The Latest: Maldives government declares state of emergency

MALE, Maldives – The Latest on turmoil in the Maldives after the Supreme Court ordered the release of a group of political prisoners (all times local):

8 p.m.

The Maldives government has declared a 15-day state of emergency amid a deepening political crisis between the president and the judiciary over its order to release a group of imprisoned opposition leaders.

Legal Affairs Minister Azima Shakoor announced the state of emergency on state television Monday evening.

A surprise ruling last week by the Supreme Court directing the release of the opposition leaders has led to a tense standoff between President Yameen Abdul Gayoom and the Supreme Court, with protests spilling into the streets of the capital, Male, and soldiers in riot gear deployed to the parliament building to stop lawmakers from meeting.

A former president is among those ordered freed by the court after trials criticized for flawed due process.

Shakoor said earlier Monday that the government doesn't believe that the court order can be enforced.

Maldives became a multiparty democracy 10 years ago after decades of autocratic rule, but lost many of the democratic gains after Yameen was elected in 2013.

6 p.m.

The political crisis in the Maldives has deepened as the president of the island nation said the Supreme Court had overstepped its authority in ordering the release of a group of imprisoned opposition leaders.

The surprise judicial ruling last week has led to an increasingly tense standoff between President Yameen Abdul Gayoom and the Supreme Court, with protests spilling into the streets of the capital, Male, and soldiers in riot gear deployed to the parliament building to stop lawmakers from meeting.

Yameen, in a letter to the court released by his office, said the order had encroached on the powers of the state and was an "infringement of national security and public interest." He urged the court to "review the concerns" of the government.