Tag: police

Four arrested on prostitution charges in police raid of salon

Police last night arrested two Thai women and two local men on prostitution charges after raiding a Male’-based business suspected of operating as a massage parlor.

The business, called Maldivian Care, was located on the first floor of H.Hulhugali, a property belonging to Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Former President Ibrahim Zaki – who has not been implicated in the raid.

Speaking to the press today, Deputy Head of Serious and Organized Crime Inspector Mohamed Dhaudh said that police had received information that prostitution was allegedly being conducted at Maldivian Care’s premises -charges it said were later confirmed through police intelligence.

Dhaudh said police entered the saloon last night at 9:45pm with a court warrant.  Maldivian Care was located on the first floor of the house, where police claim that the business was ran from an apartment with two lockable rooms.

Dhaudh added that when police entered the property, the outside door of the apartment was locked as well as the two interior rooms as well.

Police officials identified the two Thai national suspects as Thonbai Sons and Sdhafone Budicha and the two Maldivian men as Mohamed Shinah of Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll and Moosa Ibrahim of Inguraidhoo in Raa Atoll.

Police said that although the Maldivian Care business appeared to be operated as a salon, officers had discovered items used for sexual activities inside the property.

In the first room, police reported finding a Thai woman and a naked Maldivian.  After searches were conducted of both suspects, an unused condom was found inside the pocket of the man’s trouser, whilst Rf500 was found in the pocket of the woman.

Police claimed that large amounts of Maldivian Ruffiya, US dollars and Euros were found inside the female suspect’s bag.

According to police, another Maldives national and a Thai female were found inside the second room.  Upon entering, police reported that the Maldivian man was discovered lying down, whilst the Thai woman was waiting near him.

When police searched the woman’s bag, lots of Maldivian Ruffiya, Euros and US dollars, as well as pills used for “sexual activities” were found inside.

Dhaudh said the sponsor of the two Thai nationals arrested during the raid was Mohamed Adam of Fenfushi in Alifu Dhaalu Atoll.  According to police, the sponsor has a previous police record relating to prostitution charges.

Last month, police confirmed they had made several raids on properties linked to prostitution, resulting in the arrest of a number of female expatriates.

Under the previous government, the shutting down of alternative medical centres linked to sexual activities was one of the five demands made by a coalition of NGOs and then-opposition party politicians.

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Indian national commits suicide in police custody, High Commission raises expatriate concerns

Investigations are continuing into the suicide yesterday of a 39 year-old Indian national in police custody, while the Indian High Commission today raised concerns about the treatment of some expatriates in the Maldives.

The deceased, identified by the Indian High Commission as Scariakutty Kalarikkal Yoyakim, was being held in custody on the island of Dhoonidhoo for the alleged assault of another couple with whom he had been living. Yoyakim had been employed by Crown Company and was living in the same property as the couple, as well as his wife, according to the High Commission. He is also thought to have been in the country with his son and brother.

Police Spokesperson Ahmed Haneef told Minivan News that the man was believed to have taken his life yesterday evening at about 6:50pm, though further details were unavailable at present as investigations were continuing.

Haneef said that the man may have used something to tie around his neck that would allow him to commit suicide inside the cell, but would not confirm any details until police concluded their report.

‘’Today at about 1:00pm in the afternoon his body was sent back to his country in compliance with a request from the deceased’s family,’’ he said.

Condolence gathering

The Indian High Commission confirmed that it had held a condolence gathering for Yoyakim at 5:00pm today, with 50 people in attendance. The meeting included prayers as well as a minute’s silence for the deceased, according to organisers.

A spokesperson for the commission told Minivan News that it was unaware of the nature of the man’s suicide, though the Commission understood police investigations into the death were continuing.

When contacted about the incident, Indian High Commissioner Dynaneshwar Mulay was unable to provide any additional details regarding the case. However, he did raise some concerns over the general treatment of Indian expatriates in the Maldives by the country’s police and judiciary.

Mulay claimed that alongside concerns about the treatment of some Indian expatriates in relation to the law, there were significant issues relating to “basic human rights” that needed to be addressed concerning expatriates from countries including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Mulay’s comments follow an attack last week on a Indian resort worker, who was reported to have been attacked with a hammer and mugged while staying in a hotel in Male’.  The attack was allegedly committed by a former employee of the same resort.

The victim, identified by India’s Express News Service as 24 year-old Ramakrishnan Sadanandan from Thiruvananthapuram, was reportedly attacked at 2:30pm on March 31 while staying at a local guest house in the capital.

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Police raid residences of 2007 Sultan Park bomb suspect

Police have raided the home of the wife of suspected Sultan Park bomber Mohamed Ameen. The blast, five years ago, caused injury to tourists. Another former residence of the accused was raided by police. Items were confiscated during Friday’s operation, although the police have yet to reveal what they were.

“Both houses were raided to find further proof to prove his participation in the plot. Police had confiscated several items from both houses,” a police media official told Haveeru.

Ameen was abroad at the time of the explosion and was not apprehended until October 2011 when Maldivian and Sri Lankan forces combined.

Ameen was a member of the extremist group Jama’athul Muslimeen, the leader of whom died in a suicide attack on the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence in 2009.

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Independent Commissions Committee to summon Police Commissioner, PIC, HRCM and PG

Parliament’s Independent Commissions Committee has decided to summon Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz for questioning over police brutality against anti-government protesters who took to the streets, calling for the resignation of new President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik on February 8.

The issue was submitted to the committee last Wednesday by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Hamza.

Hamza told Minivan News that he submitted the issue to the committee because the Police Commissioner had said the police would not investigate the police brutality against anti-government protesters on February 7 and 8.

Hamza said Riyaz had told him that he had requested the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) investigate the case.

‘’I am interested to know why he has refused to investigate the case,’’ he said. ‘’HRCM and Police Integrity Commission (PIC) are also being summoned to ask about their investigations into police brutality that day.’’

Hamza said the committee furthermore decided to summon Prosecutor General Ahmed Muiz because some MPs were keen to ask him questions about the arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

‘’The Chair of the committee will determine a date and time that they will be summoned,’’ he added.

He also said that lots of anti-government protesters and MPs were assaulted by police on February 7 and 8.

Independent Commissions Committee is chaired by independent MP Mohamed Nasheed.

MDP Deputy Leader and MP Alhan Fahmy has meanwhile submitted the case of the alleged coup d’état to the parliament’s National Security Committee for investigation and to determine the truth of the alleged events that took place on February 7.

Alhan said he was busy when Minivan News contacted him and did not respond.

He told Haveeru that the committee would investigate the circumstances of former President Nasheed’s resignation, and an allegation from Nasheed that Deputy Police Commissioner Atheef was held at knife point.

The National Security Committee has a majority of pro-government MPs and is chaired by Jumhoree Party (JP) Leader and MP ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim, whom the MDP have alleged was one of the resort owners responsible for funding the coup.

Last month the Maldivian Democratic Party submitted the case of police brutality against their parliamentarians to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

On February 8, thousands of anti-government supporters, led by former president Mohamed Nasheed, took to the streets demanding the resignation of the new President Dr Waheed Hassan alleging that his government was illegitimate.

Former President Nasheed, MDP Chairperson and MP ‘reeko’ Moosa Manik, MP Mariya Ali, MP Ahmed Shifaz and many other senior MDP figures were injured.

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Robbery targets offices of senior politicians and Six Senses group

Police are investigating a robbery that yesterday targeted a building containing offices belonging to Vice-President designate Waheed Deen, luxury resort operator Six Senses, and the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) Interim Chairperson Reeko Moosa Manik.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed that police teams were currently investigating the thefts at the offices, which are all based in the Jazeera Building on Boduthakurufaanu Magu in Male’. However, Haneef was unable to confirm what had been taken during the raids or if anyone had been hurt as a result, adding that it was “too early” to establish whether there was a political motive to the crimes.

According to the local media, a large sum of money is reported to have been taken from the office of Bandos Island Resort, owned by Waheed Deen, whilst significant damage was said to have been caused to the properties targeted during the alleged break in.

Local media reported that a sum of around Rf 1 million was taken from the Bandos office, whilst two safes at the Six Senses office said to contain Rf 200,000 (US$13,000) and US$5000, were also emptied during the raid. Six Senses operates several of the country’s more upmarket properties, including Soneva Fushi.

News agencies said that no money was believed to have been taken from the offices of Reeko Moosa Manik’s Heavy Load company. However, electronic equipment including computers and fax machines were reportedly destroyed as well as official documents, including staff passports.

The intruders also reportedly left several messages for Moosa Manik including, “Moosa, you may have escaped this time but you will be killed,” and “We will vote for you next time if you put some cash next time”.

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Q&A: Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz was appointed following the change of government on February 7 in what former President Mohamed Nasheed and the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) contends was a police and military-led coup d’état. Riyaz had previously served as Assistant Commissioner but was dismissed by Nasheed’s government in 2009.

Daniel Bosley: Why did you decide to promote so many officers all at once?

Abdulla Riyaz: Well, most of the promotions have been overdue for a long time, and when I took office I looked at the reasons and discussed with the executives, as I have mentioned, that we have been working to restructure the whole organisation which I have done. It has been selected to under directorates which would be able to form some departments, and in the departments there will be several units which will cover the whole country. We have a constitutional responsibility as well as from the police act. We have a lot of responsibilities to protect and serve the people, to keep the peace in society, and to maintain law and order so I thought it is necessary that these arrangements should be made and that is what we have done. All the promotions that we have awarded are based on the promotion regulations.

DB: Is this re-organisation linked to your aim of de-politicising the police force?

AR: Well, there is no politicisation in the police any more. But for the last three years, this organisation has been heavily influenced by politicians. I’m sure all professional journalists, if they have done this analysis or investigation, would find that. Since I have taken office I have looked at some of the issues and have found that some of the promotions have been given just because of political influence. There have been some officers transferred from one police station to others just for the political reasons, so I am here to make sure that I am serving this organisation, also the people of the Maldives, without bias. Today I can say very proudly say that we are working without any political influence, from the President or from the Minister. It is totally, one hundred percent, independently operational now.

DB: So, there have been demotions as well?

AR: No, there hasn’t been any demotion – definitely not so far, and I have no intention to either. If there has been any misconduct, any unlawful act done by any police officer; if they have been found guilty by law or by disciplinary boards, through the due process. If that kind of advise or that kind of verdict comes, I will definitely take those actions [to demote]. I will never hesitate to demote a police officer if they are found guilty of any unlawful act.

DB: There has been a lot of talk about reform and enhanced training; what kind of things do you have in mind for the future?

AR: For the training, our main challenge at the moment is to keep the peace in our society. To do that we have prioritised our operational practice. One of these is drug trafficking; the second is violent crimes, organised crime, counter terrorism, and road discipline – so these are the five main operational priorities that we are going to focus on this year. Most of our resources will go to make sure that we get results in these areas and our training will be focused on that.

We said that we would also want to make sure that we can convince the public and increase the public perception about the trust and confidence in the police, we need to improve that. That is one of the main areas we need. For that we need to assure that the police is not biased, that the police are professional, that we deal without any gender bias or without any political differences of that nature.

So, I am very confident that we will be in a better position to get this [confidence] back. I am pretty confident that we can achieve public trust and confidence. It’s just a couple of months that I have taken office and so far the feedback that I have been getting is very positive, and of course I am open for any comments or suggestions from the members of the public;  from which we will definitely make changes to our programmes or our projects.

So mostly, all our focus will be on that. We are doing a lot of training on professional development; investigations to make sure that, rather than on the number of cases we investigate, we concentrate more on making sure that we have more successful prosecutions. Because we have seen in the past a lot of cases that have not been proven at the court of law. That is a big concern for me, so I am working very closely with the Prosecutor General as well to make sure that our officers are trained professionally to investigate, to interview, trained to collect evidence, analyse it, submit reports and present it at the court of law, and make sure we have successful prosecutions. That is the other main area.

We are also very much concerned about our officers safety – I condemn the acts of some of the people who have attacked the police officers. We have not lost any lives but there have been several serious injuries and we had to take a couple of our officers abroad for treatment. A lot of their assets have been targeted and vandalised on the other atolls, on the islands, while they were serving the public. So, one of our concerns is also to improve their welfare and working conditions, plus their working shifts. We know that some of the officers have been working very hard, very long hours and that we need to improve that. For that reason we needed more officers to be recruited into the organisation, which we are going to do this year. We have been approved for 200 more police officers to be included, so they will be initiated this year. We are also seeing that due to the long shifts and fatigue, that we need to make sure that our officers are dealing with the public professionally.

We are getting some of the reports of complaints about police officers’ dealings and because of that reason we have restructure our professional standards. They are responsible to deal with complaints against the police, also to do counselling for officers, and that kind of program has already been initiated. The counselling program will involve almost all of the police officers in the service. It is professional counselling to make sure that they don’t have worries with their families or whatever issues that they have, if that comes back to us, then our organisation will know what are the things we need to improve. These are the main areas we need to improve.

DB: We have already touched slightly on internal disciplinary procedures – have these been changed in any way?

AR: The internal disciplinary procedures all these years has been that, if there is any complaint against the police, the case has to register at the Professional Standards Directorate (PSD). It had to be registered, somebody had to complain. But I have changed it to act that if we hear information from any sources – it is more pro-active. Then the PSD has the responsibility to do an inquiry, and they will also work very closely with the Human Rights Commission Maldives (HRCM), with the Police Integrity Commission (PIC), with Amnesty International (AI) or other organisations who are dealing with these kinds of areas, so they are very pro-active – more proactive than ever before.

Once they investigate the cases, if they feel that there has been a criminal case, then it will be dealt with by the criminal investigation department, whereas if it is a disciplinary issue, it will go through the disciplinary board. We have a disciplinary board of five or seven members; we have changed the board now. Some commissioned officers have been complained about so it has been restructured so very senior officers will be sitting to deal with the commissioned officers and so that is the procedure. If the board decides that action should be taken then I will definitely endorse it. That is how it is done in terms of disciplinary issues and if there is a call for dismissal then I have to write to the Minister for his authorisation. If it is a criminal case it will go to the prosecutor general who will deal with it in accordance with the law.

DB: Could you comment on recent complaints by Amnesty International regarding the treatment of female detainees?

AR: It’s very unfortunate that it has come up. Normally, these kinds of organisations, before they issue a release, they will ask for our comments. They have never done that; I am very disappointed about that. We have given Amnesty full access every time they asked; it is even now open. We have a very open policy. To be honest with you, even during a demonstration, every time we are working on the street, HRCM or PIC is on the ground to watch us. Normally, if we apprehend someone, before we even know their names, HRCM would have registered it by themselves. So it is in the normal cases.

We are giving them access to our reception, we are giving access to Dhoonidhoo island. In fact, they don’t have to ask to visit, they could just go by boat and say that ‘we are here’, they could make surprise visits – feel free, it’s open. Even Amnesty or Open Society or whatever – please come and visit us and see if there is anything we have been doing systematically to harass or do anything. On that matter, I am very disappointed that Amnesty has released that statement without contacting us for our comments. I don’t see that there has been any investigations done, none of our officers was questioned, interviewed – neither by them nor by the police integrity commission, nor by the human rights commission. I don’t think that’s fair and that’s the reason we had to respond to it [with a statement].

DB: Regarding the investigation of the events of February 7 and 8, what are the roles of the HRCM and the CNI?

AR: I can’t talk on behalf of CNI, obviously, but I think they are investigating an overview, that’s how I feel. They are not doing a criminal investigation. I was interviewed as well and I was told it wasn’t a criminal investigation. So I think we will have to wait for the outcome. I think it’s a very positive move by the government, to have an independent commission to make sure how events took place. The HRCM is perhaps doing a part of the investigation, or the PIC is doing some as well, so let’s wait and see how it comes.

DB: You have already mentioned the public sentiment problems, is there anything you would like to add on that subject?

AR: I can understand that this is not the best time for police, there have been a lot of things [that have happened]. What I would like to convey to the members of the public is that the police institution will remain as an institution. People come and go, the leadership comes and goes; the institution will remain. Even for the politicians or the members of the public who are not comfortable with us, I would want to convince, or give the message, that the institution will remain, so we will have to give that respect to the institution. If there is an issue with the commissioner or if there is an issue with any of the officers, I think we will have to follow the processes; if there is any complaint, deal with it. All these institutions that have to be there within our constitution are already there in place, it’s functioning.

I think that PIC, HRCM, Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) are very independently doing the investigations and we should allow that to happen rather than blaming the institutions for no reason. I don’t think that is going to be healthy, either for them, nor for society, nor for us. I think we have to strengthen the institutions, we have to advocate even the members of the public and the politicians as well. The future political leaders must also make sure we give the space to strengthen the institutions.

I think that this is a great opportunity for the Maldives. Why it is great is because now, at this point of time, I can say the police is very much operationally independent. This is the only time I can happily say that. I can see a lot of smiles from the police officers, I can see that they are not exhausted.  I have been scared with some of the incidents they have gone through during  the last three years – some of the decisions that have come from executive of what to do and what not to do. These things are not here, I don’t get calls from my president. That is why I’m saying that this is a great time and I think that this is a time for our lawmakers to look at how this institution has been politicised, how can we improve for the new leaders; not only the executives but also the commissioners? How strong should the commissioner be to make sure the institution is not politicised?

I think these are the [important] areas and, of course, from all that we have seen about the arrest and detention of the criminal court judge, we can see that the whole thing is coming from the executive’s instructions. So what made the Home Minister and the Commissioner decide to come back and ask for assistance from the police, and the Commissioner to go to Defence, and the Defence Minister asking for the rank and files to make him arrest and all this – we have to look at these things. Do we want this to happen again? No. Do we want change of government like this? No. We are talking about making institutions professional, we are taking about strengthening institutions, we are talking about giving them space to effectively run the main responsibilities for the people.

Police are not there protect the government, police are there to protect the people. We have to differentiate these things, while in my position I have to decide whether my work will be to protect the government or should I use all my legal authority and machinery, the resources that we have, to protect the people. These are the decisions; these are two different things. I think in a democratic society, the policing is always for the people and I am confident that the President has pledged [this], and that was one of the reasons why I accepted to come back to the police. I have my trust and confidence in the president, also in my minister, and even if I get do get any unlawful order, I am confident to say that I will say no and I will  never do that. All the actions, all the decisions that we will take will be based on our legal positions, by ourselves. It will never be influenced by politicians.

DB: Has the precedent been set for police to overthrow government when unlawful orders are issued?

AR: I see February 6 as a day when the police have upheld the constitution and the laws of the land. They have been repeatedly instructed and given unlawful orders for which they have [refused to follow] several times. I see that as a day that they have upheld the law and constitution, I don’t see that they have overthrown the government. I see the whole process went very peacefully. I don’t see it as a coup either. I don’t know how it went inside the chambers of the Presidnt or inside his office, but obviously what I have seen is that he was very voluntarily resigning. I saw his resignation speech as well from close by, so I don’t see that there was any coup. I don’t believe the police force have overthrown the government.

In fact, if you look from minute to minute on the sixth, what they have been asking is for one thing –  not to give unlawful orders, that’s the only thing they had been demanding. That was with a reason. Why were they at the Republic Square? Because the seniors asked them to stay there. So, the events have unfolded the next day and several things have happened, and the President has decided.

Definitely, I was never involved in any coup. I can one hundred percent guarantee that if there is any investigation from any agency, I can one hundred percent say that I am very innocent in that. Whatever role I played, it was based on national interest, nothing else. We never wanted to see any bloodshed, we never wanted to see anything happen wrong there and that was a time when I thought that the nation had asked for my support or my presence. That is how I was there. Unless, if anything is proven in a court of law, I don’t think I can be convinced otherwise.

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Police promote one thousand officers, recruiting further 200

In a ceremony to celebrate the 79th year of the police service, Police Commissioner Abdullah Riyaz and Minister of Home Affairs Dr Abdullah Jameel announced the promotion of around 1000 police officers – approximately a third of the force.

The appointment of four new Assistant Commissioners was also announced, more than doubling the previous number holding this rank – the third highest position in the service.

Additionally, the police have revealed plans to recruit 200 new officers to the force this year.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef said that these promotions were in line with normal police regulations, and were awarded “based on performance, merit, and number of years served.”

The weekend’s celebrations continued as President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan announced plans to allocate 74,000 square feet of land to develop homes for police personnel.

Dr Waheed also expressed his gratitude for the police’s actions on February 7. “I state that the police worked on February 7 to uphold the constitution of Maldives,” he said.

The anniversary of the police service comes after months of intense scrutiny in which it the service been accused of brutality, human rights abuses and complicity in the downfall of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

On Saturday, Commissioner Riyaz stated that he did not intend to pursue an internal investigation into the alleged events of February 7 and 8, citing the lack of credibility that such an investigation was likely to have.

The unrest on February 8 saw a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest swiftly suppressed by the security forces while the footage of police aggression was beamed around the world.

Instead, Riyaz declared his decision to focus on repairing the organisational damage done to the institution.

“I can’t just come in here and investigate the alleged police brutality as the first order of business. It is essential to establish who was occupying which post first by assessing the organizational structure. The whole institution had been politically influenced,” the Commissioner told Haveeru.

“We all know that the positions within the police institutions had not been assigned in accordance with police regulations and had functioned in violation of the police system. Hence, I am compelled to drag the institution back into its proper system,” said Riyaz.

He also stated that he had discussed any potential investigation with the President and the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) shortly after taking up his post, requesting that the HRCM take up the responsibility.

Amnesty International had last week criticised this method of investigation after having spoken to HRCM regarding the investigation of alleged sexual abuse of female detainees.

“HRCM has told Amnesty International that they have serious limitations in terms of trained investigative staff and dealing with human rights issues in a highly politicised environment is an overwhelming challenge for them,” said Amnesty’s representative in Male’, Abbas Faiz.

“By referring cases of police abuse of power to the HRCM, when it is clear that such investigations are beyond its capacity, the government is in effect forfeiting its own responsibility to enforce respect for human rights within the police force,” said Faiz.

President Waheed’s speech at the anniversary’s official function event focussed on the difficult environment the police had found themselves since the upheavals of February.

Waheed called on public to show respect for and cooperation with the police while urging all officers to respect human rights and human dignity in the course of their duties.

The strong public discontent with the police’s role in, and its reaction to, the events of February 7 and 8 has led to simmering tensions which have erupted in sporadic violence.

The President also expressed his sadness at the physical and emotional distress suffered by the police in recent weeks.

The opening of the people’s Majlis on March 19 was accompanied by clashes which saw the police suffer multiple casualties. This was followed by a series of attacks which saw four police officers hospitalised in five days.

Popular discontent also saw the staging of a large rally on March 15 in support of the International Day Against Police Brutality.

Both Commissioner Riyaz and President Waheed have been reported expressing concerns that people in the media were attempting to defame the image of the police force, expressing concern that this was damaging the country.

“I am aware of their contempt towards the institution. I will try to resolve the matter. The biggest challenge would be to win back their trust and confidence,” Riyaz told Haveeru.

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Three men and a teen sought by police in VTV attack probe

Police are currently searching for three men and a teenager suspected of having involvement in the attacks on Villa Television’s (VTV) offices during confrontations between security forces and alleged anti-government protesters in Male’ on March 19, local media has reported.

According to the Sun Online news service, four male suspects aged 29, 26, 19 and 17 are wanted by police for questioning over the attacks, which caused significant damage to the media organisation’s building on Sosun Magu.

VTV was briefly brought off air following the incident – an act claimed by the station’s owner to be tantamount to “terrorism”.  Local media bodies also criticised protesters for allegedly threatening journalists and media personnel covering the clashes.

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Comment: How do you solve a problem like the Maldives Police Service?

Today marks 79 years of Policing in the Maldives. Pity, that it has become so controversial an issue to appreciate.

A mistrust of the Maldivian police and security services has been ingrained in me for most of my life. I grew up with stories of arbitrary arrests, brutality in jails, and the concept that the police were not there to protect and serve my interests, but those of their immediate superiors. In fact, one of the fundamental things that I had to accept in 2008, after the country’s first multi-party Presidential election, was the idea that the Police were no longer ‘enemies’, or even the ‘golha-force’, but very much part of the apparatus of state that any government had to take into consideration. It wasn’t an easy task.

Controlling my body not to shudder at the sight of a blue camouflaged uniform and black ankle boots, and understanding that not every arrest the police made was arbitrary. Most of all learning to trust the police took time, commitment and a lot of stubbornness. Maybe that sense of apprehension and mistrust went both ways.

No doubt, the prospect of a MDP government would have filled most senior police officers with a high sense of foreboding. After all, these were the very people that they had seen on the other side of an investigation table, inside a jail cell and on the street loudly confronting them at every given opportunity. Let’s not take lightly the extent to which the police were a political tool of Maumoon’s authoritarian regime, and as a result, that they were very much a product of the democratic reform process in the Maldives at that time.

The Maldives Police Service was created in September 2004. Mostly out of the need to placate the international community, and to perform a PR exercise after the human rights debacle that was 12/13 August 2004.

Instead of policing duties being conducted by the National Security Service or the Army, we got the Maldives Police Service and the Maldives National Defence Force. Basically – blue and green uniforms. Two hastily divided institutions plunged into a fast-changing political environment to which they were inextricably tied. Millions were poured into the MPS – equipment, training, strategic action plans, philosophies of policing and of course, new blue uniforms. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the training went into how to use new equipment rather than how to Police within new democratic laws. Of course, Adam Zahir being at the helm was never going to help. Neither did the Hussain Solah incident, especially after Evan Naseem.

Nonetheless, the MPS emerged as an institution with heavy amounts of funding, a select group of highly educated officers, very young, not always disciplined recruits and a top brass that was intent on maintaining the status quo. Many in the top brass had spent years in the NSS, looked up to individuals like Adam Zahir as father figures and in some cases, had managed to log quite a few ‘favours’ through the Maumoon regime and therefore were heavily indebted. Add to this the ‘Star Force’, the frontline of an authoritarian defence whose very existence and modus operandi depended on the long leash of their superiors and government.

During the establishment of the MPS, human rights discourse, although in the Maldivian mainstream and a significant facet of the MPS PR machine, had not and it now seems has not filtered through to the officer on the street. The MDP government due to their personal histories of being victims of human rights violations and their voicing out against police brutality faced greater pressure to ensure that these incidents did not take place under their watch.

Political prisoners were no longer an issue, but it would be unfair to say that maltreatment of detainees in jails completely disappeared. We could say it lessened significantly and that it was no longer systematic. There was definitely more oversight, with the Human Rights Commission and the Police Integrity Commission, but it was still a work in progress. A work in progress, which was focusing on issues such as the reduction of drugs, terrorism, gang violence and theft rather than simply on political protests.

Yes, the whole institution still unnecessarily stuttered at the sight of a protest, but there was more to the ‘Protect and Serve’ during the last three years than ever before. I suppose however, that ‘works in progress’ – especially in an infant democracy – are vulnerable, and leadership was not always forthcoming.

The extent of its vulnerability and the ability to which outside forces with vested interests managed to manipulate the disenchanted and politicised officers on the inside was evident on 7 February 2012. As a result, I find myself asking, ‘now what?’

Now that the police have played such an inexplicably outrageous role in engineering a coup and bringing down the country’s first democratically elected government – who are they protecting and serving now?

It cannot be the Maldivian people. No matter which side of the political spectrum you fall, however much you hate Anni and the MDP, I cannot imagine that many people genuinely condone the actions of the police on 6-8 Feb. Unless you’re vicious Visam (MP) of course!

I for one condemn it with every fibre of my being. I don’t believe that all police officers participated or even supported the actions of the mutinying officers on the 6th night. Many went along out of an ill-begotten sense of camaraderie to their fellow officers who they believed would have been arrested by the MNDF. As they should have been – nothing justifies a coup. Especially the very politicised actions that preceded it.

I understand that many officers who don’t accept this new situation can’t just up and leave, be it because of a need to provide for their families or a sense of duty to an institution that they have helped develop, but it is difficult to remember this when faced with footage of the carnage that was February 8 and the stories that have followed since.

The re-emergence of individuals like [Police Commissioner] Abdulla Riyaz is frightening. He may have undergone a course in customer needs and conducting business through social media, but the nature of the man remains the same: brutal. Unapologetically so.

As such, the use of force although granted to policemen by law, seems again far too easy a whim for officers to use rather than a measure to be taken in the gravest of circumstances. The fact that they have to be accountable to their actions, that they must provide a greater example, is non-existent. That Abdulla Riyaz is surrounded by deputies who seem to either share his beliefs or are willing to silently submit to it is scary, that his superiors are opportunistic nitwits like Jameel and FA is even more chill inducing, and most of all that the Police Integrity Commission is powerless, is incredibly frightening.

So, how do I feel about the police now? Scared. Infuriated. Frustrated. And heartbreakingly disappointed. On the 79th anniversary of Policing in the Maldives, I do not wish Police Officers hearty congratulations. Instead, I wish for them a sense of responsibility and understanding of their role in the disruption of a democratic state. I continue to wish that action will be taken against officers who so blatantly violated the police act and abused unarmed citizens. I call for somebody to be held accountable for the actions of Police officers on February 8, I call for a re-evaluation of the need of the ‘Special Operations’ Unit, and I call for the resignations of Abdulla Riyaz, Hussain Waheed, Abdulla Phairoosh, FA and Jameel. And I call for an early election.

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