Did not ask for permission to use fire arms on February 7th, states Ibrahim Didi

Brigadier General (Rtd) Ibrahim Mohamed Didi, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) commander who was in charge of Male’ area on the day of the change of government in February last year, has said that he did not request permission from president Mohamed Nasheed to use fire arms to control the protesters who had gathered in front of the MNDF headquarters.

Speaking on an earlier date at an interview conducted by the Parliamentary committee reviewing the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) report, Ibrahim Didi had said that he had advised the president to use lethal weapons to control the situation as the MNDF had lost control of the area on February 7th, but said that president had refused his advice.

“I told the president, as he was the highest authority of the military, to use lethal weapons. That was my advice. The president got angry at my suggestion and said that lethal weapons will not be used during his presidency,” the parliamentary committee’s minutes stated as Ibrahim Didi to have said.

Gaafu Alif Dhaandhoo MP Mohamed Riyaz had reiterated these statements during a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) event held in his constituency last night, and said the Ibrahim Didi had asked the president for permission to use arms on three separate occasions on that fateful day. Riyaz said that Ibrahim Didi was afraid that a group from the people gathered outside the military headquarters might rush into the base with an intention to obtain the fire arms themselves.

Refuting Riyaz’s claims, Ibrahim Didi said today that he had not asked the president for permission to use fire arms, but said that he had brought to the president’s attention a situation where the crowd gathered outside the headquarters might enter the building from over the walls and through the main gate, and that the personnel who were standing guard at the headquarters might resort to firearms to defends their positions.

Ibrahim Didi also said that he was obligated to bring the possibility of this scenario to the attention of the president Nasheed, as the main military headquarters of MNDF was under 24 hour guard by armed military personnel, but said that the president had told him that arms should not be used under any circumstance.

Ibrahim Didi also said that he had advised the president that in order to control the crowd, which had consisted for people from political parties, police and military men, the military needed to respond as the personnel of the military are trained to do, which he said, was with the necessary firearms. He said that the president had then said that he would not use fire power against the people to preserve his presidency.