The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has said that some police officers were involved in assault on 6, 7 and 8 February 2012, and that those officers have not been dismissed from work despite the Home Minister having been notified to do so.

The Parliament Committee on Oversight of the Government summoned members of the PIC, the Prosecutor General (PG) Ahmed Muizzu and members of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), for the investigation of the report of the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI). They were questioned regarding the extent to which the government had implemented the recommendations mentioned in the report.

PIC member Hala Hameed said at the committee meeting that the activities carried out by the police on 6, 7 and 8 February were not related to discipline; rather, they were assault incidents and criminal issues.

Hala said this in response to PG Muizzu’s statement that the activities carried out by the police on the day the government changed were related to disciplinary problems.

Hala said that cases had been forwarded to the PG Office against six police officers who had been involved in the criminal activities and that Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel had been notified to dismiss them from work but to date, this had not been done.

“They are not disciplinary problems, they were related to assault, criminal activities. In addition to sending the cases to PG, we advised Home Minister to dismiss those police officers from work, because the court process could take a long time and action may be delayed. Because we believe so, we notified to dismiss those police officers,” she said.

When asked how many police officers are being investigated in relation to the incidents of 6, 7 and 8 February, PIC said that 29 cases had been submitted to PIC in relation to police activities in February, out of which six had been forwarded to PG Office. PIC said that 11 cases could not be sent to PG Office due to insufficient evidence, and that it had not been possible to identify the police officers involved in five cases as the photos and videos were not clear enough.

Out of the six cases sent to PG Office, charges have been pressed against only one police officer, namely Ali Ahmed of Janavareemaage, Faafu Nilandhoo, who still serves as a police officer. The charge against him was causing harm to the body of a person, but the case was dismissed by Criminal Court which said that that he cannot be prosecuted.

Committee members heavily criticised Muizzu at today’s meeting, and accused PG Office of discrimination when pressing criminal charges.

In response, Muizzu said that he would not hesitate to carry out his responsibilities, and that he would not let himself be influenced by anyone.

“I am not afraid or hesitant to carry out my responsibilities. I have never let myself be influenced by anyone. I will continue to serve with honesty. When cases are sent to us after due investigation by the authorities, we evaluate the evidence and have filed the cases for which sufficient evidence exist,” he said.