New regime urged to prevent attacks in Maldives

Security forces in the Maldives attacked supporters of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed, failed to protect them from counterdemonstrators and detained five members of parliament, Amnesty International said today.

The rights group called on the government of President Mohammed Waheed Hassan, who took over when Mr Nasheed resigned on Tuesday, to investigate the attack and ensure freedom of expression in the Indian Ocean island nation.

Mr Nasheed’s supporters rioted yesterday in the streets of Male, the capital, and seized some remote police stations, but Amnesty International said they had been peacefully marching before police attacked them.

The nation’s first democratically elected president, Mr Nasheed resigned after police joined months of street protests against his rule and soldiers defected.

He said yesterday he was forced to resign at gunpoint and will fight to return to office, though Mr Hassan denies that his predecessor was forced out of office.

“We will come to power again,” Mr Nasheed said. “We will never step back. I will not accept this coup and will bring justice to the Maldivians.”

Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director said the group is extremely concerned about developments in the Maldives, a Muslim nation of about 300,000 people.

“The new authorities must ensure the right to freedom of expression and assembly, and we want to see an investigation into the attack on Mohamed Nasheed and other protesters,” Sam Zarifi said.

He added that the detained politicians should be freed unless they are charged with crimes under a fair process.

Late yesterday evening, Nasheed supporters took control of some small police stations but larger ones stayed under official control, police spokesman Ahmed Shyam said.

Residents told local reporters that as many as 10 police stations on small islands may have been seized. The Maldives is made up of nearly 1,200 scattered islands, some of which have just a few hundred residents.

Police said they detained 49 people after the riot.