Barrister Amal Clooney is to be part of the international legal team seeking the release of the former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, who was last month sentenced to 13 years in prison, the Global Legal Post reports.
The jailing of the former President, on terrorism charges, led to street protests in which thousands of people from the island chain participated. Speaking from a detention centre, he said: ‘I am determined to ensure the world understands the injustice of my detention and the broader suffering of the Maldivian people under President Abdulla Yameen.’
Ms Clooney of Doughty Street Chambers in London has a strong record in defending people in this kind of case. She has acted for Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister of Ukraine, as well as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Mohamed Fahmy, the Al Jazeera journalist who was detained in Egypt.
Amal Clooney recently represented Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights in the Perincek v. Switzerland case.
