Slam govt, get arrested in Maldives

TROUBLE IN PARADISE: Openly critising the President and his govt comes at a high price in Maldives.

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Maldives: It is the world's most popular honeymoon destination, a picture perfect archipelago on the Indian Ocean, where the rich and famous from all corners of the world come on holiday.

Think of the Maldives and you probably see as a picture-perfect holiday getaway, with white sandy beaches and swaying palm trees.

But away from the eyes of tourists, the government there has been cracking down on political dissent.

But there is another side to the country which is not featured in the slick tourism promotional. As one steps into the capital Male, the picture changes - dramatically.

A democratic movement started three years ago to overthrow Asia's longest ruler, Mamoon Abdul Gayoom, the President who ruled this tiny nation for 28 years with an iron-hand. Allegations of police atrocities, arrests and politically motivated trials can be heard are all over.

The opposition is trying to take out a rare democracy rally. They want to march up to the parliament, but it seems unlikely that the march will ever take off as there are hundreds of policemen ahead to block the way.

The voice of dissent got scuttled as soon as the opposition leader Mohammad Nasheed tried to march towards the parliament. The riot police cracked down and many were arrested - some without reason.

Political parties have been allowed to function here only since last year and though Gayoom has promised multi-party elections in 2008, till now, he has been continuously elected by a parliament and many of the representatives are handpicked by him.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party hopes of a peaceful revolution, but here a protest of more than three people without government permission is deemed illegal.

Says chairman, Maldivian Democratic Party Mohammed Nasheed, "The government has cut us down very brutally with excessive force. We are talking about a government that has tortured me twice and beaten me up in the middle of the Republican Square. The government keeps attacking us on and on and on but we have never ever raised our hand as we don't think that violence will achieve our goals."

International human rights groups like Amnesty allege that many opposition members have been detained without any charge and some have been charged with apparently unsubstantiated, politically motivated criminal offences.

President Gayoom, who has pledged democratic reforms in his country, however, brushes aside charges of human rights abuse.

"These allegations are completely baseless," is all the President has to say.

His dynamic foreign minister, Dr Ahmed Shaheed, however accepts the reality.

"In the past, largely because of the way the country has evolved, our protection was not up to international standards but in the last couple of years we have made remarkable progress," says Dr Ahmed Shaheed.

However, openly critising the President and his government comes at a high price.

Opposition leader Mohamamed Nasheed was arrested in August 2005 for a peaceful protest last year and remained under house arrest till September this year.

An amateur video shows how even painful pepper-sprays are used by the police to control demonstrators. It's clear that President Gayoom is still not ready to hear voices of dissent.

(With inputs from Naushad Ali)