Mohamed Nasheed - Parliament

Parliament

In 1999, he was elected as a Member of Parliament representing Malé. However, he was forced to leave office on a theft charge that the BBC and other international media sources described as politically motivated.

In September 2003 Nasheed requested that a doctor view the body of Hassan Evan Naseem, a 19-year-old prisoner who had died in Maafushi Jail while serving a term for drug possession. The subsequent investigation revealed that Naseem had been tortured to death. This revelation, and the violent suppression of the prison riot that followed, sparked the anti-government protests of the 2003 Maldives civil unrest, leading to the first State of Emergency in Maldivian history and a "turning point" in its history.

In November 2003 Nasheed left the Maldives and joined Mohamed Latheef to help establish the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), in self-exile, in Sri Lanka and the UK. He was recognised as a political refugee by the British government in 2004. After about 18 months, Nasheed returned to Malé on 30 April 2005.

After returning to the Maldives he began promoting MDP before it was officially recognised by the Government. With the decision to allow political parties in the Maldives on 2 June 2005 and the official recognition of the MDP's existence, Nasheed accelerated his support campaigns for the party. He made several trips to the Atolls and neighbouring countries on behalf of the party.

On 12 August 2005 Nasheed was arrested again when he was sitting in the center of the Republican Square, with supporters of MDP, to mark the second anniversary of the Black Friday. His arrest provoked civil unrest in Malé and some other Atolls. After his arrest, acting Government Spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef told reporters that Nasheed had been detained for "his own safety." However, on 22 August 2005, the state announced that Nasheed was to be charged with terrorism under the Terrorism Act.