Mohamed Nasheed

Mohamed Nasheed (Dhivehi: މުހައްމަދު ނަޝީދު; born 17 May 1967) is a Maldivian politician and one of the founders of the Maldivian Democratic Party, who served as the fourth President of the Maldives from 2008 to 2012. Sometimes called "the Mandela of the Maldives", he was imprisoned more than twenty times for his opposition to long-time President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. He played a role in the 2003 Maldives civil unrest by requesting an autopsy on murdered teenage prisoner Hassan Evan Naseem, and his own arrest sparked the 2005 Maldives civil unrest.

In the October 2008 presidential election, opposition coalition defeated Gayoom in the second round, assuming office on 11 November 2008. On 7 February 2012 Mohamed Nasheed resigned in front of local media from his presidency under disputed circumstances, following weeks of protests by opposition which had then been joined by majority of military and police forces. The next day, Nasheed stated that these protesters had joined with "powerful networks" of Gayoom loyalists to force his resignation in a coup d'état, and that he was forced to resign "at gunpoint" by police and army officers. Nasheed's successor Mohammed Waheed Hassan denied these claims and stated that the transfer of power was voluntary and constitutional. On 30 August, the Maldives' National Commission of Inquiry stated that it had found no evidence to support Nasheed's version of events, a verdict supported by the US and the Commonwealth of Nations.