Mohamed Nasheed, the former president of the Maldives and respected climate change campaigner, has been detained in Malé, the capital of the Indian Ocean island nation, pending a court appearance on Wednesday.

Nasheed, 45, faces charges of abduction relating to the detention of a senior judge shortly before he was forced out of power just over a year ago in what his supporters say was a coup d'état. The current government, led by President Waheed Hassan, maintains Nasheed resigned voluntarily.

After Nasheed's arrest, protesters took to the streets in Malé and there were reports of clashes with government supporters.

A spokesman for Nasheed said the veteran human rights campaigner, who came to power in the first free multiparty elections held in the Maldives for nearly three decades, in 2008, had been detained by about 20 police wearing helmets and riot armour at his home in Malé and would be produced in court on Wednesday afternoon.

"It happened at about 1.30pm during a crucial vote in parliament. It took just 20 minutes. He was put in a car, taken to the jetty and away to the … prison," said Hamid Abdul Ghafour, a spokesman for Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic party.

In an interview with the Guardian last October, Nasheed said the court proceedings against him were without any legal basis and were aimed at barring him from participating in presidential elections scheduled for September. A jail sentence, even suspended, would rule out his candidature.

"This is entirely politically motivated. There is no chance of a fair trial," Ghafour said.

Imam Masud, a spokesman for the president, said the law was taking its course.

"We are not interfering at all. [Nasheed] has been taken by the police into judicial custody on a court order. That is what we have heard. There is no political motivation at all," Masud said.

The arrest warrant was issued by a Maldivian court after Nasheed failed to appear at a local magistrates court on 10 February for a hearing. A senior government official said it was likely Nasheed would walk free after the hearing on Wednesday.

"If you face criminal charges and ignore court summons anywhere in the world, the police will come to take you in … This is normal practice. But it is unlikely there will be any sentence tomorrow," the official said.

The Maldives, known globally as a luxury tourist destination and visited by more than 700,000 holidaymakers last year, has been hit by political instability since the end of the rule of the autocratic president Abdul Gayoom.

Economic problems and rapid change have also led to social problems, such as drug use, among its 400,000 inhabitants. The arrest will embarrass India and further strain relations between Delhi and Malé.

Nasheed sought refuge in the Indian embassy in the Maldives when the arrest warrant was first issued and left only after 11 days, on guarantees that he would be allowed to campaign peacefully for the elections, according to reports.