Criminal Court authorizes police to take nude photos of Mandhy, Maaz Saleem

The Criminal Court has issued warrants authorizing the police to strip two officials from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and take photos of their entire body “except for their sexual organ.”

MDP activist Mariyam ‘Mandhy’ Zubair and national council member Ahmed ‘Maaz’ Saleem received police summons last weekend asking them to present themselves to the Sergeant Adam Haleem Criminal Investigation Building in Male’.

The police investigation against them stems from remarks Mandhy made during a MDP rally in Male’ back in March, implying that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu decided last year to ban vaping in the Maldives because one of his children got caught vaping.

Mandhy is accused of “violating the dignity of a child” with her remarks, while Maaz Saleem is accused of supporting her remarks, inciting more such remarks, and himself making remarks that violate the dignity of a child.

On Friday, they both received summons, signed by Inspector of Police Shanaz Ahmed, telling them to present themselves to the police the next day.

Sun has received copies of the summons sent to them.

According to the summons, they were required to present themselves “to take photos of the outside of the body except for the sexual organ and to take an audio sample under a warrant issued by the Criminal Court.”

Maaz Saleem told Sun that the police called and cancelled the summons a couple of hours later, on Friday night. He said he was told that he would be informed of what to do next.

He also questioned why the police need photos of their naked body, and accused the state of attempting to violate his inherent human dignity.

“I see President Muizzu walking the path of [former Ugandan dictator] Idi Amin,” he said.

During the March rally, Mandhy alleged that Preisdnet Muizzu made the decision to ban vaping “because one of Sajidha’s children got caught vaping”, referring to First Lady Sajdha Mohamed.

A day later, Sajidha said via a lawyer that the remarks refer to her teenage son, and that she plans on pursuing legal action.

Sajidha filed a lawsuit against Mandhy and MDP chairperson Fayyaz Ismail over the remarks, accusing them of endangering her son’s safety, causing him mental distress, and harming his studies and future prospects. She also lodged additional cases against them last week with the Family Court.

But the MDP claims Mandhy did not name a specific child and nor does her remarks violate the dignity of a child.

In the days after the rally, Mandhy was also brought in for questioning by the police for an investigation into possible violations of the Freedom of Assembly Act.

On March 17, Mandhy was attacked with engine oil by two individuals who followed her as she drove her motorcycle home on early March 17. The police arrested the driver on March 27, but has yet to arrest the person who threw oil.