The imprisoned former president of the Maldives has flown out of the island nation for medical treatment in Britain after days of tense negotiation between his family and the government.
Mohamed Nasheed, who is serving a 13-year sentence for terror offences after a trial described by the UN as “politically motivated”, was allowed to leave the capital Malé after ministers relaxed the terms of his temporary release.
On Saturday, ministers had agreed to allow Mr Nasheed to fly to Britain, via Sri Lanka, for back surgery. He believes the condition was triggered when he was tortured as a young activist by the regime he later defeated in the Maldives’ first democratic elections in 2008.
But the former president, who resigned in disputed circumstances in 2012, then refused to agree to the deal when the government demanded that his brother Ibrahim remain in Malé as a “hostage” to guarantee his return within 30 days.
Under pressure from the West, as well as its regional ally Sri Lanka, over the treatment of Mr Nasheed, the government relented and Mr Nasheed’s family is no longer legally liable if he does not return within a month.
“He told his family that he was not prepared to jeopardise their freedom in order to secure his own,” an aide for Mr Nasheed told The Independent.
David Cameron, who once counted Mr Nasheed as a friend, has joined calls for his release from prison.
