The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has urged the public to respect and abide by the laws of the country and follow the instructions given by Director General of Public Health, Maimoona Aboobakur.

This was revealed via a press statement released by the authority on Tuesday.

As such, the statement reads that MPS urges all individuals to respect and abide by the laws of the country and follow instructions of the Director General of Public Health to respect the need for social distancing in order to curb the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the Maldives and ensure safety of everyone and uphold the rule of law.

On 12 March, the Minister of Health, Abdulla Ameen declared a state of public health emergency under Article 33 of the Public Health Protection Act.

With this declaration, the right to peaceful assembly is limited for the preservation of the “common good” and in order to promote public health and the general wellbeing of the society in accordance with Articles 33(a)(4) and 39 of the Right to Peaceful Assembly Act.

This comes hours after employees onboard safaris near capital city Malé’s suburban district Hulhumalé began rallying, protestors gathered on dinghies just outside of the harbor.

As protesting during a state of public health emergency is not allowed, MPS said that it will not allow such protests at a time of public health emergency.