On 7 February 2012, Nasheed resigned as president under disputed circumstances, following weeks of protests by the opposition, which had then been joined by a majority of military and police forces. The next day, he stated that he had been forced to resign "at gunpoint" by police and army officers, and that the protesters had joined with "powerful networks" of Gayoom loyalists to force his resignation in a "coup d'état". His successor, Mohammed Waheed Hassan, who had been a 2003 political appointee of Gayoom, denied these claims and stated that the transfer of power was voluntary and constitutional. The Maldives' Commission of National Inquiry reported that it had found no evidence to support Nasheed's version of events. In March 2015, Nasheed was convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act of Maldives for arresting Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed while president, and sentenced to 13 years at Maafushi Prison. Amnesty International has described the conviction as "politically motivated", and the United States Department of State expressed concern at "apparent lack of appropriate criminal procedures during the trial".