Maldives resists pressure to free jailed ex-leader

The Maldives government yesterday vowed to resist mounting foreign pressure to free former president Mohamed Nasheed after he was jailed for 13 years but admitted its justice system was below international standards.

Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon, the daughter of former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, told reporters in Sri Lanka that her government would not interfere with the decision of courts which she insisted were independent.

The United States, European Union and India have all expressed concern at last week's jailing of Nasheed for ordering the detention of a judge in 2012 when he was president.

"A free and fair trial has happened. A verdict has come," Maumoon said, adding that President Abdulla Yameen -- who is also her uncle -- "has asked the whole world to respect that".

Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party has urged international pressure, particularly from neighbouring India, on Yameen's regime to free him.

The decision to prosecute Nasheed, who was the honeymoon islands' first democratically-elected president, under terror laws has made his conviction particularly controversial and sparked a series of protests.

Maumoon said no compromise was possible on judiciary matters and denied allegations that criminal court judges were uneducated, corrupt and politically biased.