Amal Clooney Discusses Death Of Democracy In The Maldives, Celebrity

Amal Clooney, the human rights attorney who happens to be married to Hollywood star George Clooney, spoke about the Maldives and the celebrity spotlight in a recent interview.

Amal Clooney On Maldives

In her first-ever American network interview, Clooney discussed the political crisis in the Maldives, where the threat to democracy is apparent in the treatment of her client, former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed.

“Democracy is dead in the Maldives,” Clooney told NBC News’ Cynthia McFadden. “Literally, if there were an election now there would be no one to run against the president. Every opposition leader is either behind bars or being pursued by the government through the courts.”

Nasheed, who was the first president to be elected democratically on the island nation, served for three years before he was charged with terrorism and sentenced to 13 years in prison. The United Nations and the State Department have condemned the move as a political coup.

Clooney has committed herself to the cause of freeing Nasheed, and headed to Washington D.C. this week to discuss the political climate in the Maldives with Sen. John McCain. Her efforts in lobbying for a congressional bill to impose sanctions on the current regime in the Maldives proved successful.

Pointing out Clooney’s new celebrity status through her marriage, McFadden drew parallels between the lawyer and actress Angelina Jolie, who has parlayed her movie star status into a second career as a humanitarian. Though Clooney, who has served as a lawyer for 15 years, acknowledged that much good can be done when celebrities use their heightened status for good, she doesn’t quite agree with the comparison.

“I think it’s wonderful celebrities would choose to spend their time or energy or, you know, the spotlight that they have to raise awareness about these causes,” she said. “I don’t really see myself in the same way because I’m still doing the same job that I used to do before. So if there’s more attention paid, for whatever reason, to that, then I think that’s good.”