Yameen's jailing should not be celebrated: Nasheed

MDP President and former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that the jailing of opposition leader and former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in the MMPRC corruption case should not be celebrated. He, however, said he would not say that Yameen's case was politically motivated. 

Yameen, the opposition presidential candidate, was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week after being found guilty of money laundering and bribery in the Aarah case.

 Speaking at a press conference held during MDP’s presidential primaries campaign, Nasheed spoke about Yameen's jailing.

"I think everyone will hate it if their leader is treated badly, there will be emotions, there will be upheavals. So that's something we all have to accept. And [Yameen's jailing] is not the kind of thing we should be happy about," the speaker said.

Nasheed said that when there is a situation where Yameen's name does not appear on the presidential election paper, he is expected to field a candidate from the PPM-PNC coalition as well. 

The opposition believes yameen was convicted on political charges. Asked by Atoll Times what he thinks about the issue, he said that he did not wish to comment on it.

"I don't want to comment on it. I've never been the kind to celebrate someone  being jailed like it is a great thing to do, and neither am i going to," said Nasheed, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison under Yameen's government and was closed the door to contesting the 2018 presidential election.

Asked if he believed it was a political charge, Nasheed said the verdict was based on evidence.

"(Yameen) has been charged with one of the provisions of the law. So I can't say anything else about it," said Nasheed, who sits in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which looks into cases of judges, as Speaker.