Colonel Nasheed: Photos real, went for business meeting

Former Parliamentarian of Nolhivarum constituency Mohamed Nasheed (Colonel Nasheed) stated that the pictures circulating on social media were of him and that he was attending a business meeting in that room.

The room seen in the pictures was allegedly the same one seen in the recent videos surfacing of sex between men.

In the pictures, Nasheed can be standing in the room along with another man. Notably, he is fully clothed and had a mask on, whereas the other man, whose back was to the camera, was shirtless.

In a Facebook post addressing the picture, Nasheed said that he went to the room after receiving multiple calls to come for a business meeting there. He went on to state that since this was during the height of Covid, he went as it would have been difficult to meet outdoors at the time.

“Their intention was to involve me that [sexual relations]. I exempted myself from that.”

Furthermore, he revealed that he was blackmailed using those pictures for two lakhs, but he has never paid that money.

Following the spread of the picture, Nasheed has been facing criticism for it from the public. People have been noting that a prominent businessman such as him attending a business meeting at such a place without any kind of backup.

Additionally, people have been calling him out for being aware of such incidents and failing to report them to the authorities.

Videos and photos of well-known individuals engaging in sex were leaked on social media over the weekend, including  Ahmed Nazim Abdul Sattar, a prominent lawyer and the younger brother of Parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed, South Henveiru MP Hussain Shaheem (Andhun Hussain) and a former journalist Ahmed Naseer.

Police have stated they are investigating a blackmail case, involving multiple victims.