Pinning the accusation of being involved in the oil tanker scandal on President Abdulla Yameen and lodging a case at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is a spiteful act by the opposition, says spokesperson at the President’s Office, Ibrahim Muaz Ali.
The spokesperson took to twitter on Thursday, typing out a tweet in Dhivehi which reads that it is believed the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) pinned corruption allegations on President Yameen and lodged the case at the ACC in order to influence the Presidential Election slated for the 23rd of September.
“This is worse than defaming someone.”
Muaz had taken to twitter following MDP’s assertion to investigate incumbent President Abdulla Yameen’s alleged linkage to an illegal oil trade overseas. The ship had evidently used the call sign of an oil tanker that belongs to “Green Box Private Limited” run under the management of former Colonel Mohamed Ziyad in the Maldives, and that President Yameen had contacted the board members of Bank of Maldives (BML) when the company had requested for a loan.
Speaking at a press conference held by the MDP on Monday afternoon, the party Chairperson Hassan Latheef had said that apart from main culprit “Xin Yuan 18”, another vessel “Prospery” under the case of leaseholder, Hong Kong based “Long Line International Ship Management Company Limited” used the Maldivian flag onboard the vessel illegally.
Two days after the case was lodged, Maldives Police Service had given a statement in the President’s defense saying that the police force has concluded a full and transparent investigation into the case which concluded that President Yameen had no involvement in the case whatsoever.
“Two court hearings have taken place in the case thus far having been forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s office for investigation. We would like to add that suspects alleged to be involved in the case have been arrested and will remain in custody until the end of the trial. The accusation against President Yameen for being involved in the illegal oil trade is utterly false. None of the witnesses have yet mentioned President Yameen’s involvement in the case thus far in the investigation. We have not received any evidences against the President thus far” said MPS Spokesperson superintendent of police Ahmed Shifan.
Shifan further went on to condemn accusations pinned on the President by opposition figures, stressing that it is unacceptable to pin such serious accusations on individuals regarding serious issues related to national security. Shifan appealed on all to refrain from reporting false information.
