Maldives Police Service on Thursday night announced that the report prepared by Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) titled 'Preliminary Assesment on Radicalisation in Maldives' contained statements that defamed and insulted Islam and Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
Police further added that the case was forwarded to Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, the government authority mandated to oversee clubs, associations and organizations.
Police made this statement following a thorough investigation into the report with a team of scholars.
Youth Ministry suspended MDN when the controversial report surfaced, igniting an explosive reaction from the public. However, many are calling for the organisation's dissolution, claiming that suspension alone is not a suitable countermeasure.
According to the Associations Act, an organisation can be disbanded with a court order. The registrar of the organisation has the power to disband it without a court order as well.
The Act states that if the judiciary finds that an organisation is being operated unlawfully or orders for the organisation's dissolution for any reason, the Registrar must disband it after the period of time granted to settle the finances.
A citizen previously filed a case at Civil Court over MDN's report.
In addition, Police also issued summons to those who led the compilation of the report as part of their investigation.
The report, released in 2015, criticized the Maldivian education system, claiming that the rhetoric of certain textbooks encouraged extremism and highlighted certain passages from the Quran. Some statements in the report contradicts the tenets of Islam as well.
Many religious scholars are expressing concern over the delay in taking measures against Maldivian Democracy Network.
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