Maldives court confirms no trial against former president

A Maldivian court has refused to revise its earlier decision not to try former President, Mohamed Nasheed over a detention of a judge, a party spokesman said Monday. The Hulhumale Magistrate Court ruled that it cannot review the decision to free former president from the charges of illegally ordering the arrest of a senior judge in February, claiming that it was not within the judicial jurisdiction, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, spokesman on International Affairs of the Nasheed led Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) told Xinhua. On July 18, the court refused to hear a case filed by the Prosecutor General accusing Nasheed for abuse of his power and ordering the illegal arrest of a judge. Seeking to revise the decision, the Prosecutor General appealed against the court order which freed Nasheed from the allege offense. If tried and proved, Nasheed would have to spend maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment or banishment to a remote island. Judge Abdullah Mohamed's arrest and detention in January led to widespread protests that culminated in a police mutiny and Nasheed 's removal from power on February 7. Nasheed later claimed he was forced to quit as a result of a military coup backed by his then deputy Mohamed Waheed, who took over leadership of the Indian Ocean atoll nation of 330,000 Sunni Muslims. In a separate case, the Maldives police has summoned Nasheed to investigate his alleged telephone conversation with a party member on May 29 allegedly inciting violence against the police.