If anyone comes to harm, services of the police will not be recognized: Jameel

Home Minister Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has said that public should not face harm from a person of the police organization and that if it happens, the public will not accept the services of the police.

Speaking at a ceremony held in Iskandar Koshi to award recognition to the parties that have helped police in their work, Home Minister Jameel said that if anybody is to come to harm from the provider of a service, the public will not accept the services provided and that whoever causes harm shall remember that they shall face justice at some point in time.

“If anybody causes harm, and if anybody comes to harm from that cause, our services will not be recognized, and that person will be answerable to us at some point in time, regardless of who causes harm. Especially since we are Muslims, it has been stated in the Islamic Sharia very clearly that we must respect human rights,” Jameel said.

Continuing in this regard, the Minister said that Police are not allowed to harm anyone under any circumstance and stressed that it is also prohibited in Islam. He said that psychological harm shall also be considered a form of harm, that threats are also prohibited in Islam and that no one shall issue threats and subject a person to psychological harm under any circumstance.

He also said that they had received reports that some of the policemen try to gain certain advantages by using the power and status of their uniforms and that the citizens will not accept such behaviour.

“No Maldivian citizen will want to see a day when the policemen try to gain advantage by using the power and status of their uniforms. So, at the very foremost, every policeman within has to become a person who respects the laws and regulations. I believe that these things now have to be said amongst us, because even if it is not often, we receive these kind of reports now and then,” Jameel said.

Police awarded recognition to parties from the public who had supported the police during the past, and also awarded merit to those who had excelled in the police service during the past year.

The Home Minister statements come about one year later since February 8th 2012, as the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives has accused that the public had suffered harm at the hands of the police on that fateful day. The Police Integrity Commission has also finished their investigation of certain police officers who had harmed members of the public during the incident, and the cases have now been forwarded to the Prosecutor General for prosecution.