MNDF sacks Colonel Ziyad

Colonel Mohamed Ziyad has been sacked by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) on February 20.

In early 2012, Colonel Ziyad was among senior military officials charged in relation to the controversial detention of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed on January 16, 2012.

At the first hearing of his trial at the Hulhumalé magistrate court in February 2012, Colonel Ziyad pleaded not guilty to the charges of arbitrary arrest and detention.

Ziyad’s sacking last week followed the dismissal of six senior officers, including Brigadier General Ahmed Nilam, in November 2013.

The MNDF said at the time that Nilam had been demoted from the post of Brigadier General and dismissed for “violating MNDF duties and disciplinary norms, repeating acts that should not be seen from an MNDF officer, revealing secret information against military regulations, diminishing the honor of the MNDF, and sowing discord in the military”.

While First Lieutenant Abdulla Shareef, Sergeant First Class Ali Waheed, and Staff Sergeant Ibrahim Ali were dismissed for allegedly breaching the MNDF’s duties and responsibilities, Staff Sergeant Hassan Hameed was dismissed for disciplinary offences and Lance Corporal Shahrab Rashid for leaking secret MNDF documents.

All six soldiers had previously been suspended on charges of sowing discord in the military.