PGO remains tightlipped on potential probe against MP Falah over ‘execution’ remark

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) remains tightlipped on its stand, two weeks after the police asked the office for legal counsel regarding opening a criminal investigation against Ibrahim Falah, the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC)’s top lawmaker, after he suggested that journalists should be executed by impalement for spreading false information.

Falah had made the remarks during the preliminary parliamentary debate on August 27 on the contentious government-backed media control bill. The Parliament majority leader’s suggestion that journalists should be executed by ulubeyndhun or impalement - an ancient torture and execution method - sparked widespread condemnation, with the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) demanding a public apology from Falah as well as the ruling party.

Neither Falah nor PNC has offered an apology, with the lawmaker later saying that the remark means something different “where I come from.”

The MJA filed a police complaint against Falah on August 28. The police asked the PGO for its legal counsel the same day, as parliamentarians enjoy immunity for comments they make at the Parliament floor.

But the PGO has remained silent in the two weeks since. The office’s spokesperson has not responded to multiple phone calls and messages by Sun this week, asking if the PGO has provided its opinion to the police.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from police told Sun on Wednesday that there’s “no update at this time.”

Journalists who attended a sit-down with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on August 28 afternoon to share their concerns regarding the bill said that he said he found the remarks “regrettable.”

A day later, Falah took to the social media platform X to defend his remarks.

He said that he did not mean to call for journalists to be executed by impalement, and that in where he comes from, the remark means “putting misbehaving individuals in a place higher than the ground”.

The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) issued a statement expressing concern over the remarks, especially given they were made from a platform that protects Falah from being held accountable.

The human rights watchdog said that while it finds any remarks that violate inherent human dignity, whether it is made at the Parliament floor or outside, unacceptable, it does not have the jurisdiction to investigate officials who enjoy special protection and privileges under the Constitution and laws.