Malé, Maldives – Police will be checking whether those going on picnics to uninhabited islands are of religious extremist views, said the Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed today.
Nasheed’s comments on the matter were in reference to the group of 95 people who travelled to Anbaara island of Vaavu Atoll on Friday, without the necessary travel approvals during the pandemic.
While drug use accusations were initially made on the group, Maldives Police Service denied any such suspicions and revealed that they were all fined as per the Health Protection Agency (HPA) guidelines.
He further commented on the topic saying that it is sad that the group were not able to go to Anbara and had to come back. However, he then connected the matter to religious extremism, despite Police not connecting the group to any such activity yet, and said that Police are aware that some youths go to uninhabited islands for religious extremist trainings.
So Police would have this concern, and would look into it as well. Youth who go on picnics need to think about this image a lot. I believe going on picnics with this in mind is the way to go about.
Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed.
Although the group were not arrested or connected to any illegal activity, a large group of people were arrested while partying with drugs on the island, back in 2014 as well. 79 were arrested during the heist and all tested positive for drugs, revealed Maldives Police Service at the time.
