The garment has become a symbol of protest against postponed elections in the island nation

Roberto Schmidt/ AFP / Getty Images Maldivian former president and presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed casts his vote at a polling station in Male earlier this month.

Police in the Maldives arrested 12 people on Wednesday after a pair of enormous white male underpants were found hanging above the entrance to a local court.

The great white briefs are a reference to a leaked video of a top Supreme Court judge, who was allegedly caught with several prostitutes in a hotel room in Sri Lanka (you guessed it, with his pants down and wearing tighty-whities).

The undergarment has now become a symbol of protest against a decision by the Maldives’ Supreme Court to indefinitely suspend the country’s presidential election, due to have taken place on Saturday.

Earlier this month, Mohamed Nasheed, who was forced out of office in an alleged coup last year, won 45% of the vote in a first round of presidential elections. The court postponed the second round of elections after one of Nasheed’s opponents, Qasim Ibrahim, asked it to annul the results, alleging electoral fraud.

Members of Nasheed’s party have said the court’s decision was unconstitutional, and have begun using images of the underpants in rallies across the country and on social media.

[Minivan News]