Maldives: Impact of Political Turmoil on Business

On February 22, 2015, the Maldives government arrested and charged Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected, and now former president of the country, for terrorism.

The government, led by current president Abdulla Yameen, alleged that when Nasheed was in power 2008 to 2012, he ordered the arrest of a judge, which according to Maldivian law is treated as an act of terrorism. Within three weeks of his arrest, a three-judge bench found Nasheed guilty of the charges leveled against him by the government and sentenced him to prison for 13 years. The opposition members belonging to Nasheed’s party call the arrest and subsequent imprisonment politically motivated. Nasheed’s arrest was followed by several days of protest and clashes between the opposition members and law enforcement agencies.