Subramanian Swamy seeks PM Narendra Modi's intervention to secure release of Mohamed Nasheed

NEW DELHI: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send an envoy to the Maldives to seek the release of jailed former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Swamy, a former Union Minister, said Nasheed's trial "appeared to have been politically biased, inadequate and subject to external influence" and the UN Human Rights Council has also termed his trial as "vastly unfair, the conviction unjust, and arbitrary and disproportionate to the alleged crime".

"India has a duty, as the largest SAARC country and as a democratic nation, to intervene and ensure this bogus sentence of 13 years is scrapped, and Mr Nasheed freed to resume his political activities," he said in a statement.

In March this year, Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison after a three-judge panel convicted him under Anti-Terrorism Act for arresting a Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed while being President.