Azim's appeal to be filed on Sunday

Adam Azim, former managing director of State Trading Organization (STO), is to appeal his arrest and six-day remand sentence on Sunday.

Azim’s lawyer and deputy leader of Adhaalath Party, Ali Zahir said that they will file the appeal on Sunday morning.

He was arrested on Thursday morning, over charges of conspiring to overthrow the government, with the Criminal Court issuing a six-day remand sentence later in the day.

Azim, the younger brother of jailed former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim, is the Minister of Trade at the Maldives United Opposition (MUO)’s shadow cabinet, and has been a huge critic of the current government.

In addition to the opposition’s reform work Azim has been doing various work to bring attention to his brother’s case, including submitting the case to various international organizations.

In January, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) called on the Maldivian government to immediately release the former defence minister and “accord him an enforceable right to reparations, in accordance with international law”.

In his last interview to RaajjeTV before his arrest, Azim criticized the government’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, saying that “unity is a foreign concept to this administration”.

Adhaalath, Jumhooree Party (JP) and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have condemned Azim’s arrest and called for his immediate release, as well as former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

MDP’s leader, former President Mohamed Nasheed noted that Azim’s arrest “on trumped up charges” comes just a day after the country appeared on the United Nations Human Rights Council’s agenda.