Summoned to Police for likening state to a mafia gang: Riyaz

Former Commissioner of Police Abdullah Riyaz says that two charges had been raised against him, when he was summoned to Police on Tuesday.

Speaking to press after he was summoned to Police, Riyaz, who is also the Member of Parliament for Kimbidhoo Constituency, said that the first accusation raised against him was talking of politics at a press conference. Riyaz said this accusation concerned his comments that likened the state to a mafia gang, which he had made during a press conference.

In the press conference, Riyaz said that the state functioned as a mafia gang and that neither the public nor the Police would want to hand over the nation to a mafia gang. He had said that all institutions will have to ensure that the Government functioned within the legal limits.

The Parliamentarian also added that no institution should see the leader of the nation as the supreme authority on everything and that all orders should not be followed, blindly.

“President Yameen is displeased by what I had said on a political platform. What I said to Maldivian Police was on a political stance. I don’t believe what I or anyone else say on a political platform would warrant summons to and an investigation by the Police,” he said.

The second accusation levied against him says that he was privy to confidential information on Government officials and abused that information.

Riyaz said that as he had served in the Police for years, there were some within the Police who continued to share information with him. He added that there were many Cabinet Ministers who had shared information as well. Riyaz defended his stance, stating that knowledge of these information was not a crime, adding that information was a key resource in order to serve his Constituents.

Police had confiscated Riyaz’s phone under a court order as well.