139 people have been interviewed so far: Inquiry Commission

Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) established to probe the circumstance surrounding the transfer of power on February 7, has claimed that so far 139 people have been interviewed in relation to its investigation. Speaking during the press conference held today, CNI member Dr Ali Fawaz Shareef detailed that when the work had been halted the Commission had interviewed 87 people; while 52 more had been interviewed since the CNI had resumed its investigation on June 26.

“We will ask 185 people out of the total registered to come in for interviews,” Fawaz added.

Commission revealed that 244 people had registered to provide information to the CNI when the opportunity was opened till June 30, which includes people who had failed to show up after their presence had been requested by the Commission earlier.

However, Fawaz stressed that the 244 would not include anyone who had been interviewed before, while stressing that a person that was interviewed earlier would be summoned again if required.

He detailed that the Commission would determine from the people summoned whether former President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation on February 7 “had been forced unlawfully.”

CNI member Dr Ibrahim Yasir admitted that the Commission had reviewed several video footages of public media related to the regime change. He added that the Commission accepted video and photographic material provided by the people who came in for the interviews. However, Yasir stressed that whether the audio/video is to be used as evidence would be decided by the Commission.

While Nasheed’s representative of the CNI Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed has declined the allowance allocated by the government to the members of the CNI, both Chair Ismail Shafeeu and Fawaz had refused to comment on the matter to the media, in response to a question of the views of the rest of the members following Saeed’s decision.

However, Yasir stressed that he had worked in the Commission pro-bono during the first four months of since its inception.

“Hence, I have no intention of turning down the allowance given by the government,” Yasir admitted.

Although the exact amount in allowance being given to the CNI members have not been disclosed so far.

Government Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza told Haveeru earlier that the members would be given remuneration in accordance to members appointed by the President to similar Commissions. He stressed that the figure would not exceed MVR75,000.

CNI today further said that though the deadline set to complete the Commission's report was July 31, the report is expected to be ready by the end of August.
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