Police actions during the protests acceptable, however several officers injured: Police Integrity

The Police Integrity Commission has said today that in the efforts to control the current protests, it is not noted that Police actions are in conflict with the law and that Police are being injured in these protests.

Protests have been ongoing in Male’ for the past three nights, regarding the arrests of Gaumee Party’s Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel and Sandhaan Ahanmaidhy, under accusations of spreading unauthenticated information. The situation became more turbulent following the arrest of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed.

President of Police Integrity Commission Shahindha Ismael said today that it has not been noted that the actions of the Police are in conflict with the law, and that the Commission has not received any complaint in this regard. She also said that the arrests made of political leaders are, however, under investigation.

Opposition groups nonetheless claim that Police actions during the protests are stringent, and accuse them of having used pepper spray inches away from several people’s faces. They also say that the Police use mallets and use offensive language to disperse the crowds.

“We have not received any complaints regarding the strictness of Police Officers during the protests. We are also monitoring the footage, and there is no need for concern over Police actions being in conflict with the law,” Shahindha said.

On the other hand, Shahindha said, the Commission notes that Police are being injured during these protest. She said that one complaint was received regarding police activities, and that was regarding the Police requesting a woman to remove her burkha.

“Only one complaint was received, that was regarding a woman’s burkha coming off, and that is now being looked into,” Shahindha said.

Shahindha said that besides this case, the only thing observed is that Police are being injured on different levels. A Police officer went down on his stomach in front of MMA on the second night of the protests, and suffered several serious injuries.

“As new developments regarding the case are received every day, it is not wise to act hastily in wrapping up the case. So the investigations are ongoing. If new developments are received after we conclude the case, then the investigations will not be complete, right?” Shahindha said.