Nasheed to travel to UK for treatment

Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, currently serving a jail term in an island prison, has been granted permission to travel to the United Kingdom to seek treatment for spinal cord injury.

Nasheed is currently serving a jail term of 13 years subsequent to a highly-questionable trial in 2015.

The Maldivian Foreign Ministry yesterday (16) tweeted: "The Government of Maldives has granted permission to former president Nasheed to travel to the United Kingdom to undergo surgery, at his request."

Sources from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that Nasheed has been consistently complaing of poor health particularly in the spinal area.

"He has been repeatedly assaulted during his days as a political activist and even after presidency, he has not been spared of physical violence," the MDP source said.