Maldives' democracy in danger

US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday said that democracy was in danger in the Maldives as police made nearly 200 arrests at a protest over the jailing of the paradise islands' ex-president.

Police fired tear gas and baton-charged Friday night's protest on the main island of Male, said witnesses to what was the biggest show of support for Mohamed Nasheed since he was handed a 13-year term in March.

Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said one of its top lieutenants were among those arrested, while the head of the largest Islamist party in the mainly Muslim nation was detained.

The streets of Male appeared to be calm yesterday as police put the number of arrests at 193.

But while authorities defended their use of force to break up the protest, Kerry added his voice to the growing chorus of criticism of President Abudulla Yameen's regime.

"We see even now how regrettably there are troubling signs that democracy is under threat in the Maldives where the former president Nasheed has been imprisoned without due process," said Kerry.

"This is an injustice that needs to be addressed soon," he added on a visit to Sri Lanka.

Nasheed, a climate change activist who was imprisoned during the three-decade rule of former strongman ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, became the archipelago's first democratically elected leader in 2008.

He was toppled in February 2012 after a mutiny by police and troops that followed weeks of protests over his ordering of the arrest of a top judge who had been appointed by Gayoom.

The arrest formed the centre-piece of Nasheed's prosecution. His conviction triggered widespread international condemnation and alarm in regional powerhouse India.

Meanwhile, Kerry yesterday said the United States wanted to renew ties with Sri Lanka and announced the start of an annual bilateral dialogue after years of tensions with the island nation's former government.

Kerry arrived in the South Asian country earlier yesterday, the first time in a decade that a US secretary of state has visited Sri Lanka.

Washington had years of tensions over human rights with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was unseated by Mathripala Sirisena.

Kerry said Washington wanted to work with Sirisena and lauded the new government's efforts to tackle corruption, build democratic institutions and address the wrongs of the past through a process of national reconciliation.