Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed has been convicted of a terrorism charge by a criminal court and sentenced to 13 years in prison. The three-judge bench on Friday unanimously found Nasheed guilty of ordering the arrest of a chief judge in January 2012 when he was leader of the Indian Ocean island nation. Nasheed has denied ordering the arrest. His supporters say the charges are aimed at eliminating him as a challenger against incumbent President Yameen Abdul Gayoom in the 2018 presidential election. The ruling came four days after Nasheed's lawyers quit in protest against what they called a biased trial aimed at destroying his political career. Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader, was originally cleared of the charge last month but a few days later the prosecutor general had him re-charged and arrested under tough anti-terror laws.