Police make 19 arrests prior to September polls

Maldives Police Service (MPS) has revealed that they have arrested 19 individuals since August in connection to the upcoming Presidential Election.

In a tweet posted by the MPS on Saturday, the police revealed that one individual was arrested from Gaaf Dhaalu Gadhdhoo island in connection to the fire at the “Mariyaaduge”, an antique house located in the harbor area of the island on the 21st of August and that the 18 others were arrested from Kolamaafushi island in Gaaf Alif atoll on the 30th of August following a dispute between supporters of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) on the 29th of August.

An arrest warrant issued by the Magistrate Court in Villigili island of Gaaf Alif stated that they had been accused of creating chaos and disturbing the peace as well as for assault and damage of property at 06:00 p.m. on the 29th of August. The court warrant stated that they had been arrested due to risk of them influencing witness testimonies, and due to security risks.

Those arrested from Kolamaafushi include Abdulla Rasheed, Ahmed Saleem, Niyaz Hussain, Hussain Farhath, Ahmed Waheed, Mahooth Ismail, Abbas Abdulla, Ahmed Rauf, Hassan Najeeb, Muslim Najeeb, Ziyad Rasheed, Mohamed Rasheed, Razeen Rasheed, Ahmed Shuzan, Shahudh Mohamed, Ismail Shareef, Riffath Ibrahim and Amjad Ibrahim, all of them are supporters of MDP.

The man arrested in Gadhdhoo following the arson attack on “Mariyaaduge” which was built on the island harbor as part of a welcome decoration for President Yameen’s arrival, was a 41-year-old man.

While 19 arrests have been made in connection to the September election, it is notable that all 19 are supporters of the joint opposition coalition’s Presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.