former President Mohamed Nasheed is due to hold a press conference in London on Monday

In his first public comments since his imprisonment on a terrorism charge, former President Mohamed Nasheed is due to hold a press conference in London on Monday with his heavyweight international lawyers.

The opposition leader flew to the UK last night after spending two days in Sri Lanka. Nasheed’s temporary release to undergo surgery in England was secured by a diplomatic lobbying effort led by India, Sri Lanka, UK, and the US.

Nasheed will be joined at the press briefing by his international legal counsel Jared Genser, Amal Clooney, and Ben Emmerson, who had successfully petitioned a UN human rights panel last year to declare his 13-year jail sentence illegal and politically motivated.

“In this press conference, President Nasheed and his lawyers will assess the political situation in the Maldives and highlight the human rights abuses still ongoing in a country most people associate with tropical paradise,” the international legal team said in a press statement today.