Maldives deports international lawyers

COLOMBO, Feb 28 (AFP): The Maldives detained and deported a group of international lawyers who travelled to the troubled honeymoon islands to study the impact of emergency rule, their organisation said Wednesday.

Law Asia, a regional lawyers' association, said it had sent four members in response to an open invitation the government issued two days after President Abdulla Yameen imposed a state of emergency.

That followed a Supreme Court order, later rescinded, to release political prisoners and reinstate sacked lawmakers-a move that would have cost Yameen his majority in parliament.

The president has overseen a major crackdown on dissent in recent years, jailing a series of prominent critics including the opposition leader and sacking MPs who defected from the ruling party.

Earlier this month Yameen sacked the chief justice and another senior judge before imposing emergency rule, sparking international condemnation.

The crisis has hit the image of the Maldives as a peaceful holiday paradise, although it has had little impact on life away from the capital in the upmarket resort islands popular with honeymooners.

The four lawyers were detained on Sunday when they arrived at Male international airport, where they were held and subsequently deported, Law Asia said.

"By such action, the government of Maldives deprived itself of the benefit of an independent and impartial assessment by a fact-finding team not sponsored by any individuals, parties or organisations in the Maldives," it said.