Amal Clooney's work in supporting ex-Maldives president Nasheed

Amal not lie? She hoodwink. She hoodwink George? many say Amal exaggerate all.is that a hoodwink?

party animal - not! wrote:Gosh, Pigpen, I'm impressed that you seem very sure about all this

Do you mean that you think Amal, Jared Genser and Nasheed's legal team completely hoodwinked and misled the British prime minister, the UK government, the American Secretary of State, the Sri Lanka Government, the Indian government, the UN and many other members of state from the free world?

Just voicing my opinion.

More likely everyone involved brokered a private deal and the only ones being hoodwinked are the public.

LizzyNY wrote:More likely everyone involved brokered a private deal and the only ones being hoodwinked are the public.

Lizzy,
I said a few times that there might have been an agreement between the Maldives government and Nasheed/his lawyers. 

I don't know if this means 'hoodwink the public' because then every deal with one accused to get a testimony to get the man in charge (sorry, I don't know the vocabulary for that) or even the leniency policy would mean to hoodwink the public.
That's one common way of jurisprudence...

carolhathaway Ive been thinking about this case the last couple of days because of the discussion here.  And the more I think about it the more I think that what you said about "an agreement" is what happened.  
It's just my opinion but seems to me more than anything that the Maldives wanted to rid themselves of Nasheed without "losing face" .... admitting that he was improperly tried and sentenced.  The government had been getting a lot criticism and negative press.  From international courts, other countries, human rights groups and the U.S. government.  So they played the arrangement as if Nasheed would willingly come back but knew that he wasn't, and that was fine with them.  They could officially criticize him for not sticking to the agreement but they were just as happy not to have to deal with any further attention.  They clearly didn't make too much of his not returning other than to make an official statement. That's my current thinking right now. But still none of know enough to make any exact determination.

I know it must look like I really don't like the present Mrs Clooney....to this day, and from the very start I have felt that her master stroke is being an exceptionally "likeable?" package, almost too perfect....on the outside.....

My gut...my God given gut tells me there is more to this package....it makes me fearful....It's like a guy you might be totally into, and then he does something that knocks you, something simple like NOT leave a tip for a waitress....and suddenly  you see a side you don't want to see....so simple but you see it and you don't like it....This is my relationship with Amal....Nasheed is the "tip" that wasn't left, as was Gaddafi's henchmen....The gratuity that was withheld.....the not nice.....Do it once, it's a mistake.....do it twice, I'm on it.....Do it three times.....

I can't find it in my heart to turn a blind eye....I've tried.....So many "pro's"....but the pro's become voided by the simplest of "cons".......

Nasheed is to return to the Maldives for presidential elections

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I'm surprised that Nasheed wants to return to run for office.  As the article stated Nasheed will most likely be arrested if he returns.  I'm not confident .... and wonder how he could be ... that the UN will be able to protect his rights or apply adequate pressure to prevent him from being jailed. Taking a huge risk ... seems to me.

Katie - I'd be interested to hear your take on this. Does it make any sense for him to return? Does he have any chance at all of being re-elected? I wonder if Amal has anything to do with this, or if she's even been consulted.

Legally he can't be re-elected or even run for election unless his [laughable] conviction for terrorism is expunged.  My reading is that by coming back, he brings the world's attention to what's going on and perhaps he can make some sort of impact that way.

My understanding is he'll be arrested the minute he steps foot in the country and he knows that.

If the election doesn't take place until 2018 I suppose he could test the waters safely from outside the country until he absolutely had to go home and campaign. It does seem like an odd move after all the trouble they went to to get him out.

I wonder if Amal will be involved at all, or if she even cares. After all, she's got more important things on her mind now.

Oh, I think Doughty Street keep a watching brief on their clients, and I'd be very surprised if he hadn't talked to her about it.

I admire him. He's keeping his promise to go back,  despite what may happen to him. Brave and principled man

It is brave of Nasheed to go back. It is a sign that he cares for his country and wants to do what is best for their future. Principled. Yes. But also quite risky. I assume much thought went into his decision and consultations with his family and lawyers.

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Clooney raises fresh fears for exiled Maldives leader

Colombo, Sep 13 Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney today raised fresh fears for the safety of her client, former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, after an official vowed to have him arrested and deported.

The London-based lawyer said she was "very concerned" about remarks by Male's ambassador-designate to Colombo, that he would have the exiled leader arrested if he set foot in Sri Lanka.

Clooney, who is married to Hollywood star George Clooney, had successfully petitioned a UN body which ruled in late 2015 that Nasheed was wrongfully convicted on a terrorism charge earlier that year and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also ordered the government of President Abdulla Yameen immediately to free Nasheed and pay him compensation, a demand rejected by the Maldives.

Nasheed travelled to London in January last year on prison leave for medical treatment and has since then remained in self-imposed exile. He travels frequently to Sri Lanka to meet fellow dissidents.

The new Maldivian envoy to Sri Lanka, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, told a local television station Monday that he would have Nasheed arrested in Colombo should he visit and would deport him.

"If a Maldivian authority requests me to detain and return Mohamed Nasheed back to the Maldives, I will," Shareef said.

"It's very simple. They have to say, this is an individual who we are seeking. I'll even go out to the street myself and do it."

Clooney said Nasheed should not be returned to the Maldives to serve his prison sentence.

"Any attempt by a Maldivian diplomat to detain president Nasheed in Sri Lanka would constitute a violation of international law as well as Sri Lankan criminal law," she said according to a statement mailed to AFP by Nasheed's party.

She also said Sri Lankan authorities must ensure that Nasheed's rights were respected while he was in their country.

Her co-counsel Jared Genser said Shareef's remarks were "as outrageous as they are in flagrant violation of international law".

Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party said they were not taking Shareef's remarks lightly in view of the illegal arrest of a Maldivian national in Colombo in November 2015 and his deportation.

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry had in 2015 warned the Maldivian envoy in Colombo that any similar action in future could seriously damage relations.

The Maldives has faced tough international criticism over the jailing in March 2015 of Nasheed, the first democratically elected president, following a rushed trial which the UN said was politically motivated.

Yameen, who came to power following a controversial run- off against Nasheed in November 2013 faces international censure over his crackdown on dissidents.

So Amal's warning the Male government that the world is aware - and I'm guessing that there's a distinct possibility that Nasheed is in Sri Lanka at the moment talking with other members of his former government..........

That's my impression as well, PAN.

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Maldivian Ambassador-Designate to Sri Lanka Threatens to
Detain and Deport President Nasheed
 

September 13, 2017, Washington D.C. & London — International legal counsel representing former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed are very concerned about a threat made by the Maldivian ambassador-designate to Colombo to detain their client in Sri Lanka and forcibly return him to the Maldives. 
 
The ambassador-designate, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, popularly known as ‘Mundhu,’ made the threat during a news show aired on Sun TV on 11 September. 
 
During the interview, Shareef says: “If a Maldivian authority requests me to detain and return Mohamed Nasheed back to Maldives, I will. It’s very simple. They have to say, this is an individual who we are seeking. I’ll even go out to the street myself and do it...if our authorities inform me, request it of me, our embassy will enforce it.”
 
Shareef’s comments are not to be taken lightly. In 2015, staff at the Maldivian embassy in Colombo conspired to illegally abduct a Maldivian blogger in Sri Lanka who had been critical of the Maldivian regime.  The blogger, Ahmed ‘Shumba Gong’ Ashraf, was abducted in Colombo and held captive at the Maldivian embassy in Sri Lanka, before being forced onto a Maldives-bound plane. On arrival in Male’ he was arrested and detained on arbitrary charges. The Sri Lankan foreign ministry took the highly unusual step of publicly chastising the Maldivian government over the incident, noting that it found it “deeply disturbing that Sri Lanka…is being used to initiate questionable action against political…activists.”
 
Commenting on the ambassador-designate’s remarks, legal counsel Amal Clooney said: 
 
“Any attempt by a Maldivian diplomat to detain President Nasheed in Sri Lanka would constitute a violation of international law as well as Sri Lankan criminal law.  President Nasheed should not be returned to the Maldives to serve a sentence that resulted from a sham trial, and it is incumbent on the Sri Lankan authorities to ensure that his rights are respected while he is in their country.”
 
Jared Genser added:
 
“The comments by the Ambassador-designate are as outrageous as they are in flagrant violation of international law.  No country can violate another’s sovereignty by abducting their citizens from a foreign territory.  Such an action would be in clear violation of the obligations of the Maldives under The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance, a treaty to which it is a signatory.”
 
President Nasheed was convicted of ‘terrorism’ in March 2015 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled in October 2015 that President Nasheed’s conviction and detention violated international law and called for his immediate release. The trial was also widely condemned by the international community as being “vastly unfair, arbitrary and disproportionate” and “politically motivated.” The Maldives government refuses to accept the UN opinion. 
 
President Nasheed’s international legal counsel comprises: Jared Genser of Freedom Now; Amal Clooney of Doughty St Chambers; and Ben Emmerson QC of Matrix Chambers.
 

The article doesn't say what happened to the Maldivian blogger who was abducted in Sri Lanka, returned to the Maldives and detained on arbitrary charges.  What were the consequences as a result then of breaking international law? The Maldivian government might not care or feel threatened by the consequences.
It seems to me that Nasheed should watch himself very carefully.

Brave move by Nasheed to go back to run for President.
I hope he’s successful but a dangerous endeavor.

I have to say in reading that article about the Maldives current President’s disregard for the rule of law I was struck how that scenario is starting to hit close to home.  We have a demagogic authoritarian running our country now who has absolutely no regard for the rule of law.  He is slowly but surely attempting to remove law enforcement officials who will not pledge loyalty to him and squash a federal investigation into his wrongdoing with the help of a compliant Congress.  Scary times .....

Trouble at the Maldives continues...

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The United States said it was “troubled and disappointed” by the state of emergency, which gave the security forces sweeping powers to arrest and hold suspects, prohibited public gatherings, imposed travel restrictions and suspended parts of the Constitution.


President Abdulla Yameen of the Maldives has developed closer ties to China and Saudi Arabia, both of which have invested heavily in his country. Credit Mohamed Waheed/Reuters
“Despite being elected in 2013 with the support of a broad coalition, President Yameen has systematically alienated his coalition, jailed or exiled every major opposition political figure, deprived elected Members of Parliament of their right to represent their voters in the legislature, revised laws to erode human rights, especially freedom of expression, and weakened the institutions of government by firing any officials who refuse orders that run contrary to Maldivian law and its Constitution,” the State Department said.

Exactly how far off from this is the US at this point in time?

Sadly, closer than I ever imagined we could ever be.

carolhathaway wrote:Trouble at the Maldives continues...

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Yeah, ongoing ongoing.