Two held in connection with attack on Maldives’ Prosecutor General

MALE: Two persons were arrested on Thursday in connection with the “pre-planned” attack on the Prosecutor General of Maldives that left his arm fractured a day before, an incident that triggered a slugfest between President Mohamed Muizzu's government and the Opposition.

Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem was out jogging on a street in Male City on Wednesday morning when he was attacked with a hammer by two people on a motorbike.

Sun.mv, a news portal, reported that the Commissioner of Police Ali Shujau, in a press briefing, said the two suspects were arrested shortly before the news conference but declined to disclose any details regarding the suspects, even their gender and age.

“The initial findings establish that the attack had been pre-planned,” Shujau said, adding that the suspects had their faces covered and were heavily disguised.

“As I mentioned, we utilised all our resources and have now identified them and taken them into custody,” Shujau said.

The police also believe, he said, that it is likely there are more people behind the attack.

Head of Criminal Investigations, Chief Superintendent of Police Ahmed Nafiz said the belief is based on the experience with similar cases. “The attack had come just after the security the police had been providing to Shameem due to a court case ended,” Nafiz said.

Shameem was provided with security after a threat assessment run in connection with a court case that flagged him as a possible high-risk target. “The security coverage was dropped after the court case ended,” Shujau said.

On Wednesday evening, after getting treatment at the ADK Hospital, Shameem posted on Facebook his photo – wearing a cast on his left arm – and thanked Allah and everyone else for their good wishes. “…will be back at work stronger and be back running, cycling and swimming even faster,” he said in the post.

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has now strengthened Shameem’s security in the wake of the attack.

Following the attack on the Prosecutor General, former Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said it was a “politically motivated,” incident.

This prompted the Home Minister Ali Ihusan to ask Solih to share information to back his claim.

In a post on X, Solih, also the interim leader of the largest opposition outfit, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said: “Politically motivated acts of violence have no place in a democratic society and I call on the government to be swift in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”

Home Minister Ihusan asked Solih to share information to back his claim that the violent attack on Prosecutor General Shameem was politically motivated.

Condemning the attack on Shameem, the MDP said in a statement: “The alleged close ties between top government officials and criminal gangs were resulting in open violent assaults on top state officials.”

The MDP accused President Muizzu’s administration of failing to provide proper protection to officials charged with fulfilling constitutional duties and responsibilities.