Protests grip Maldives amid standoff with judges

Hundreds of protestors have taken to the streets in the Maldivian capital Male amid a standoff between President Mohamed Nasheed and the judiciary, officials and residents said yesterday.
Anti-government activists demonstrated overnight keeping up pressure on Nasheed who initiated the arrest Monday of the head of the country’s criminal court on charges of misconduct and favouring opposition figures.
A senior figure in the opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), Mohamed Jameel, was also re-arrested on Wednesday as police investigate him and the party for allegedly spreading hate-speech, DQP leader Hassan Saeed told AFP.
The government has accused Jameel, a former justice minister, of making public remarks that Nasheed was working under the influence of “Jews” and “Christian priests” to weaken Islam in the Maldives.
“Hundreds of people staged demonstrations early this morning, but there were no fresh arrests,” a government official in Male, who asked not to be named, said when contacted by telephone.
The government on Wednesday raised fears of Islamic extremism taking hold in the Indian Ocean atoll nation, which is best known for its upmarket tourism and as a destination for honeymooners.
The foreign ministry said it said it was “extremely concerned” by an increase in extremist rhetoric used by the government’s rivals that could lead to “stigmatization, stereotyping and incitement to religious violence and hatred”.
There have been anti-Semitic protests recently about the transport ministry’s decision to allow direct flights from Israel, while a restaurant that hung up Christmas decorations in 2010 was also targeted.