Living in an idyllic tropical island surrounded by some of the world's most beautiful atolls and beaches may be a dream for some. Yet, for many inhabitants of Maldive islands, situated somewhere in the middle of the Indian ocean, it is more like a nightmare: a sense of fear and insecurity is felt amid frequent arrests and jailing of its citizens for minor 'offences'.

On July 7 this year, three individuals were given life imprisonment after a kangaroo-court found them guilty not for murder or treason as one would guess but for taking part in an internet forum that criticised its 'democratically elected' president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Since assuming his post in 1978, the former school teacher has been winning every presidential 'election' with the enviable ' 99 percent' majority.

The case of Mohamed Zaki, 50, Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, 50 and Ibrahim Moosa Luthufee, 37 were not reported in any mainstream press but appeared briefly in some human rights newsletters, partly due to the island's remote location.

Because of this the Gayoom regime has enjoyed a free hand brutalising its people without attracting outside concerns.

The three were accused of trying to "disrepute the president", "overthrow the government by calling on the people to come forward and fight" and "cause hatred in the people's minds towards the government by forming a newsletter called Sandhaanu ", a newsletter available only through the internet.

Meanwhile, Fathimath Nisreeen, a 21-year-old woman, was given a 10-year prison term "for encouraging writings against the government".

Earlier this year, Amnesty International had expressed fears that they were tortured while in detention.

Like many other prisoners, their whereabouts are unknown but are believed to be held on one of the 1,200 islands around 19 atolls that constitute the Maldives republic.

The Malaysian-link

Mohamed Zaki was a prominent businessman who resettled in Malaysia after escaping a crackdown on those who supported Dr Waheed (now head of Unicef Asia), who defeated Gayoom's equally corrupt brother-in-law Ilyas Ibrahim during elections in 1989.

Zaki's part in the 'crime' was forwarding the emails he received to those who requested them, but he earned the wrath of Gayoom mainly because he once supported Waheed.

"This deeply upset the president as he had always maintained his relatives and close friends as his ministers and members of the parliament.

"Thus, he wanted to arrest all the people involved in campaigning for Dr Waheed and arrested a lot of people," Zaki's daughter Mazeena Zaki, who now lives in England, said recently in a letter to human rights groups.

Zaki was arrested without warrant during a business trip to Maldives, denied a lawyer and imprisoned without being charged.

After five months in the lock-up, he was brought to court and charged for "causing hatred".

The following month he was charged again for insulting Gayoom and his cabinet, who are mostly the president's relatives. He was finally found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment together with the others.

Thanks to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's close comradeship with Gayoom, the Maldivian secret police found its Malaysian counterpart very cooperative. (The Malaysians are said to have huge business contracts, mainly in the tourism sector).

Simultaneously, Zaki's 18-year-old son was briefly arrested in Malaysia without warrant to be interrogated by the Maldivian secret police, his family harassed and his house raided.

Zaki's life sentence however is not the end: the Maldivian authorities are constantly interrogating to find out about his business ventures.

The president's powers

The latest jailing is part of a vicious campaign by Gayoom to ensure Maldivians who are all Muslim suppress all thoughts of criticising policies by the regime, who operates like a mafia under a parliament erroneously termed 'Majlis' and its own brand of 'Shariah'.

The president has powers to review and overturn court decisions, appoint and dismiss judges without consulting his 'Majlis'. Gayoom assumed his post in 1978 after a secret deal was reached to have his predecessor Ibrahim Nasir, equally corrupt, now live in exile in Singapore.

His 'Majlis' has 48 members, all who were nominated and 'elected' by a referendum where the only choice was a 'yes' or 'no'. That however did not stop MPs who dared to go against the president's wishes.

Thus it comes as no surprise that there is a big number of political prisoners despite its small population, less than 200,000.

On Feb 28 last year, 42 people comprising academics and businessmen handed a petition to the Minister of Home Affairs requesting permission to set up a political party.

Not only did the regime deny permission, but by December, a number of signatories were detained.

Umar Jamaal, Mohamed Latheef, Abdul Hannan and Abdul Aziz were detained without trial in Dec 2000 and Jan 2001 after they supported a bill in parliament on the protection of the rights of detainees.

Abdulla Shakir, a member of parliament in the capital Male was abducted on July 18 and released several days later after being interrogated. Another MP, Mohamed Nasheed ( photo ), was arrested on Oct 8 and held incommunicado for several weeks before being banished for two and a half years on charges of theft of unspecified ''government property'', a favourite accusation charged against critics.

Nasheed was not allowed a lawyer or to speak in his own defence. So were cartoonist Naushad Waheed ( photo, with son ) and two students, both of whom had been studying in Malaysia, who were arrested on Dec 9 last year.

Naushad now faces a life sentence after he admitted contacting Amnesty International and participating in another internet discussion group called 'Dhivehi Forum'.

The events in Maldives are of concern to Muslims as it has been a Muslim nation for centuries. It was originally a Muslim sultanate ruled with relative stability until the current 'republic' was formed in 1968.

Maldivian society is religious, reflected in their culture and language, Divehi, written in an Arabic-like script called Thaana. The Arab traveller Ibn Batutta visited the island in 1343 and described its inhabitants as "religious and upright", and spoke of its Islamic atmosphere.

Such a social fabric now threatens to change amid the government's obsession with attracting (and accomodating) tourists, mainly from the West, bringing with them all sorts of social ills such as alcoholism, prostitution and gambling. In 1994 when such concerns were expressed by poet Adam Nasreen in a poem entitled ' Hayah as-Salah ' (Come to prayer), he was arrested and denied communication with outside world.

The only hope

The Maldivian regime does not tolerate the mildest form of dissent. Gayoom has a penchant for personal luxuries and more interested in million dollar tourist resorts than industries that can provide meaningful employment to citizens. He is also beholden to special interest groups, some of whom were said to be international drug agencies.

At one time, there were reports of prominent Maldivians who had links with drug mafia and whose unending source of fund did not commensurate with their businesses.

Such allegations are no surprise taking into account the experience of West Indies which show how drug barons ingratiate themselves with leaders of small island states.

The only hope for Maldives lies in the current emergence of an educated class who increasingly demands a role in politics and accountability of its leaders. It remains to be seen how long the president's secret police and the use of heavy force can contain the Maldivians' frustrations.

ABDAR-RAHMAN KOYA is a businessman based in Petaling Jaya and a correspondent of Islamic news magazine Crescent International , London. He had a stint with PAS' organ Harakah as editor of the English section.