Former Maldives President arrested on 'terror charges'

Former President of Maldives and opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed has been arrested by the police on terror charges, a report said.

He has been detained for arresting a judge while in office in January 2012. The case against him was dropped last week but the charges were re-introduced under anti-terror laws that punish acts against the state, the BBC reported.

Nasheed is a former human rights campaigner who served as the first democratically elected President of Maldives from 2008 to 2012 until he was forced to resign amid an army mutiny and public protests over the judge's fate.

He claimed that he was removed by a coup, a claim that was denied by his vice-president, Abdulla Yameen, who replaced him.

Yameen was elected to office in controversial polls in 2013 and is the half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who has been widely accused of autocracy.

The report said that Nasheed's arrest only adds to the growing instability in the country.