First democratically elected leader of Maldives jailed for 13 years on terrorism charges

The first democratically elected president of the Maldives has begun a 13-year jail sentence amid calls for protests and an international tourism boycott of the paradise islands.

Mohamed Nasheed, a hero of the climate change movement and friend of David Cameron’s, was found guilty of terrorism in a trial that his supporters described as politically motivated.

His conviction - for the arrest of a judge in 2012 - comes three years after he resigned as president in what he has described as a military coup.

In a statement, Nasheed, the leader of the opposition, asked the people of the Maldives “to take all of your lives in your hands and to go out onto the streets in protest”.

Sir Richard Branson, a friend of the former president, led calls for a boycott. “[I] Urge everyone worldwide who believes in freedom to boycott the Maldives until true democracy is restored,” he tweeted.