On the same day, an exiled former president urged regional power India to send an envoy backed by its military to release Maldivian political prisoners. The Maldives plunged into crisis last week after the Supreme Court quashed terrorism convictions against nine leading opposition figures including the exiled, first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed. Meanwhile, Nasheed, who was granted asylum by Britain after the Male government allowed him to leave jail for medical treatment abroad in 2016, sought Indian intervention to resolve the nation’s most serious political crisis in years. “On behalf of Maldivian people we humbly request: India to send envoy, backed by its military, to release judges & pol. detainees... We request a physical presence,” Nasheed, who is currently in Colombo, Sri Lanka, said in a Twitter post.