Ousted Maldives leader Mohamed Nasheed has rejected a police summons to record a statement about his actions as president, his spokesman said Wednesday. Nasheed's former foreign minister Ahmed Naseem said Maldivian police had asked the former president to explain his controversial order to arrest a judge last month.
"Our lawyers have spoken to the police and made it clear that president Nasheed will not go to the police to make a statement," Naseem said, reiterating that they did not accept the legitimacy of the new regime. Nasheed stepped down after three weeks of opposition-led protests which were capped by a mutiny last Tuesday. He said he was forced to resign following threats of violence from the rebel police and army officers.
The new government has not carried out a warrant for Nasheed's arrest after widespread violence following his resignation. International diplomatic pressure has mounted on President Mohamed Waheed not to escalate tensions. A visiting European Union delegation in a statement asked the government to stop a campaign of "political retribution" targeting Nasheed's supporters. "There must be an end to violence and no political retribution," the EU delegation said. "In this regard we note the large political rally being planned for Friday, and urge all sides to do everything possible to ensure that this takes place in a peaceful and lawful manner.
"Acts of provocation on the part of participants or the use of excessive force by law enforcement agencies would be completely unacceptable at this point." President Waheed has already agreed to a Commonwealth probe into the dramatic fall of Nasheed, the Muslim nation's first democratically elected leader who came to power in 2008.
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