Former President Mohamed Nasheed has urged authorities to provided jailed Vice President Ahmed Adeeb with ‘appropriate’ medical care.
In a post on his official Twitter account, the opposition leader said that it is ‘inhumane’ to deny him opportunity for adequate medical care.
Strongly urge Maldivian authorities to facilitate appropriate medical care for former VP Ahmed Adeeb. It is inhumane to deny medical care.
— Mohamed Nasheed (@MohamedNasheed) October 15, 2017
The tweet follows a statement from Adeeb’s family on Sunday, through which they disclosed that officers of the Maldives Correctional Services had attempted to have the former vice president undergo an unnecessary treatment.
Officers of the service had asked for the family’s signature to authorize this ‘questionable’ procedure, which they had refused to provide. The family said in its statement that any work to provide Adeeb with medical care had seized after this.
They were told that doctors would administer an injection to conduct a CT Scan, a procedure that Adeeb is not required to undergo. Adeeb had even been taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.
In 2015, Dr. Mohamed Ashraf had advised Adeeb to undergo cancer screening. Dr. Ashraf had then asked Adeeb to seek consultation with an oncologist and undergo a biopsy as soon as possible.
Adeeb’s family had released a statement earlier in June claiming that he has developed an internal cyst, kidney stones, and vision impairment from glaucoma since his incarceration in 2015.
They have accused the state of negligence in failing to provide Adeeb with adequate medical care during his isolated incarceration at the prison in Dhoonidhoo Island while the police investigated allegations against him.
Adeeb was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison for on allegations of attempting to assassinate President Abdulla Yameen and for his role in the heavily publicized case of graft involving the state-operated Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation.
After the matter became contentious, with it having been filed at the United Nations and with Amnesty International, Attorney General Mohamed Anil said that the state is refusing to grant Adeeb medical leave due to threat of flight.
Anil then said that the former vice president owes the state over USD 10 million, and that there is strong reason to believe that he may flee.
