Male’, Maldives – The leaders of the opposition coalition have been summoned to by Maldives Police Service for planning protests that are to take place this Saturday in order to mark the first year anniversary since Former President Yaameen Abdul Gayyoom was jailed.
The opposition, PPM and PNC announced last sunday that they will be having protests to mark the first year anniversary since Former President Yaameen was jailed after being convicted of money laundering. Even though the leaders of the opposition were summoned to police for discussions regarding the protests, their decision has not yet changed.
Police are concerned that we are having protest, but we will not hold back. There will be protests in all islands of Maldives this Saturday.
Ibrahim Shujaau, Vice President of PNC
The concern of the police is that such an activity is to be carried out at such a large scale during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Vice President of PNC Shujaau said that police is trying to oppress the opposition as they are speaking out against the current government, MDP for their unlawful actions.
While the protests calling out for the freedom of Former President Yaameen is to be held in all the islands of Maldives, the protests in Male’ are to be held on water – in boats, launches and ferries. In addition to this, the opposition has decided that along with the protests, campaigning for the coming Council elections will also take place.
Former President Yaameen was sentenced to five years of jail time along with a penalty of USD 5 million on 28th November 2019 after the case of money laundering was proven against him. In addition to this Yaameen has now been accused of another case of money laundering and one of bribery. The Criminal Court has given an opportunity to the Former President today to prepare for the future proceedings regarding the two new accusations.
