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Alert

International PEN protests arrest of writer Mohamed Nasheed, fears ill-treatment

(WiPC/IFEX) - The WiPC of International PEN is seriously concerned about the arrest of opposition politician and writer Mohamed Nasheed, who was among several members of the newly established opposition party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), arrested on 12 August 2005 during a peaceful protest in Malé. Nasheed was reportedly beaten by police after being detained.

The following background is given by Amnesty International:

"[The] detainees were among a larger group of people sitting in Malé's main square to commemorate the anniversary of the mass arrests of opposition leaders and activists on 12 and 13 August 2004. At that time, the arrests followed large-scale demonstrations pressing for political reform. Those detained, including parliamentarians, were reportedly ill-treated in police custody and held without charge or trial for more than two months.

"The detainees are believed to have been taken to the Dhoonidhoo interrogation centre which is a small island near Malé. The government has banned public meetings and there are fears that more political activists may be taken into custody and subjected to ill-treatment in the coming days."

Nasheed is the MDP's chairperson and also a writer and honorary member of English PEN. He was formerly a journalist for the magazine "Sangu" and was imprisoned from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 1998 for his writings, when his case was taken up by International PEN. He has been briefly detained on several occasions for his peaceful opposition activities.