Yoga Day event riot: 241 Committee briefed on police actions, reasons security was breached
MPS has compiled an internal review of the whole incident
Yoga Day event riot
The People’s Majlis Committee on National Security Services or the 241 Committee has been briefed regarding the actions of officers of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and the reasons security was breached during the riots at the National Stadium on June 21 which saw the disruption of activities to mark the International Day of Yoga.
The 241 Committee had received two cases in connection with the Yoga Day riots, following which the committee had earlier sought the details of the occurrences of the day from the police institution.
The police institution had in turn provided the committee with a detailed papers as well as a timeline of the events that took place.
Further, MPS had also shared the actions taken by the institution as well as the reasons security was breached, with the committee.
The police have also compiled an internal review of the whole incident, which has since been presented to the committee.
According to the committee, the National Integrity Commission (NIC) had also run probes into the Yoga Day event riots, following which a confidential report has been compiled and forwarded to the committee.
Following Tuesday’s committee meeting, senior police officials including the Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed were presented to the committee for further questioning.
The committee was held behind closed doors due to confidentiality reasons.
In connection with the riots at the National Stadium, several arrests were made and charges were raised against them.
The charges against the suspects were forwarded to the Criminal Court on October 2. The trial is currently proceeding.
23 individuals had been arrested in connection with the riots at the National Stadium by August 5.
The yoga event, organized by the Indian High Commission in Maldives, was joined by foreign diplomats, senior government officials as well as locals including children and elders. The event was disrupted by a group of individuals who stormed into the stadium and demanded to halt the event. Physical attacks were also reported alongside vandalism, which caused injuries to some of the participants.
MPS has since revealed that the supplies including flags were provided to the protestors by the opposition Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM). It has been revealed that the flags used in the riots were the same ones used at the political gathering held by the opposition party, at the carnival area. The sound system was also reported to have been provided by PPM. The opposition party has since issued a statement, noting that supplying the flags was “not an issue” by itself.
MPS has assured that the case will be probed as a serious case and that perpetrators will be brought before justice.
The yoga event riot has since made international headlines, while the government also strongly condemned the actions of the protestors. As such, President Solih in a Twitter post, said that the perpetrators will be brought before justice, “soon”.
