Male’, Maldives – Former President of the Maldives, Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has been fined by 1,000 MVR for not wearing a mask as per the HPA guideline.
The fine comes after his second summon to the police station after the police launched an investigation probe in to the people who disobeyed the HPA’s guideline on wearing face masks while out in public areas during the PPM/ PNC opposition rally held on 28th August 2020.
The Former President and other opposition leaders of PPM/ PNC coalition have been fined after being seen addressing their supporters in front of the opposition office after a recent rally against the government in the capital city of Male’.
In a press conference after the police summoning, Former President Dr. Waheed stated that this is merely a political decision and that this has been made a big deal out of because it happened at a political gathering where political statements were being made against the government.
“We don’t think that even if we send pictures of people out on the roads without masks to the police they would take any action against all those people. So we can only say that this was a political decision” Dr. Waheed said.
In addition to this he said that he did lower his mask while he was inside the opposition office speaking to the people gathered outside but that he had his mask back on when he came out to the road.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has condemned the opposition for carrying out rallies in Male’ area because of the high cases of COVID-19 in the region. The opposition has been increasing their activities in other parts of the country and organizing rallies and gatherings voicing their concerns against the current government and calling to free former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom who is in prison over money laundering charges.
The opposition has been under heavy criticism from the general public for carrying out such activities while the COVID-19 cases are still on the rise within Maldives.
