Pressure rises on Maldives leader to obey court order to free jailed foes
Abdulla Yameen
MALE (Reuters) -  Maldives President Abdulla Yameen  fired  his  second police chief in three days and the opposition said  it  feared violence  as the island nation was pitched deeper into a crisis caused by  Yameen ’s failure to obey a court order to free jailed opponents.
Three days after the Supreme Court threw out terrorism convictions against  Yameen ’s political opponents   his  government on Saturday was still ignoring international and domestic pressure to set them free.
Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets to demand compliance with the court order  and Western countries and international organizations have urged  Yameen  to obey  it .
The court also ordered 12 members of parliament who had been stripped of their seats to be restored to the body. The 12 had quit  Yameen ’s ruling party last year  and allowing them to return to the legislature would deprive him of a majority.
The crisis poses the biggest threat to  Yameen ’s control of the Maldives since he took power in 2013  defeating Nasheed in an election that Nasheed’s supporters say was rigged.
 Yameen  has stopped short of saying  he  will not obey the court order to free  his  opponents.  He  told a party meeting on Saturday  he  “did not expect the Supreme Court ruling at all”.
“We’ve started dialogue with the Supreme Court. We’ve sat and started talking about difficulties or concerns the state has ”  he  said. “We’re working on making sure we can respect the court order in a way that doesn’t cause any difficulties to the people.”
 He  fired the chief of police on Thursday shortly after the court order was handed down  and on Saturday  he  fired the acting police chief  he  had chosen to replace  him .
The Maldives  an Indian Ocean island chain of around 400 000 people known to outsiders mainly as a tropical paradise for the tourists that provide most of its foreign exchange income  has experienced political unrest since  Yameen  took power.
 Yameen  is the half brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom  who ruled the Maldives for three decades until losing an election to Nasheed in 2008.  Yameen  and Gayoom have since had a falling out and Gayoom is now aligned with the opposition.
MALE (Reuters) -  [TGT]fired  [TGT]  second police chief in three days and the opposition said  it  feared violence  as the island nation was pitched deeper into a crisis caused by  [TGT] ’s failure to obey a court order to free jailed opponents.
Three days after the Supreme Court threw out terrorism convictions against  Yameen ’s political opponents   his  government on Saturday was still ignoring international and domestic pressure to set them free.
Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets to demand compliance with the court order  and Western countries and international organizations have urged  Yameen  to obey  it .
The court also ordered 12 members of parliament who had been stripped of their seats to be restored to the body. The 12 had quit  [TGT] ’s ruling party last year  and allowing them to return to the legislature would deprive [TGT] of a majority.
The crisis poses the biggest threat to  Yameen ’s control of the Maldives since he took power in 2013  defeating Nasheed in an election that Nasheed’s supporters say was rigged.
 Yameen  has stopped short of saying  he  will not obey the court order to free  his  opponents.  He  told a party meeting on Saturday  he  “did not expect the Supreme Court ruling at all”.
“We’ve started dialogue with the Supreme Court. We’ve sat and started talking about difficulties or concerns the state has ”  he  said. “We’re working on making sure we can respect the court order in a way that doesn’t cause any difficulties to the people.”
 He  fired the chief of police on Thursday shortly after the court order was handed down  and on Saturday  he  fired the acting police chief  he  had chosen to replace  him .
The Maldives  an Indian Ocean island chain of around 400 000 people known to outsiders mainly as a tropical paradise for the tourists that provide most of its foreign exchange income  has experienced political unrest since  Yameen  took power.
 Yameen  is the half brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom  who ruled the Maldives for three decades until losing an election to Nasheed in 2008.  Yameen  and Gayoom have since had a falling out and Gayoom is now aligned with the opposition.