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Maldives' Nasheed questions legitimacy of court trying him

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Press Trust of India Male

45-year-old Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the Indian Ocean archipelago, last week refused to appear before a three-judge bench set up to hear charges that he abused his power while in office.

"Questioning the legitimacy of the ad hoc Magistrate Court, I have appealed the case with the high court and I await a decision," he wrote on his Twitter handle.

Nasheed, who won the first democratic elections in the country in 2008, said he would not be given a fair trial. The case could see him jailed or banished to a remote island and barred from future elections.

 

The case relates to his decision to send the military to arrest of a senior judge in January, an action that led to protests and his resignation in February.

  

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First Published: Oct 07 2012 | 5:15 PM IST

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