The former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom was being "tortured" in prison by the direct orders of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to interim president of the PPM/PNC Coalition, Abdulraheem Abdullah.
At a newsconference held with regards to the High Court's upholding of the Criminal Court verdict against the former President, which resulted in a five year prison sentence, interim President Abdullah said that "Yameen was being tortured by a puppet government".
Pointing out India as the country behind Yameen's alleged torture, Abduh Raheem claimed that this "torture" had been ordered by the Indian Prime Minister himself.
He said that the Coalition was working on a way to free the former President, and he said that the only way to "free ourselves" from the "tyranny" of the ruling government was to increase the strength of their street-protests.
Abdullah said that the High Court's decision was a means of "political torture" against the former President. He said that "it became known today" that the people who had testified against the former President at the lower court hearings "were not fit to give testimony".
He also alleged that the High Court decision had been engineered by a conspiracy between President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, former President Mohamed Nasheed, and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
However, Abdullah said that justice was possible through the legal system, even if there were some obstacles.