Coalition will punish Nasheed: Umar

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Interim Vice President Umar Naseer has said that former President Mohamed Nasheed was hoping to escape a sentence by contesting in the 2013 presidential elections on MDP ticket, but he will be in prison before the elections begin.

Speaking on DhiTV last night, Umar said that Nasheed’s sole purpose is to escape court rulings for the crimes he had committed, and that the current ruling parties will, through the state, sentence him to jail.

“We will make sure that the Maldivian state does this. We will not let him go; the leader who unlawfully ordered the Police and Military to kidnap a judge and detain him for 22 days will be brought to justice. Nasheed has to answer for his actions. He will be punished,” Umar said.

He said that Nasheed believes that the government cannot take any action against him since he is the presidential candidate of MDP.

“The people handed over the state to Nasheed when he talked about democracy. The people took to the streets and changed things when he acted outside the democratic system, and attempted to destroy the judicial system. Maldivians and the international community are aware of this. The judicial system will issue verdicts for his actions, and he is very mistaken. After the verdict is issued, there is no doubt that Nasheed will be in prison by 2013 elections. He thinks he can escape the prison sentence by having obtained the MDP presidential ticket.”

He said that the case of arrest of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed has been sent to PG.

“The government’s role is to investigate the issue, and the Police have done that. HRCM has also conducted its investigation and sent its report. What remains is PG’s role. He is an independent person. I hope he will prosecute this case. He has said that he will. I have no doubt that the will. Nasheed will then have to be present at court to defend himself,” he said.

Umar said that it is likely that Nasheed says that he does not recognise the courts of Maldives and tries to leave the country, at which point the government will stop him and produce him in court. Also, no country in the world will support Nasheed by then.