The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) condemns government’s deliberate misleading of the public and the international community by temporarily transferring the leader of Adhaalath Party Sheikh Imran Abdulla and Former Minister of Defence Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaanu to house arrest.

According to the Home Minister Umar Naseer, they were transferred to house arrest due to maintenance works in Maafushi Jail. The MDP believes this was done to hoodwink the international community, especially the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) schedule to meet in the coming weeks.
The MDP reiterates its calls to establish a conducive environment to facilitate sincere dialogue between political parties to resolve the political crisis by releasing political leaders including President Mohamed Nasheed, Former Defence Minister Col. Rt. Mohamed Nazim, Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb and others who have been unfairly jailed.

MDP Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said:

“Temporary release of political leaders to house arrest reminds us of attempts by the government to hoodwink the international community in July 2015. After the authorities gave in writing that President Nasheed’s sentence was commuted, they later claimed it was not a genuine document. Therefore we can no longer trust the government on these temporary measures”

ENDS