COLOMBO: Several thousand protesters demonstrated in the Maldives on Friday (August 13), demanding the release of political prisoners in an unprecedented show of dissent in the tiny island nation famed for its palm-fringed beach resorts.

Activists said the protest began when a group gathered outside the police station in the capital, Male, late on Thursday (August 12) calling for the release of five reformists detained in the past week.

During the night the crowd swelled to number several thousand demonstrators, they said.

"Gradually the crowd got angrier and angrier and they started making demands for the immediate resignation of members of cabinet and the police," said Ibrahim Ismail, a Male member of parliament who has been active in the reform movement.

"It just took on a life of its own," he told Reuters.

Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is Asia's longest-serving leader, but in June he announced reforms that sought to address his country's poor human rights record just months after a riot threw a spotlight on simmering unrest.

Courtesy Reuters