On Tuesday 6 February, a few days after the decision of the Supreme Court in the Maldives to release several political prisoners (see EUROPE 11953) and reintegrate 12 parliamentarians who had been removed from their posts for having defected from the presidential party, the EU urged the state of emergency declared in the country on 5 February to be lifted "without delay".
"The declaration of the state of emergency (...) by the president of the Maldives undermines democracy and human...