Cases submitted against the President cannot be investigated: Afeef

Home Minister Afeef said today that the cases submitted to Police by opposition parties against the President, hold no truth and therefore cannot be investigated.

“We can only look into cases which hold truth. These cases are not based on real events. Claims of the Maldives going under water are made by the members of opposition parties themselves. Saying that the islands suffer erosion does not mean that they are sinking,” Afeeef said in a Press Conference held at the Shaheed Hussein Adam Building.

He further said that a matter can only be investigated if it is based on a case that holds room for investigation. The cases submitted by opposition parties against the government cannot be investigated, because they hold no truth.

“Cases submitted which are not based on truth, do not have to be investigated. Whether it is PG, a lawyer, the government, or the media, they all have to comply with the law. They have to operate in accordance with the law,” Afeef said. “We check if the cases submitted are based on truth. The reason why these cases are not looked into is because they hold no truth.”

With the announcement that unauthenticated information about the government will be investigated, Gaumee Party submitted a case to the Police requesting an investigation of statements made by the President to the international media. The Press Secretary of the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair issuing warnings to the media has also been filed to the Police Office. However, Police has said that no arrests have been made in relation to these cases.

The police have arrested and interrogated members of opposition parties for the past two nights, under accusations of spreading unauthenticated information against the government. Afeef said that none of the arrested people were able to substantiate their statements implying anti-religious dealings by the government.

“This government will not allow any person to use religion as a tool to achieve political objectives. You [the media] should also keep in mind that this is a crime. There is no room for such crimes. I advise that you pay extra attention to this fact when you spread information using media,” Afeef said.

The Minister further said that investigations into these cases were prompted because the media was involved in spreading untruthful, unauthenticated information, and that the sufficient efforts have not been made by the institutions responsible for regulating the media. “We need the Media Commission as well as the Broadcasting Commission to act in a more responsible manner than this. I am saying this because I do not believe that they fulfill their responsibilities.”