May 16, 2014
PRESS STATEMENT

The MDP Concerned Over Extremism Within Security Forces

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) expresses its deep concern over the prevalence of extremist Islamic ideologies within sections of the police and the military in the Maldives.

It has come to the MDP’s attention that a number of Maldivian men, who have travelled to foreign countries to partake in terrorist activities, are ex-military personnel.

Moreover, foreign partners have expressed concern that funds related to terrorism are passing through Maldivian banks.

The MDP is also deeply concerned that large quantities of illegal narcotics are being smuggled into the Maldives and reshipped abroad.

This situation is particularly worrying given the links between Defense Minister, Mohamed Nazim, and Tourism Minister, Ahmed Adeeb, to the Arthur Brothers – infamous international drug traffickers. Photographs, freely available online, show both Nazim and Adeeb recently with the Arthur Brothers in the Maldives.

The MDP reiterates its belief that extremist elements within the security forces were central to the overthrow of the Maldives’ first democratically-elected government, in a coup d’état on February 7, 2012. The party is concerned that those same extremist elements still remain in the services, despite the report by the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) calling for criminal investigations to be carried out against rogue officers.

The MDP calls on the Government to immediately launch criminal investigations against rogue officers and remove them from the security services as per the recommendations made by CoNI. The party also calls upon the relevant parliamentary committees to immediately look into this matter.

Action must be taken against elements within the security forces that are engaged in extremism, in order to instill public confidence in the security services and ensure the peace and stability of the Maldives and the wider region.

ENDS