Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has said that the police’s claim of having found evidence of criminal wrongdoing against him are ‘blatant lies’.

Maumoon’s team of legal representatives conveyed his sentiments about the police’s ongoing investigation at a conference on Tuesday.

Hussein Shameem, a former deputy at the Prosecutor General’s Office who has recently been known for taking on cases involving members of the opposition facing criminal charges, said that his client believes any evidence that the police claims to have found is likely to have been planted by their officers.

Shameem further said that the police are yet to question his client, despite keeping him in remand since his arrest on 5^th February. Shameem had also conveyed former president Maumoon’s response to claims that he is not cooperating with the police’s investigation.

“He asked how he could cooperate with an investigation that has yet to reach him. That an implication needs to be posed for him to respond. He said he has been in remand for days, yet they have still to ask him a thing” Shameem said.

Fisheries Minister Mohamed Shainee said this in a tweet responding to the family’s call on authorities to release her father and ensure he has access to lawyers, his family, and medical care.

Police said they have found Maumoon to have been providing Supreme Court justice Ali Hameed with financial assistance for years, and discovered a ‘black suitcase’ with documented evidence of Maumoon’s son, Faris Maumoon, bribing justices of the apex court.