BRUSSELS, Dec 7: Four men have been charged in the Maldives with plotting to overthrow President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Asia's longest-serving ruler, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

"We're charging them with conspiracy to overthrow the government," Ahmed Shaheed, chief government spokesman of the Indian Ocean island archipelago said. Authorities in the Maldives cracked down on hundreds of protesters in August with truncheons and teargas, prompting calls from the European Parliament for sanctions as dozens of political opponents were arrested.

The four charged on Sunday are former tourism minister Ibrahim Zaki; former attorney general Mohamed Munavvar; prominent businessman Gasim Ibrahim; and Ibrahim Ismail, a member of a special Majlis, or constitutional assembly.

They face a maximum of 25 years in jail if found guilty, Hassan Sobir, Maldives High Commissioner (ambassador) to London, told newsmen. He expected their trials to start next spring.

The government spokesman said he and Sobir were in Brussels to meet members of the European Parliament and other European Union institutions "to update stakeholders on what's going on in the Maldives" following a spate of negative publicity which followed the August violence. -Reuters