Court orders former President Nasheed be confined to Male

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A Maldivian court has slapped a travel ban on former president Mohamed Nasheed pending a hearing over allegations of abuse of power during his tenure.

The notice was issued in connection with an upcoming hearing of a case concerning his detention of Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed while in office.

"This detention is politically motivated, aimed solely at preventing President Nasheed from campaigning ahead of next year's elections" said MDP spokesperson Hamid Abdul Gafoor.

He said that Nasheed was due to visit the southern atolls as part of the MDP's preparations for those elections. The court order was served on late Tuesday soon after Nasheed returned from Britain, sources close to Nasheed said.

"The court has issued a notice which says that under no circumstances should he leave Male," a source said.

In July, the same court refused to try Nasheed saying it had no jurisdiction, but a higher court ruled it could hear allegations that he ordered the illegal arrest of a judge in January.

Nasheed ordered senior judge Abdullah Mohamed's arrest in January over corruption allegations in a move that triggered weeks of protests that finally led to his resignation.

The charge of wrongful arrest of a judge carries up to three years in prison or exile to a remote island.

Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the atoll nation after winning its first multi-party elections in 2008.