Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim was arrested because he stood up for the rights of the people, former Vice President Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has said.
Jameel said in a tweet on Friday that the entire country needs to unite in his defence.
Jameel is also the leader of the Maldives United Opposition, and is currently in the United Kingdom, where he has been since the scheduling of the motion that removed him from office in 2015.
Qasim Ibrahim was arrested on Thursday night on charges of bribery, attempting to influence the vote against parliament speaker Abdulla Maseeh, held on 27th March, and the upcoming vote against his deputy.
The Jumhooree Party’s ‘reform’ partners Maldivian Democratic Party and the Adhaalath Party hald called for ‘direct action’ towards his release.
MP Abdulla Riyaz, deputy leader of the Jumhooree Party, said that Qasim Ibrahim's arrest is an attempt thwart the upcoming vote against deputy speaker of parliament Moosa Manik.
The Maldivian Democratic Party's parliamentary group leader Ibrahim Solih further said that garnering support for a motion or a cause, as is the mandate of every parlaientarian, does not constitute 'bribery or intimitidation'.
