Former president Mohamed Nasheed Thursday hinted that jailed opposition lawmaker Ahmed Mahloof would not return to the Maldives after seeking medical care from neighbouring India.
Mahloof had traveled to Trivandrum after the Maldives correctional service last week gave the green light for him travel to India for a maximum 10 days from the date of departure.
Mahloof is serving 10 months and 24 days over two separate counts of impeding police officers.
The independent MP for South Galolhu who is also the spokesperson for the newly formed opposition alliance, Maldives United Opposition (MOU) was first sentenced to four months and 24 days in prison after the criminal court found him guilty of of obstructing police officers during an opposition protest in April.
A week later he received a further six months for pushing police barricades and entering a restricted area during a protest in March last year.
Nasheed serving 13 years in prison for the arbitrary arrest and subsequent detention of a sitting judge while he was president now lives in exile in the UK after he was allowed to leave for medical treatment in an internationally brokered deal.
The former president during a program on opposition aligned Raajje TV on Thursday said the government is facing less international pressure as almost all jailed opposition leaders are no longer in prison, citing himself, former defence minister Mohamed Nazim and religiously conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla as examples.
Nazim sentenced to 11 years in prison after he was convicted of weapons possession over a hand gun found in his residence is presently under house arrest while Imran found guilty of terrorism over a speech he gave at the May Day rally and sentenced to 12 years in prison in February remains under house arrest for the past few months.
"It's a huge leeway for the government as no one is prison. Colonel Nazim and Sheikh Imran are no longer in prison. And I think Mahloof would not be in prison as well," Nasheed said.
Despite Nasheed's claims, Mahloof's family had said the lawmaker would return after his 10 day medical leave ends.
