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Press Release from Nirj Deva DL MEP |
21st
October 2004 |
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Deva
Cautiously Welcomes "Significant" Development in Maldives |
Nirj Deva,
Member of the European Parliament for South East England and
Conservative Spokesman for International Development has today
(Thursday) welcomed the transfer of the former Maldivian Government
Minister Mohammed Ibrahim Zaki from a six foot by nine foot prison
cell to house arrest.
Deva, having launched, for the first time item in living memory, a
campaign to bring about multi party democracy in the Maldives has
now cautiously welcomed developments in the past week where
President Gayoom and his regime have released several political
prisoners, notably the former Government Minister Mohammed Ibrahim
Zaki and confirmed their intentions to reconvened the Special Majlis
(Parliament) designed to amend the Constitution.
Zaki, who was arrested for speaking out against the twenty-five
yearlong dictatorship of President Abdul Maumoon Gayoom, had been
held in prison since August 13th.
Following his arrest, Deva called an urgent Press Conference in
Colombo drawing worldwide attention to the human rights situation
and plight of political prisoners such as Zaki in the Maldives.
In October, the moderate Muslim was nominated for the coveted
Sakharov Prize.
Speaking from the European Parliament in Brussels where the
Parliament recently passed a resolution calling for a travel ban to
be placed on the archipelago and demanding the withdrawal of
European Union funding for Government projects, Deva said:
“I cautiously welcome the fact that President Gayoom has taken this
significant step in the right direction.
“Despite the fact Zaki has now been transferred from a prison cell
to house arrest, where he will be able to receive the medical
treatment he so urgently needs, hundreds of other Maldivians still
languish in a perpetual state of incarceration and multi party
democracy is denied to the 330,000 residents of the country.
“If President Gayoom wishes to have the assistance of the European
Union in setting up computer systems and voter registration
programmes to prepare for elections, the European Parliament would
be more than happy to help”.
Notes to Editors
The Commonwealth Secretary General, Don McKinnion is due to visit
the Maldives on October 26th to discuss the reform process in the
archipelago. |
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