Former President and Speaker of the Maldives Parliament Mohamed Nasheed on Thursday accused President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of trying to appease hardline extremists in the government coalition by arresting Nasheed’s brother and prominent lawyer, Nazim Abdul Sattar.
Speaker Nasheed stated this in a tweet following his brother’s arrest in connection to a leaked video of Nazim allegedly engaged in same-sex sexual relations with a Bangladeshi expatriate.
Nasheed further claimed that Nazim’s arrest was made against criminal procedures and had been targeted selectively by the incumbent government. Nasheed has previously defended his fellow parliamentarians and his brother regarding the same issue stating that he would not stand by as parliament members are maliciously prosecuted using their private affairs.
Police arrested three high-profile individuals on Thursday regarding the infamous sex scandal portraying same-sex sexual relations, including prominent lawyer Ahmed Nazim, former MP for Nolhivaramfaru constituency Mohamed Nasheed (Colonel) and a police officer in the Drug Enforcement Department, Abdul Rahman Rafeeu.
