The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has summoned and questioned Fathimath Zahiyya, more commonly known as Zaya, a National Congress member of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), in connection with the large-scale “Lootuvaifi!” protest staged on October 3.

Zaya was formally summoned on October 21 and instructed to appear at the Galolhu Police Station on Thursday morning. She complied with the summons and attended the session as scheduled.

According to the police, participants in the October 3 protest gathered across several areas of the capital, Malé City, allegedly disrupting public movement and business operations and obstructing police duties in violation of the Peaceful Assembly Act. The summons required Zaya to provide a statement and a sample photograph for the ongoing investigation.

The protest in question was one of the largest demonstrations organized by MDP in recent months, drawing thousands of participants who voiced concerns over government corruption and the erosion of independent institutions. The rally was met with a heavy-handed police response, with officers deploying sound-based crowd control devices against civilians, an act widely condemned by rights groups and legal experts as excessive and unlawful.

Despite public criticism, no investigation has been launched into the use of such sonic weapons, and the police have not disclosed the legal basis for their deployment that night. Meanwhile, several individuals who were at the forefront of the protest have since been arrested or summoned for questioning, a pattern MDP and many observers describe as systematic intimidation.

Zaya’s case is particularly notable as she had already been targeted earlier this month. On October 7, police stopped her on the street and seized her mobile phone under a court order, allegedly in relation to a social media post attributed to her. The seizure, like the latest summons, has fueled accusations that law enforcement is being used to harass opposition figures rather than uphold justice.

MDP has condemned the ongoing police actions, arguing that they are politically motivated efforts to discourage participation in the party’s upcoming rally scheduled for November 17. Members of the public and civil society have also expressed concern that the authorities are deliberately targeting women activists for additional harassment, further highlighting the shrinking space for dissent in the country.