Maldives jailed ex-prez Nasheed allowed UK travel for surgery

The Maldives government today said former president Mohamed Nasheed, currently serving a 13-year jail sentence on terror charges, has been granted permission to travel to the UK for a spinal cord surgery.
"The Government of the Republic of Maldives has granted permission to Former President Mohamed Nasheed to travel to the United Kingdom to undertake a surgery at his request," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
He was given the permission on the "condition to serve the remainder of the sentence upon return to the Maldives after the surgery", it said.
Nasheed, who became the country's first democratically elected leader in 2008, had sought permission to travel abroad for a spinal cord problem requiring specialist surgery, but the government had repeatedly denied the request insisting that it could be done in the Maldives.

His lawyers had, however, rejected the government's claim that the surgery was available at the private ADK Hospital in capital Male. They had demanded for months that Nasheed be allowed specialist treatment abroad.
The surprise announcement came amid heightened high-level diplomatic activity involving India, Sri Lanka and the UK. While Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar visited Male for talks with the government and stopped over in Colombo this week, Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera made an unscheduled visit here on Thursday.

The change in stance of the government of President Abdulla Yameen also came just hours before the UK Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire's arrival here for an official visit.

The Maldivian authority had said it could only allow Nasheed to travel abroad for medical treatment after consultation with a specialist, Haveeru Online reported.
Home Minister Umar Naseer had said that the doctor had recommended microdiscectomy for Nasheed and that the surgery is available in the Maldives.
Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in jail in March over the arbitrary arrest of chief criminal judge Abdullah Muhammed during his presidency. He resigned as the Maldives' leader in February 2012 after weeks of protests over the judge's arrest on corruption allegations.
The former president had appealed his prison sentence after backtracking on his earlier decision and opted to go to the Supreme Court instead.

In his appeal, Nasheed had sought a lesser penalty under the new penal code that came into effect in November. The Supreme Court had also been asked to nullify the charges lodged against him in the lower court and the subsequent sentence.
India, the US and the European Union had all expressed concern over Nasheed's imprisonment and conviction. His conviction drew widespread criticism over the apparent lack of due process in the 19-day trial.