Former President Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s summons to the Presidential Commission on Disappearances and Deaths (DDCom) investigation into the disappearance of Journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla is based on falsified allegations, his legal team has said.
On Tuesday afternoon, the DDCom summoned Yameen to answer questions about his alleged obstruction of the investigation into Rilwan’s disappearance and death while he was in office.
The former president’s legal team indicated in a statement on Wednesday that the concocted claims levelled against him are the work of the incumbent government and its political allies, referring to the probe as a “political witch-hunt.”
According to his legal team, the Commission failed to provide details about the charges they made, which Yameen strongly denied, and made no further statements.
The statement went on to denounce the incumbent government and its political supporters for continuously misusing their position and taking advantage of the inquiry process to level unfounded claims and false charges against Yameen.
Yameen’s legal team also issued a warning to officials in investigative and law enforcement agencies, stating that they will be held liable for participating in such illegal, unconstitutional, and inhuman acts.
His legal team claimed that during Yameen’s five years as president, he obeyed the Maldives’ Constitution and laws, and supported the rule of law. “He never ordered or instructed any individual to take or engage in any form of illicit or unlawful activity,” the statement read.
