Amal Clooney News: Human Rights Lawyer Wins A Major Victory [VIDEO]
For all those critics out there who say Amal Clooney is nothing more than a celebrity lawyer, we've got some news for you: the brunette beauty has just won a major victory. Her client, the ex-President of the Maldives, Mohammed Nasheed, has been granted asylum in the United Kingdom.
According to the Guardian on Tuesday, the UK has granted political refugee status to the former president, who was the first democratically-elected leader of the small island nation, was ousted in what's seen by many as political coup in 2012 and then sentenced to prison last year.
Nasheed, 49, was tried and convicted for ordering the arrest of a senior judge, a case that many have described as politically motivated, and given a 13-years sentence. The current President of the Maldives, Yameen Abdul Gayoom, has been accused of corruption and trying to control the media. Under international pressure, he allowed Nasheed to travel to the U.K. for back surgery earlier this year, where the ex-president has remained since. Clooney, for her part, has received death threats ever since she took on the case.
Both fans and critics alike weighed in on the legal win with comments on The Guaradian article. "I am dismayed that Patrick Wintour has decided to present Amal Clooney as 'wife of the Hollywood actor George Clooney', instead of the more appropriate 'noted international law barrister Amal Clooney'. Take a quick look at her resume and one could argue her achievements stand quite well on their own. I thought the Guardian was past this old fashioned view of women being defined by their husbands?" along with, "Good. I was working in the Maldives in February 2012 and there absolutely was a coup. Glad he is back in the Britain (I actually thought he was already a citizen) and not facing another quarter of his life in solitary confinement."