Maldives detains and deports international lawyers

The lawyers were in Maldives to study the impact of emergency

The Maldives detained and deported a group of international lawyers who travelled to the troubled honeymoon islands to study the impact of emergency rule, their organisation said yesterday.

Law Asia, a regional lawyers' association, said it had sent four members in response to an open invitation the government issued two days after President Abdulla Yameen imposed a state of emergency. That followed a Supreme Court order, later rescinded, to release political prisoners and reinstate sacked lawmakers - a move that would have cost Yameen his majority in parliament.

The president has overseen a major crackdown on dissent in recent years, jailing a series of prominent critics including the opposition leader and sacking MPs who defected from the ruling party. Earlier this month Yameen sacked the chief justice and another senior judge before imposing emergency rule, sparking international condemnation.

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