Former Maldivian president Nasheed arrested

Maldives' first democratically-elected President Mohamed Nasheed was arrested today, a week after he failed to appear before a court here to face charges of abuse of power while in office.

Maldivian police arrested Nasheed, 45, at the Island of Faresmaathodaa of Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, south of Maldives.

Police spokesman Hassan Haneef confirmed that the former president has been arrested after Hulhumale Magistrate Court ordered the police to produce him before it.

He was arrested from the residence of former housing minister Mohamed Aslam who is a native of that island.

The court ordered Nasheed's arrest after he questioned legitimacy of a special court to try him on charges of abuse of power while he was in office.

He is facing charges of power abuse over the arrest and subsequent detention of Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla Mohamed during his last days in office.

Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the Indian Ocean archipelago, was forced out in February in a police mutiny after he detained the judge.

Last week he refused to appear before a three-judge bench set up to hear charges that he abused his power while in office.

"Questioning the legitimacy of the ad hoc Magistrate Court, I have appealed the case with the high court and I await a decision," he wrote on his Twitter handle.

Nasheed, who won the first democratic elections in the country in 2008, said he would not be given a fair trial. The case could see him jailed or banished to a remote island and barred from future elections.