Yameen: Speaking out on theft committed by leaders doesn’t equate to defamation

Former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, on Thursday night, said speaking out on theft committed by leaders does not equate to defamation while affirming his commitment to continue speaking out about such topics.

Yameen’s remarks while speaking at his party, PNF, event on Thursday night, come after ruling PNC’s parliamentary group leader and Inguraidhoo constituency parliamentary representative Ibrahim Falah purchased an MVR 28 million land plot from Hulhumale’ Phase II.

The former Maldivian leader affirmed his support to protecting people’s reputation. However, he emphasized speaking out against theft and corruption by individuals holding public posts does not amount to defamation.

Yameen emphasized that individuals in public posts take an oath before Allah (SWT) to serve the people. Therefore, he said, if they deviate from that duty, both the educated and uneducated will speak out against it.

He then pointed out how Falah had purchased a MVR 28 million land plot from Hulhumale’ Phase II. He questioned why this was not being talked about more, alleging the involvement of money laundering in the transaction as its details were left out of Falah’s financial statement.

According to his latest financial declaration publicized by the Parliament on September 2, the influential government lawmaker earns MVR 990,000 in salaries, another MVR 900,000 in business profit, and MVR 3.2 million from renting out his properties each year. Yameen questioned why, if Falah had acquired the money through legitimate means, the land purchase was not included in his financial statement.

“Hence, if this is being hidden, I question the possibility of it being something obtained through unlawful or undue means,” he remarked.

Yameen reiterated that speaking out against transactions conducted by lawmakers does not equate to defamation, adding it falls within social responsibility.

The former Maldivian leader accused the government of attempting to silence those speaking out against theft and corruption through the ratification of the media control bill. However, Yameen stressed that individuals involved in such acts can still be called out, and these matters can still be talked about.

Yameen urged lawmakers and senior public officials to disclose the sources of their income, warning that failure to do so would lead the public to suspect that the funds were obtained unlawfully.

“We are raising our voice, and we are advocating for speaking out against individuals holding senior posts when they commit huge crimes. It will be talked out, even now. It will always be talked about here,” he said.

He added that there will questions when individuals holding posts in the government are leading a life that is inadequate to their assets or income.

A Civil Court ruling read that Falah purchased the 3,250 square feet plot located in Hulhumale’ Phase II for MVR 28,782,000. The Civil Court finalized the transfer of ownership for the land on Wednesday.

In a post on X earlier in September, Falah announced that he had purchased three more plots of land from his home island of R. Innamaadhoo, in addition to three properties he already owned on the island. He also said he had purchased a plot of land from Hulhumale’.

He also took out a MVR 15.7 million loan from the Bank of Maldives (BML) in February, for which he has made MVR 496,000 in repayments, leaving a balance of MVR 15.2 million.

Notably, the financial statement filed by lawmakers had triggered public outrage, as it revealed that lawmakers who are already criticized for high salaries received huge sums of money in “gifts.”

Yameen has alleged that these “gifts” are, in actuality, bribes.