The state of emergency imposed by President Abdulla Yameen aiming to annul a verdict by the Supreme Court of Maldives that overturned criminal convictions against nine opposition leaders, was lifted today.

The President’s office said that Yameen has lifted the 45 day long emergency in order to promote normalcy despite having the threat to national security.

During the emergency time, security forces arrested former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who is Yameen’s half-brother, and alongside them, they arrested two Supreme Court judges and a top judicial administrator over the charges that he was trying to topple the government. And other four were charged with terrorism on Wednesday.

A court in the capital of Maldives, Male, directed the officials to hold them until the end of their trials.

If they are to be convicted of terrorism, they could face a total 15 years of jail. The two judges and their helper have also been arrested over charges of bribe receiving in order to overthrow the government.

Mohamed Nasheed, the Indian Ocean archipelago’s exiled former president, commented that Yameen does not require the emergency now, that’s the reason he lifted it.

Nasheed was among the nine people arrested over terrorism charges which the Supreme Court had quashed.

“( Yameen has) overrun the judiciary and legislature, arrested hundreds unlawfully and introduced a “new normal” in the Maldives – full dictatorship” wrote Nasheed on his twitter handle.

Those who were arrested includes opposition parliamentarians, journalists and also a former police chief.

Not less than 141 people were arrested on Friday alone when a number of supporters defied the emergency and protested against the Maldives government in the congested capital. Most have been since then released.

The opposition party accuses Yameen of abusing the power status of his office which he assumed in the year 2013. They also accuse him of siphoning millions of dollars from state coffers. Yameen denies all these allegations.

During Yameen’s rule, almost all of the opposition leaders have been sentenced to jail or forced into exile. The leaders who faced such situations also include those leaders who helped him assuming power at the centre, two of his former vice presidents and also former defense minister.

But after the arrest of Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Judge Ali Hameed on February 5, the judges of the Supreme Court reversed their verdict and ordered the release of dissidents.

They also suspended a section of the verdict that They also suspended a section of the verdict that restored 12 parliamentarians who were removed from their posts for defecting to the opposition.

Maldives’ 85-member parliament, where the ruling party has authority for having a majority without the 12 defectors to the opposition, then passed a law which allows them to strips judges of their seats if they are convicted of a criminal offence.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is a the minority leader, was also arrested under the emergency on Saturday and has been remanded for nine days.