Former commissioners Abdulla Riyaz and Hussein Waheed are responsible for disrupting the Maldives Police Service, and warping its function, says lawyer Mohamed Nishan.

Speaking to RaajjeTV on Sunday night, Nishan said that the public has greatly lost trust in the local policing institute within the last seven, ‘or so’, years.

Nishan, who previously worked with the police, said that public trust deteriorated during the tenure of former commissioners Riyaz and Waheed, who he said allowed officers to act with impunity.

Nishan also said that that the police have acted unethically in trial proceedings for cases, and that a regulation for reports and witness testimonies they provide needs to be established.

Officers of the Maldives Police Service, particularly its special operations unit, have been accused of using excessive and brutal force against civilians.

Nishan said that the police have a ‘long way to go’ in order to restore this trust and that the influence of other state branches within the service needs to be removed, ‘root and stem’.

The new commissioner of police, Mohamed Hameed, has said that he intends to restore the lost public trust in the policing institute.

The police has introduced an online portal to receive public feedback, and such opinions sent before the end of February are to be used in forming their action plan for this year.