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Detained police officers shifted to house arrest

Farah Ahmed
25 April 2018, MVT 10:39
Police officers arrested under the state of emergency.
Farah Ahmed
25 April 2018, MVT 10:39

The eight police officers who were arrested during the recent state of emergency declared by President Abdulla Yameen, have been transferred to house arrest.

During the officers’ hearing Tuesday to extend their remand, the Criminal Court had instead shifted them to house arrest.

The axed officers under arrest are: the former Commander of the Special Operations unit Saif Hussain, Station Inspector Faiz Mohamed, Sargent Ahmed Asim, Sargent Ali Rishwan, Sargent Abdullah Riyaz, Corporal Ali Naseer, Corporal Hassan Naseer and Corporal Mohamed Shamin.

Subsequent to their arrest, they were dismissed from the police force as well.

The Criminal Court had previously kept them in remand at the Maafushi Prison.

They have been charged with conspiring to overthrow the government, assaulting police officers who were dismantling an allegedly unlawful protest and also disrupting the public’s trust in the police institute.

Meanwhile, the officers’ lawyer Mahfooz Saeed had claimed that their heads were shaved against their consent in prison ahead of their remand hearing, noting that it was against the Anti Torture Act. The incident has now been filed at the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), he said.

Several changes were brought to the Maldives Police Services during the state of emergency. Former Police Commissioner Ahmed Areef was dismissed from his post after the police backed the landmark Supreme Court ruling on February 1. He has since been charged with terrorism and the Criminal Court has remanded him until the end of his trial.

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