Police in the Maldives have arrested opposition leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed on terror charges.

He is accused of illegally ordering the detention of a senior judge while in office in January 2012.

The order triggered widespread protests that led to his standing down a month later, when soldiers overran his party headquarters.

Nasheed was the first democratically elected leader of the Indian Ocean archipelago in 2008.

Following his departure, Nasheed said he had been forced to quit in a coup.

However his successor Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik - who had been serving as vice-president - said Mr Nasheed left of his own accord following the unrest.

He was first detained over the order to arrest Judge Abdullah Mohamed in 2013, but was released a day later.

Later that year, Nasheed lost a presidential election to Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, the Maldives' current leader.
(BBC)