MALE: Tensions ran high in the Maldives yesterday after a shock Supreme Court decision to clear the exiled former president and eight other convicted political dissidents triggered overnight clashes between police and opposition activists, reports AFP.

Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters who took to the streets late Thursday after the court ruling, a major challenge to the authority of President Abdulla Yameen.

It clears the way for the Maldives’ first democratically elected leader Mohamed Nasheed to return from exile and run for president in elections due this year.

The Maldives’ popular image as an upmarket holiday paradise has been severely damaged by a major crackdown on dissent under Yameen, who has overseen the jailing of almost all the political opposition.

“If the situation gets out of hand, the government could declare a state of emergency,” a military source told AFP Friday on condition of anonymity.