Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s bodyguards told an inquiry that they did not see police pepper spraying Nasheed’s face, police have said.
Police questioned the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Special Protection Group (SPG) bodyguards assigned to Nasheed, after the media publicised video footage of a police officer pepper spraying Nasheed’s face while he was with a group of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters at a protest.
In a statement issued on Thursday, police said that Nasheed’s bodyguards said that while they were aware pepper spray was being used in the area, they could not identity the officer using it.
Police said officers that working that night to control the protest were also questioned, and said they had used pepper spray after protesters moved inside the cordoned area and refused to move back after police advised the protesters to do so.
Police said they did not spray at any individual, and that the pepper spray was targeted at the crowed, the police statement said.
In an earlier statement police strongly denied the MDP allegations of directly pepper spraying people at close range, and urged the party to “publish statements responsibly”.
In the statement, police admitted using the spray to control the crowd during their recovery of barricades removed by the demonstrators, but denied intentionally targeting the former President.
The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has recently said they will investigate the issue, although no one had formally filed the case in the commission.
The MDP’s Parliamentary group leader, MP Ibrahim Mohamed ‘Ibu’ Solih, has said that the party would submit the issue to parliament’s National Security Committee.
Last week the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern over violent protests and use of “excessive force” against demonstrators.
At a press briefing last TuesdayTuesday, Spokesperson for High Commissioner Navi Pillay, Rupert Colville, observed that “instances of apparent brutality have been captured on camera. These include the seemingly deliberate and uncalled-for use of some kind of spray on former President [Mohamed] Nasheed, and the driving of police vehicles at high speed into crowds of protesters.”
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