Former Maldives president and current opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed has been arrested Sunday over terrorism charges, triggering clashes between his supporters and the police.

Authorities said Nasheed was arrested from his home, saying he is a flight risk.  The former president is charged with terrorism in connection to his 2011 decision to detain a senior judge.

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This sparked outrage from Nasheed's supporters, who took to the streets of the capital Male to denounce his arrest. 

Police used pepper spray to disperse protesters from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

"I call on the public to do all that is necessary to stop the harassment meted out to me and other politicians to save Maldives," Nasheed said as he was being taken to a detention center.

In a statement, the MDP warned actions by the Maldives government could lead to an uncontrollable and chaotic situation.

Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, had been facing charges of abuse of power for the alleged illegal detention of then Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed in 2011. 

Nasheed stepped down in early 2012 following a police and military mutiny.

Just last week, the prosecutor-general withdrew abuse charges against him, but subsequently filed tougher terrorism charges for the same incident.  An arrest warrant was immediately issued.

Nasheed had earlier asked India to step in, should Maldives President Abdulla Yameen declare an emergency rule.  Nasheed lost to Yameen during the 2013 presidential elections.

In recent weeks, Nasheed's MDP and Jumhooree Party, a breakaway group of Yameen's ruling party, jointly held a series of protests against the government which had been accused of conducting arrests left and right.

Just this month, Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim was also arrested on terrorism charges, while police detained MDP's chairperson Ali Waheed also on Sunday.

In a tweet, Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Muaz however stressed, government actions are in accordance with the rule of law. "I fully assure you this government won't arrest or detain any citizen unlawfully." Muaz tweeted.

MDP's international spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the group is planning a big protest on February 27th to call for Nasheed's freedom.

TagsMaldives, arrests