UK grants asylum to Maldives former president Mohamed Nasheed

Britain has granted political refugee status to ousted former President of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed. His lawyer Hasan Latheef claimed yesterday that Nasheed had been granted political refugee status but the British government is yet to comment. Maldives' first democratically elected president, 49-year-old Nasheed had been allowed to go to Britain in January for spinal cord



surgery following a deal brokered by Sri Lanka, India and the UK.

Nasheed became Maldives' first democratically elected leader in 2008 but was toppled in a coup backed by the military and police. He was jailed for 13 years on terrorism charges after allegedly illegally ordering the arrest of a judge in a trial that put a spotlight on instability in the Maldives.