Nasheed voices concern police reform isn’t moving faster

Speaker of Parliament, former Maldivian leader Mohamed Nasheed has voiced concern work on reforming the local police institute isn’t moving faster.

He voiced his concern in a tweet he issued in observation of the 15th anniversary of the death of Maafushi Prison inmate Evan Naseem this Thursday.

Evan Naseem was beaten to death by security personal at the prison on August 19, 2003. The discovery of his death led to a protest within the prison, which ended in security personnel opening fire on unarmed inmates, killing three inmates and injuring 17 others.

Evan Naseem’s death, and the death of the three other inmates sparked widespread protests in the capital, Male’ City.

Nasheed, in his tweet, noted that deaths sparked widespread protests within the capital and the beginning of democracy movement.

“15 years ago today, the police division of NSS beat Evan Naseem to death in Maafushi jail. Then they shot unarmed inmates who protested Evan’s murder. Those killings sparked riots in Male’, and the start of the democracy movement,” tweeted Nasheed.

The current government has launched an initiative to reform the police institute and restore the public’s faith in the institution. And Nasheed, in his tweet, voiced concern over the slow pace of the reform work.

“It’s worrying police reform is not moving faster,” he added in his tweet.

Nasheed, the leader of ruling MDP, recently acknowledged the existence of a ‘time lag’ within the government, something which he had publicly denied on previous occasions.

This remark by Nasheed also sparked talk of a rift between him and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.