8 persons to be prosecuted for violent crimes on 8th February

The Maldives Police Service has said today that 8 cases, involving criminal suspects accused of perpetrating violent crimes on the 8th of February this year, have been sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office for prosecution.

All the suspects were arrested after some of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activists and members carried out a series of arson and destruction in G.Dh. Thinadhoo, Addu City, and a number of other islands.

Minister of Home Affairs Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed had previously said that cases involving 11 people were sent to the PG Office for prosecution. With the new cases, a total of 19 cases are now at the PG Office.

Some 200 people were arrested by the Maldives Police Service after the run of destruction and arson was conducted on the 8th of last month. The Police are currently conducting investigations against 150 of them, over different cases of suspected criminal activity. Most of them are suspected of having taken some part in the arson of court houses and police stations at Addu City.

Minister of Home Affairs said that cases of all the people responsible for the destruction of public and private property on February 8 would be sent to the PG for prosecution. Abdullah Riyaz, the Commissioner of Police has said that the police would request all of them “to be prosecuted for the severest punishments laid down in the law”.