Maldives Police Service (MPS) has said that the police do not intend to seek a court order to dismantle Usfasgandu area issued to opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) by the Male City Council (MCC) where alleged criminal activities are being carried out. At a press conference held at Iskandhar Building, Deputy Head of Crime Specialist Command, Mohamed Riyaz said that the police do not require a court order to stop illegal activities being carried out in a public area.
“This is a very clear issue. We have held discussions with related institutions from the time this issue had been raised. We do not require a court order to dismantle Usfasgandu as (criminal) activities are being carried out. Hence we did not decide to seek a court order at first and we do not intend to seek a court order to dismantle Usfasgandu in the future as well,†Riyaz said.
However, he did not indicate a period in which the place would be dismantled but said that it would depend on the acts being carried out there.
The police reiterated that there were no obstacles to their constitutional obligation to stop the criminal activities being carried out at Usfasgandu and to dismantle the area. Riyaz said that the police would reconsider their policy on Usfasgandu and to assess the situation further before deciding on the matter as the Civil Court had entertained the case of Usfasgandu.
He said that some people had been “lead astray†when the police had dismantled Usfasgandu on Monday without a court order. He said that the Attorney General (AG) had given her legal opinion to dismantle Usfasgandu area even without a court order over the issue of administrative power of Usfasgandu between the Housing Ministry and City Council.
Housing Ministry had earlier requested the Home Ministry to implement the process of taking control over Usfasgandu area after the deadline for the City Council to handover the area to Housing Ministry had passed.
Riyaz said that the police did not require a court order to dismantle Usfasgandu however they did so to avoid escalating tension as the items at Usfasgandu belonged to a certain group of people.
The police showed photos and videos to news reporters as proof to why they had to dismantle Usfasgandu area.
Police stated that a group of people had obstructed the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) parade to mark its anniversary as it had come near Usfasgandu. Some chanted “traitor†and had stymied the parade. They had also damaged the MNDF vehicle as it had passed the area and had obstructed the firing activity planned at the area.
Riyaz said that they had received many complaints from the public and had expressed their concern as MDP plans protests at Usfasgandu and are practicing black magic. Police also shared with reporters a video of suspected black magic activity showing MDP activists in a rally smoking the roads with an empty paint bucket, paper believed to be black magic scripts and carrying a red color rooster. Riyaz said that they threw the rooster and the scripts inside the police cordon at a road closed off by police.
Apart from this, complaints had been received that a pier had been constructed against the environment protection act and that they make it very difficult for people other than MDP supporters to cross the area due to various forms of harassment, police stated.
The police also stated that they had found scripts and other materials that are used for black magic from the search they had performed on Usfasgandu with the court order. Police also said that some items used for alcohol and drug use, while some pictures of policemen were found with certain markings within the container at the area.
Police stated that Usfasgandu was dismantled as some people considered the area as a “law free†zone and illegal activities were being carried out within the area. Police also declared that the law is applicable anywhere and that there is no obstruction in stopping the illegal activities being carried out at the site.
Tweet Bookmark Print Badge the Comments! Give badges to the best comments you see! You will get four badges a day 0 Comments To have full access to the interactive features available in Haveeru Online please register or sign in. or Post a Comment Loading comments... Please wait
No comments:
Post a Comment