Police have issued a statement denying the authenticity of memo which supposedly a memo sent to senior officers by Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz, informing them of a special operation to arrest Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.
The document, circulating on social media, states that the arrests were to be made in compliance with an order from President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik.
Police have disputed the credibility of memo, stating that the letterhead used in the document was one never used by police.
A statement issued by police said the allegedly forged memo was an attempt to intentionally discredit the police service for the sake of political benefit, and condemned the act as “uncivilised”.
”Despite the fact that these types of documents are circulating in the media, police will not hesitate to take any action required to investigate criminal offences according to procedure,” the police statement read.
The statement said police will not discriminate in an investigation and would always rely on evidence, regardless of a person’s field of work.
Police also said they could only hold a person in detention for 24 hours without a warrant from the court.
According to the leaked document, during a political rally on Thinadhoo Dr Waheed was obstructed by MDP members and several members of his delegation assaulted.
According to the letter, attributed to Commissioner Riyaz, Dr Waheed “asked me to arrest and apprehend everyone involved in the protests held on Thinadhoo that day and keep them locked in Gaafu Alifu Villingili Police Station until the end of the presidential elections.”
The last paragraph urges senior officers to keep the objective of the operation hidden from lower ranks.
President Waheed’s maiden campaign trip to Thinadhoo in June was met by hundreds of angry protesters who came out in opposition to the government’s heavy crackdown on the island following Waheed’s controversial ascension to power on February 7, 2012.
Following the scuffle on Thinadhoo – Waheed’s mother’s home island – the President expressed frustration over the incident on social media service Twitter, in which he blamed Nasheed and the MDP and declared that such actions “do not bear well for a free and fair election”.
According to media reports, objects including water bottles were thrown at Waheed.
Thinadhoo saw some of the strongest reactions to the February 8 crackdown on protesters in Male’, with government offices and police stations destroyed across the island. Islanders were also reported to have blockaded the arrival of police reinforcements for days afterwards.
Police eventually arrested 17 people and later sent the names of 108 persons involved in the demonstrations for prosecution.
The ‘bittersweet’ rally
During his visit to Thinadhoo in June, Waheed spoke about how his mother was subjected to torture and inhumane treatment following her mild criticism of Gayoom’s regime, as said his trip to her island was “bittersweet”.
“As you would all know, back [during Gayoom’s regime] the political environment was such that criticising the government was a big crime. My mother while watching the TV said that Gayoom had lied. After that it was a very bitter experience,” he recalled.
“The poor lady was dragged to court, people gathered around her on the streets and pulled her hair, spat on her and committed other derogatory acts at that time in Male’.”
Waheed claimed that his mother never had any involvement in local politics and admitted that none of his family members would forget how Gayoom’s regime treated his mother.
Waheed said that despite this, the circumstances following the controversial resignation of former President Nasheed required him to take over the presidency. For that reason, Waheed said he had invited all political parties in the country to join his government.
“Among these [members of political parties] included those who caused such grief to my family. It is not that I don’t know who these people are, or that I chose to work with them. What was best for the country at that moment was for me to set aside my personal vengeance and to prioritise the country before my personal emotions,” he contended.
“Some of my family members could not take that. The result was that some of them, to this date, do not speak with me. Some of them even live in this island,” he said.
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Everything these days seems to be fake. Voters will not be able to tell between black and white when everything is grey. See?
Nothing the Maldive Police say can be believed until they can wash away the dirt within the institution and rid of those who brought the coup!
They put a secret operation on a memo?!! Sum body is clutching at straws...
The Maldives Police Service is now the 'militant hand' of the PPM. They have no constitutional right to arrest, or even carry letters around.
They serve to cover up crimes committed by their fellow gangsters, and illegally detain anyone they deem to be a threat to their regime.
No dictator will leave the Nation, until he destroy the Nation. Please kindly eliminate dictatorial power grass-root level.
The people of Thinadhoo will know how to take care of themselves. may be such effort by cops will tempt yet another "magoodhandi sarukaaru".
n MDP is the militant arm of Keneree Circus... Let's all refrain from acting like we know anything...
If only your Keneree Circus existed, bear. Now stand still. I need a new rug. 😀
Waheed is under pressure to be more Muslim than the kaf'r the opposition deposed in a coup back in February 2012.
His hand was the one that signed the papers allowing the MPP and NSS violence between August 11 and August 14 of the same year, though it might have been an opposition ghost writer with more power than him e.g. a judge perhaps? 😉