Riyaz’s question: could Adeeb meet Humam without Yameen’s knowledge?

Former Commissioner of Police and Kimbidhoo Constituency MP Abdullah Riyaz has raised questions following President Abdullah Yameen’s claims that a former senior figure of the Government had met Hussain Humam while he was in jail.

Speaking in RaajjeTV’s ‘Fala Suruhee’ program, Riyaz said that the former Government official President Yameen had indicated was his former Deputy Ahmed Adeeb. Riyaz questioned if this would be possible, given that Humam was serving a criminal sentence.

In his speech given in STELCO to welcome new members to ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), President Yameen did not indicate when that meeting had occurred. Riyaz denied that such a meeting had occurred during his tenure as Commissioner of Police.

‘How likely was it that Adeeb could carry out something without President Yameen knowing. Police should investigate this,’ he said.

Riyaz said that even when Adeeb was serving as Tourism Minister, his influence was unmatched, even beating out then Vice President Dr. Mohamed Jameel. He said the actions of the PPM members then proved that Adeeb’s influence was unmatched and therefore, there was no room to believe that President Yameen would not be aware of Adeeb’s actions.

Riyaz added that anytime an inmate was removed from prison, his or her handler is made aware of it. Additionally, he noted the jail had CCTV cameras and the footage should exist.

‘This did not happen during my tenure as Police Commissioner. My sources report this happened during President Yameen’s tenure. An inmate can be removed only after undergoing so many processes, footage of that should exist,’ Riyaz said.

Noting that Police should reveal more information on the murder of Dr. Afrasheem Ali, Riyaz had expressed concern over the delay in information.

‘Contract killings are difficult to investigate. Crime scenes show who had done it. Additional information must be found from interrogating suspects, have to find who fund it. When I was Commissioner, I had shared information on the case. This is not seen under the Yameen administration. Do not know even if the case is being investigated. It’s been three years, information must be shared,’ he said.