Maldives will not extend the state of emergency and will charge two jailed Supreme Court judges and a former president with bribery, the country’s ambassador to Sri Lanka said on Monday. The 45-day state of emergency is due to end on March 22.
President Abdulla Yameen had imposed the emergency first on February 5 for 15 days, and then extended it for another month after the Supreme Court ordered the government to release political prisoners.
“Unless something unusual happens, we should not have emergency by Thursday,” said Mohamed Hussain Shareef, according to Reuters. “The government has no intention of extending it any further, barring very unusual circumstances like widespread violence. The intention is to do away with this state of emergency when the current 30-day period expires on March 22.”
Shareef said the government would charge Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, judge Ali Hameed, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Supreme Court official Hassan Sayeed with bribery. Gayoom is accused of bribing the other three to overthrow the Yameen government, and was arrested along with the judges hours after Yameen imposed the emergency.
Maldives has arrested only 38 people so far during the state of emergency, Shareef claimed. The Opposition, however, said hundred of people have been taken into custody.
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