US questions Maldives' commitment to democracy

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The United States has questioned the Maldives government’s commitment to democracy after the country’s highest court sacked the elections commissioner and gave him a suspended six-month jail term for contempt of court. The court also gave his deputy the same sentence.

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki in a statement Monday called the trial and conviction of commissioners Fuwad Thoufeek and Ahmed Fayaz an “unprecedented expansion of judicial powers.”