Nasheed defies court

A court in the Maldives postponed a trial of the country's first elected president yesterday after he defied a summons and left the capital despite a travel ban imposed on him.
A court official said the case would not be heard as scheduled because Mohamed Nasheed, who was ousted in February, was not present for his trial on charges of abuse of power during his time in office.
"Since the accused is not present in court, the hearing has been cancelled," the court official said in a statement read out to a handful of lawyers and reporters in court.
Nasheed, who was asked to appear before a three-judge bench in Male, was seen leaving the capital Male in a boat heading to the country's south where he said he would attend political rallies.
The court official did not give a date for the next hearing.
Nasheed, 45, told AFP at the weekend that he did not expect a fair hearing in a case that could see him jailed or banished to a remote island and barred from future elections.
"I don't think the charges are correct," Nasheed told reporters at a jetty as he joined members of his Maldivian Democratic Party.
The court case centres on Nasheed's decision to send the military to arrest a senior judge in January, which fuelled already simmering anti-government protests and culminated in a police mutiny in February and his downfall.