refrain from committing an act required by the Commission, in relation to the powers conferred through Commission’s responsibilities” viii. HRCM notes that MNDF was in violation of Article 141 (C) of the Constitution which states that “No officials performing public functions, or any other persons, shall interfere with and influence the functions of the courts.” 73. The State should take effective measures to avoid such incidents of arbitrary arrest as this infringes the human rights of the persons involved and may create dangerous precedents. In addition, in cases of arbitrary arrests compensation has to be made to the victims Chapter: Article 9, Arbitrary Arrest 72. An opposition leader Mr. Abdulla Yameen Abdul Qayoom (leader of People’s Alliance and a Member of Parliament) was arrested and taken to a nearby island at around midnight by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), on July 15th, 2010. The reason for his arrest as stated by the government was for his protection due to unstable environment in the country, and the fact that there was a violent protest in front of his house. It is imperative to note that none of his family members were given any kind of protection from the unstable environment or from the protest in front of their house. The consequence of this arrest led Mr. Yameen’s lawyer file a case in the Criminal Court on behalf of him, requesting the court to rule the arrest as unlawful. Criminal Court ordered MNDF to present Mr. Yameen to court on July 15th, 2010, which the government and the military did not abide. Thus, Criminal Court decided to continue the case in the absence of Mr. Yameen. The Prosecutor General and HRCM stated that the arrest of Mr. Yameen was unlawful31. After restricting his freedom of movement for 8 days, he was released on July 23rd, 2010. There were no charges presented against him regarding this arrest. On 22 July 2010, Mr. Yameen lodged a complaint at the Civil Court stating that MNDF does not have the power to withhold his civil rights. On 25 August 2010, Civil Court ruled that MNDF does not have the power to withhold the civil rights of Mr. Yameen32. On 16 August 2011 the Civil Court ruled that Mr. Yameen to be compensated with Mrf 244,031.25 (USD 15,825.64) and Maldives Police Service to pay the compensation. Referring to the verdict of Supreme Court on 11 July 2010 that ordered the release of Mr. Yameen33, the Civil Court referred to the Article 58 of the Constitution on compensation. Although Civil Court ordered to pay the compensation to the court within 30 days from 16 August 2011, this ruling is now being appealed by the government. 38