The Maldives Police Service has said that 17 individuals were apprehended at the Joint Opposition’s rally in capital city Malé on Friday, two of whom have been released.

Those who were released have said that that police had not given them a reason for apprehending them.

One of the released detainees is a senior member of the Maldivian Democratic Party’s youth wing and the other, a long-standing supporter of Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

The police arrested MPs Abdulla Shahid, Abdul Latheef Mohamed, and Abdulla Riyaz on Friday as well.

The police have said that MP Riyaz was arrested under authority of Maldives’ ongoing state of the emergency.

The Joint Opposition, how the coalition of parties allied against President Abdulla Yameen describe themselves, held the rally calling for independence of the judiciary and Yameen’s resignation.