DHAKA: The former president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, has been granted refugee status in the UK, according to his lawyer.

Nasheed, the opposition leader, was controversially jailed for 13 years under anti-terror laws last year.

He was allowed to travel to the UK to receive treatment on his spine, reports the BBC on Tuesday (May 24).

His lawyer Hasan Latheef said Nasheed had been granted political refugee status, but the British government has not commented.

A former human rights campaigner, Nasheed became the nation’s first democratically elected leader in 2008, ending three decades of rule by former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

In 2012, he was detained after being accused of ordering the arrest of a judge. He resigned months later amid an army mutiny and public protests over the judge’s fate.

Nasheed alleged that he had been removed by a coup, but this was denied by his vice-president, who replaced him.

BDST: 0903 HRS, May 24, 2016
BD