Maldives opposition coalition has promised to solicit the release of jailed lawmaker Ahmed Mahloof during the talks with the government, his family said Tuesday.
Mahloof is serving 10 months and 24 days over two separate counts of impeding police officers.
The independent MP for South Galolhu who is also the spokesperson for the newly formed Maldives United Opposition (MOU) was first sentenced to four months and 24 days in prison after the criminal court found him guilty of of obstructing police officers during an opposition protest in April.
A week later he received a further six months for pushing police barricades and entering a restricted area during a protest in March last year.
His wife Nazra Naseem told Mihaaru that there is little of hope of freeing her 'unlawfully' jailed husband through the country's justice system.
"It's been two months since we filed the appeal of his first sentence. But we haven't received any reply yet," Nazra said.
The only way to free Mahloof, according to Nazra was through the imminent all party talks.
"I've received assurances that the opposition parties would petition for Mahloof's release during the talks," she added.
Government meanwhile, has agreed to the opposition demand for a United Nations (UN) mediator in the talks to resolve the continued political strife in the archipelago.
The government had moved quickly to invite the main opposition parties to designate representatives for the talks after Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) placed Maldives on its formal agenda and warned the island nation suspension from the Commonwealth if the government failed to make progress on a proposed reform agenda.
CMAG had laid out a six-point reform agenda in February, which includes the release of political prisoners and judicial reform.
However, during a review meeting late last month the ministers expressed deep disappointment at the lack of progress in the priority areas.
CMAG had also called on both sides to compromise and sit-down for dialogue without any pre-conditions.
Main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and religiously conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) had said it would honour the Commonwealth’s push for dialogue but had asked the government to involve a UN mediator in the sit-downs.
In addition to the Commonwealth, the United Nations had also initiated proxy talks after the main opposition parties refused to sit-down with government demanding the release of all jailed political leaders as a pre-condition for the talks earlier this year.
The UN had appointed Tamrat Samuel as its envoy who arrived in the Maldives in July to revive the all-party talks which had remained stalled as the with the government and opposition at loggerheads over the release of jailed political leaders.
Despite renouncing pre-conditions for talks with the government, both MDP and Adhaalath had said it would push to free jailed opposition leaders including former president Mohamed Nasheed and AP president Sheikh Imran Abdulla.
Sign In
