Parliament to question home minister reg. Luthufee's extradition

Home Minister Imran Abdulla has been summoned to parliament.

He is to present himself to Monday’s sitting, for questioning regarding the work being done to extradite wanted fugitive Abdulla Luthufee from Sri Lanka.

Parliament’s secretary general Fathimath Niusha revealed this at a press conference on Sunday, adding that he has been sent a notice.

The motion to summon and question the minister was submitted by Nolhivaram constituency MP Nasheed Abdulla.

According to authorities, Luthufee had turned himself in to the Maldives embassy in Sri Lanka on May 1. However, this was hidden from the public until June 24.

Convicted and sentenced to life over the 1988 attempted coup that took the lives of 19 Maldivians, Luthufee had been in hiding since being granted medical leave in 2010.

The government has faced immense criticism over the delay in Luthufee’s extradition, by both the opposition and public. A member of opposition People’s National Congress (PNC) had even submitted an emergency motion over the case, last week.

Furthermore, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was bombarded with questions related to this case at a press conference on Thursday.

He said that the government is working to complete all required procedures to extradite Luthufee to Maldives, adding that it just needs an approval from the country’s Attorney General Department.

President Solih stated that the purpose of completing all these procedures is “to not risk giving him an opportunity to flee again.”

He added that the government will purchase his ticket, and pay his overstay fine to ensure he returns to prison and completes his sentence.

While the opposition had also accused the president and his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of helping Luthufee to hide, he described the man as the country’s “biggest traitor,” and added that he has no intention of pardoning him or granting him clemency.

While the parliament is to question Imran over Luthufee’s case on Sunday, Kaashidhoo constituency MP Abdulla Jabir has proposed to question him on the security measures taken to prevent an incident similar to the political crisis that led to former President Nasheed’s forced resignation in 2012.