The Maldives opposition on Saturday vowed to regroup for a second night of demonstrations hours after police broke up a planned 72-hour protest demanding the release of the country’s ex-president and other political leaders. Maldivian Democratic Party spokesman Hamid Abdul Gaffoor said the party is within its legal rights to continue protests because police have unilaterally withdrawn from agreed terms. The party demands the release from jail of former President Mohamed Nasheed, former Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim and opposition leader Sheik Imran Abdulla, and the withdrawal of court action against 1,700 political activists.

Police used shields and pepper spray to break up Friday night’s protests as the demonstrators prepared for a street march. They also cut off electricity for the campaign site. Gaffoor said police at a discussion with the party earlier agreed to allow a three-day protest subjected to a condition not to use sound systems after midnight. However they withdrew permission unilaterally after government interference, he said. Government officials could not be reached immediately for comment. Nasheed is sentenced to 13 years in prison for ordering the arrest of a top judge when he was president in 2012. Nazim serves a 10-year jail term for possessing a pistol which is illegal in the Maldives and Abdulla is detained accused of inciting violence at an anti-government protest in May. The Maldives became a multiparty democracy in 2008, but recently democratic gains have been shrinking fast. Nasheed who became the country’s first democratically elected president resigned four years in to his five-year term amid protests against his role in the arrest of the judge. Gayoom, a half-brother of the Maldives’ 30-year autocrat defeated Nasheed in a disputed election in 2013 and since the Gayoom family has regained control of the Indian Ocean archipelago state. The judiciary, police and the bureaucracy are deemed highly politicized and are accused of being used by Gayoom to crackdown on political opposition. Maldives is better known to the world for its pristine beaches and luxury island resorts.