Maldives’ law enforcement institutions must, under all conditions, avoid becoming conduits to tyranny, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has said.

MDP said in a statement on Sunday that the government has actively worked to intimidate any institution that aims to uphold the law and ‘act as an obstacle to his tyrannical rule’.

The statement also condemns the participation of ‘some officers’ within the police and the Maldives National Defence Force in what the party described as unlawful orders, while commending the refusal of others to abide by them.

MDP also expressed concern at what they said is the police’s crackdown on the opposition and the events they have been holding in capital city Malé and elsewhere in the country.

The police have been reported to routinely use brute force and violent methods to disperse opposition supporters who gather at protests, that all remain non-violent.

The police have also used the government’s imposition of a state of emergency in the Maldives to arrest and detain said gatherers.