Amal Clooney 'turned down lucrative deal with luxury brand' as she defends imprisoned former president of Maldives

International human rights lawyer is defending Mohamed Nasheed

Amal Clooney is part of Mr Nasheed's legal team (AP)

Amal Clooney reportedly turned down a lucrative contract with a luxury brand in order to work to secure the release of the former president of the Maldives, imprisoned by the current government.

Mohamed Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected leader, is serving a 13-year “terrorism” sentence for allegedly ordering the arrest and detention of a judge during his tenure - but human rights activists have described the government’s actions as a “travesty of justice”.

Part of Mr Nasheed’s legal team, Mrs Clooney attended a court on Thursday in Male and held a meeting with the country’s Attorney General. She also visited her client for the second time in his high security prison cell.

Meanwhile, a representative of Mrs Clooney - married to American actor George Clooney - reportedly said the international human rights barrister had been offered lucrative fashion contracts.

“She was very flattered but it’s just not what she’s interested in doing,” the representative allegedly told the International Business Times. “She’s been offered huge amounts of money to not do this job and to just be famous and pretty and stylish.”

It comes as Mrs Clooney’s husband appeared on US television show Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show.

"What is it like to be the arm candy in a relationship?" he asked the world-famous actor.

Mr Clooney said he did the “shiny and pretty” part of the relationship, agreeing with Mr Colbert he “mostly” kept quiet.

“Her co-counsel was just stabbed in the head a few days ago, so it is a dangerous place to be right now. I am very concerned with her being there,” he said.

It is the latest high-profile case taken on by the British-Lebanese lawyer, of Doughty Street Chambers in London. Only last month Mrs Clooney was in Egypt defending imprisoned Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.

Neither representatives for Mr or Mrs Clooney returned requests for comment.