State Minister Shamnaz suspended following arrest

Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem, a state minister at the Ministry of Environment, who was arrested, has been suspended from her post.

Shamnaz, alongside two other individuals, was arrested on Sunday. All three of them have been remanded in custody for seven days.

She was suspended from her post on Wednesday as per the Environment Ministry.

Shamnaz, who had been previously listed in Environment Ministry’s website as a political appointee, is no longer named in the list. Rather, her name has been moved to the list of former political appointees.

There have been reports that Shamnaz was arrested for performing black magic on President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

However, this has not been confirmed by any official sources.

When asked about the reports, the chief police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner of Police Ahmed Shifan, told Sun on Wednesday morning that police were investigating a case involving Shamnaz and two other individuals.

He declined to say more.

Shamnaz is the spouse of Adam Rameez, a minister at the President’s Office, who has also now been suspended. 

Shamnaz had previously served as a member of the Male’ City Council with President Muizzu, back when he was serving as the city’s mayor. But following his election to office last year, Shamnaz resigned from the council, and got appointed as a state minister at Muliaage, the official residence of the president. She was later transferred to the Environment Ministry.

The government has yet to make an official comment regarding the case.