Male’, Maldives – The President of People’s National Congress (PNC), Abdul Raheem Abdulla (Adhurey) and the Vice President of PNC, Ibrahim Shujau has been arrested in the opposition coalition of PPM and PNC protest currently ongoing in the Male’ city.
The protests from the Opposition are being held demanding to prepone the local council elections to the earliest possible date and to release Former President Abdullah Yaameen Abdul Gayyoom who is currently serving a five year sentence for money laundering.
Maldives Police Service has already arrested a number of people from the protest along with Adhurey and Shujau. While the protestors, including leaders of the opposition, members of Parliament, and opposition supporters were going towards the Elections Commission, the Police stopped them. The protesters changed their route and are now protesting in another road.
The Opposition protested in Male’ by violating several guidelines released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was noted that some of the essential protective guidelines set by HPA in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as social distancing were not followed during the protest.
While the High Court has decided to uphold the Criminal Court’s decision on convicting Former President Yameen following the appeal, the opposition and Yameen’s legal team have decided to disregard the decision and appeal the case at the Supreme Court. The opposition has also passed a decree to directly take action against the decision from the courts.
