Amnesty International has on Friday called on the Maldivian government to release Galolhu-South constituency MP Ahmed Mahloof and declared him a prisoner of conscience.
The organization noted in a statement that the charges against the lawmaker have previously been denounced as ‘frivolous’ and politcally motivated.
Amnesty said that the parliamentarian has been a victim of the government’s ‘wave of repression’ ever since he left the ruling party and became one its more vocal critics.
Mahloof has been in house arrest since 4th March, he is accused of obstruction for distributing gas masks, as protection from police’s heavy use of pepper spray, at an opposition rally on 22nd February.
In addition, three other cases against the lawmaker are currently ongoing at the Criminal Court. They are; giving out false information to a law enforcement agency, over a tweet he had sent out on March 2 regarding deaths of detainees in Maafushi Prison, terrorism for taking part in a protest near Maafushi Prison and an additional case of giving out false information over a tweet sent out regarding former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb.
