Police defends decision to remove public summon notice for Dr. Azra Naseem
Police is currently investigating MDN"s controversial ‘Preliminary Report on Radicalization in Maldives’ report
Maldives Police Service headquarters
Maldives Police Service (MPS) has revoked the public summon issued for Dr. Azra Naseem.
The service issued the summon on Sunday, ordering Azra to present herself to the police headquarters on November 5 for questioning in the investigation into the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN)’s ‘Preliminary Report on Radicalization in Maldives’ report.
While the police had said that the public summon was issued as Azra’s whereabouts were unknown, it said that summon was revoked after she contacted them and added that this “is normal procedure.”
Police had to clear the matter up after being bombarded with questions for deleting the tweet with Azra’s summon notice.
It added that public summons are always removed after making contact with the person in question.
Dr. Azra currently resides in Ireland.
While MDN’s ‘Preliminary Report on Radicalization in Maldives’ report was released in 2016, it has faced backlash over the language used with excerpts from the report being circulated on social media recently.
The government has since to imposed a “temporary cessation” of MDN’s activities, and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said that the issue will be "thoroughly" investigated and that "appropriate measures will be taken as stipulated under the Maldives constitution.”
MDN has apologized for the language in its report, adding that it will be revised “with assistance from religious scholars.”
Noting that the group's aim is to "promote and protect moderate views, peace and unity in the Maldives," MDN said that it "does not accept or condone disrespect to Islam.”
With calls to ban the group, the group has revealed that its officials have been receiving death threats since the issue emerged, and called on authorities to take legal action against those responsible for these acts.
