Maldives president declares emergency, arrests judges

Security forces in the Maldives have arrested two Supreme Court judges and an opposition leader hours after President Abdulla Yameen declared a 15-day state of emergency in the island nation.  Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Judge Ali Hameed were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday, police said on Twitter, without specifying the charges against the pair. Their detention comes amid a bitter row between the top court and the president over the release of several imprisoned opposition politicians.
On Monday, Yameen declared a state of emergency in the Indian Ocean archipelago, saying a Supreme Court ruling that overturned "terrorism" convictions against nine of his opponents was illegal.  He sent in security forces to storm the Supreme Court building and ordered the arrest of his estranged half-brother, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who has sided with the opposition.

Reading out the emergency decree on state television, Legal Affairs Minister Azima Shakoor said the top court's verdict on February 1 has "resulted in the disruption of the functions of the executive power, and the infringement of national security and public interest".
"The government does not believe that the Supreme Court ruling to release the political prisoners can be enforced," she added.
The emergency decree gave security forces sweeping powers to make arrests, curtailed the authority of the judiciary and scrapped immunity granted to Supreme Court judges.
Yameen, who critics accuse of corruption, misrule and rights abuses, has also suspendedthe country's parliament, where the opposition have a majority.
Mohamed Nasheed, the country's exiled former president whose 13-year jail sentence the Supreme Court anulled last week, called the state of emergency "tantamount to a declaration of martial law in the Maldives".
The decree is "unconstitutional and illegal," he said in a statement. "Nobody in the Maldives is required to, nor should, follow this unlawful order".
The United Nations, European Union, and several foreign governments - including India, the US and UK - have urged Yameen to comply with the Supreme Court's order.  China, India and the US have issued travel advisories for the Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago better known for its upmarket tourism.