Maldives police on Tuesday summoned self-exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed for questioning over his refusal to return to serve out the remainder of his prison sentence after he was allowed to go abroad for medical care.
Nasheed lives in self imposed exile most recently in Sri Lanka after he was allowed to leave to the UK on medical leave in an internationally brokered deal following his jailing on terrorism charges.
He was sentenced to 13 years in prison over the arbitrary arrest and subsequent detention of a sitting judge while he was president.
Police on Tuesday delivered the summon to Nasheed via Twitter asking the former president to be present for questioning on Monday. A recent amendment to the regulation allows police to deliver summons on social media platforms.
The reasons behind the sudden move against Nasheed remain unclear but comes days after he officially launched his campaign for the upcoming presidential elections.
The main opposition leaders including former presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Nasheed along with Gasim and religiously conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla inked pact to form what they called a 'reform alliance'.
With the candidacy of the four leaders - all convicted and serving sentences on questionable charges in serious doubt, the united opposition had announced plans to nominate a single candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.
However, the coalition now seems to have fractured with Nasheed contesting and winning the highly disputed presidential primary held by his party. Nasheed is also pressing ahead with his campaign despite the country's electoral watchdog refusing to accept his candidacy.
