wednesday.
Shameel claimed that the prosecution had failed to bring forth charges against the parliamentarians within the legally mandates thirty-day window for it, therefore constituting a violation of the Criminal Procedure Act.
State prosecutors are also looking to file charges of identity fraud against Faris, for having used the ruling party’s flag and logo at a joint press conference with leaders of the opposition.
While one faction of the ruling party remains loyal to his father, who signed a pact with the opposition in March this year, MP Faris was removed from the party earlier for having violated a party whip-line.
