Defense Minister must be investigated for Parliament siege, misleading information: Nasheed
Shareef planning on raising criminal charges on MPs
Parliamentarians and security forces face off in Parliament floor
Former President Mohamed Nasheed has called on for an investigation into Defense Minister Adam Shareef Umar for laying siege to Parliament premises and for his attempts to mislead on the events of the day.
In a tweet posted in Dhivehi on Wednesday, the former President said that Defense Minister had met officers of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) over the Parliament siege and had attempted to distort the facts. As such, Nasheed said this must be investigated.
The tweet came amid an explosive leaked audio of the Minister who had announced that criminal charges will be raised against Parliamentarians and vowed to ‘settle’ the issue of MPs. The meeting came after concerns expressed by Army’s Special Protection Group (SPG) over the proceedings in Parliament floor on Monday.
RaajjeMv understands that the leaked audio was from Defense Minister’s meetings with the officers on Monday night. In the meeting Minister Shareef said that legal experts had advised the Government that Parliamentarians are exempt from prosecution over how they vote and the statements they make on Parliament floor. However, the MPs are not exempt from prosecution over damage to Parliament assets, violence and other similar offences.
The events in the Parliament started following the loss of the super majority status President Abdullah Yameen and his faction lost the super majority they enjoyed.
MNDF provides security at the Parliament. They had barred access to the Parliament from 24th to the 29th. The session on the 31st was held with many officers in the Parliament floor.
