First Lady filed civil case, no relation to Police probe against Maaz and Mandhi: Lawyers

The law firm representing the First Lady has stated that the case filed by her against Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activists is a civil case, and has no relation to the police investigation into the matter.

The statement comes while Police have summoned MDP National Council member Ahmed Saleem (Maaz Saleem) and activist Mariyam Zubair (Mandhi) for taking full-body (excluding sexual organs) of the two under a court order in relation to a criminal investigation being conducted into the same incident.

The two are being investigated in relation to comments made by them regarding President Dr Mohamed Muizzu's son in a party demonstration.

First Lady Sajidha, meanwhile, has filed cases against Zubair, MDP Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail, and the MDP as a whole at the Civil Court regarding the same issue.

Following this, Police commenced a criminal investigation into the same matter, under which Saleem and Zubair have been summoned.

This has led to public criticism against First Lady submitting cases against them.

In response to this, the First Family's lawyer, former Attorney General Azima Shakoor's law firm has released a statement reiterating that the case filed by the First Lady is a civil case.

The statement said that this case has no relation to the Police's criminal investigation. It said that the rumours being spread connecting this civil case to a Criminal Court order and a criminal investigation conducted by Police are false and misleading.

The lawyers claimed that the purpose of the civil case is to protect the rights of a child.

They urged to refrain from spreading falsehoods that will lead to public discontent.

Police earlier said that they had requested for the court order allowing them to take full body images of Saleem and Zubair so as to compare the images with video footage of them making said statements and to ascertain the footage is, in fact, showing the two.

A Police Official said then that they had requested for 'full-body images excluding sexual organs' as there are set procedures which Police need to follow when taking photographs of sexual organs. They said that the request had been made as taking of photos is not mentioned in the regulations under taking external samples.

Saleem and Zubair's statements at the demonstration allude that vapes were prohibited in the Maldives as a response to the President's son having used vapes. The President's family has rejected these claims, asserting that the son has never in his life used a vape.

Lawyer of the First Family, former Attorney General Azima Shukoor's law firm has previously stated that Zubair's comments referring to the President's son Umair Mohamed Muizzu presents the risk of affecting Umair physically, and may pose a threat to life. They said the comments pose the risk of seriously affecting Umair's future and studies.

The statement further said that the comments are in violation of the Child Protection Act and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The law firm said then that the First Family will five a civil case in relation to this, adding that they had not requested for a criminal investigation.