The former president of the Maldives and current head of parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, was in "critical" condition on Friday (May 7th) after being targeted by a bomb attack in Male 'the day before.

The 53-year-old politician was seriously injured Thursday evening by the explosion of a device attached to a motorcycle as he was about to get into his car, shortly before the entry into force of a nighttime curfew in the capital, as part of health restrictions to fight the Covid-19 epidemic.

In a televised address, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih denounced an attack on democracy, and promised that its perpetrators "would be brought to justice", adding that an Australian police team would arrive in the archipelago on Saturday to help investigators.

Police said the attack was considered "an act of terrorism" and appealed to the public for any information that could help identify the perpetrators.

She said that help from members of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) had also been requested.

"Critical state"

"He is in critical condition, in intensive care," said the private ADK hospital where Mohamed Nasheed was operated.

He underwent three surgeries to remove bomb fragments from his lungs and liver, authorities said.

Mohamed Nasheed was due to undergo a new operation and doctors had advised against his evacuation abroad until a shrapnel lodged in his liver was removed.

Earlier, a family member of the former president explained that Mohamed Nasheed was conscious and spoke with doctors.

One of his bodyguards and a British national were also hospitalized.

Messages of support have multiplied from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as well as from several Western countries which have often supported Mohamed Nasheed's fight for democracy but also his commitment to the environment.

File image of former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed leaving Sri Lanka to return to his country, after living more than two years in exile.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 1, 2018 © Dinuka Liyanawatte, Reuters

The first democratically elected president in the archipelago in 2008, Mohamed Nasheed was overthrown in a coup in 2012, and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2015 on terrorism charges.

A verdict denounced by human rights organizations as politically motivated.

Allowed to be released from prison for medical treatment, Mohamed Nasheed then went into exile in Britain, but returned to his country in 2018. After the 2019 elections, he became Speaker of Parliament, the second highest office in the country. state hierarchy.

Anti-corruption campaign

With 340,000 inhabitants, the Maldives is known as a luxury tourist destination, but the archipelago is also plagued by recurring political instability and problems of corruption.

The government has tackled religious extremism in recent years and foreign preachers are not allowed in the Maldives.

Attacks are rare.

In 2007, a dozen foreign tourists were injured by a bomb in Malé.

In February 2020, three foreigners were injured in a stabbing attack attributed by the police to jihadists. 

Mohamed Nasheed has declared his intention to launch an investigation into the embezzlement of $ 90 million from the Tourism Promotion Authority during Abdulla Yameen's presidency.

The attack has not been claimed, but for some officials close to Mohamed Nasheed's Democratic Party of Maldives (PDM), his anti-corruption campaign could be the cause of the attack.

"Islamists may have collaborated with political elements threatened by Nasheed's anti-corruption campaign," said a source within the PDM.

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