Maldives government sacked its human rights minister after she publicly criticised police for arresting opposition members and accused them of brutally beating her lawmaker husband for allegedly drinking alcohol.
Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed was dismissed as the Gender, Human Rights and Family Minister for ‘her actions and statements as a minister’. Media Secretary of the President's Office Masood Imad said: ‘It should not be the way a government Minister must behave’.
Dhiyana's husband Abdulla Jabir, also an MP, was among nine opposition leaders, who were arrested last week, on charges of consuming alcohol, which is illegal in the Muslim majority country. Former President Mohamed Nasheed's main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had charged that the arrests were ‘politically motivated’.
At a press conference Dhiyana and her husband addressed the media jointly and the latter narrated the events of his arrest as he alleged that the country was being run by the police and military.
Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed was dismissed as the Gender, Human Rights and Family Minister for ‘her actions and statements as a minister’. Media Secretary of the President's Office Masood Imad said: ‘It should not be the way a government Minister must behave’.
Dhiyana's husband Abdulla Jabir, also an MP, was among nine opposition leaders, who were arrested last week, on charges of consuming alcohol, which is illegal in the Muslim majority country. Former President Mohamed Nasheed's main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had charged that the arrests were ‘politically motivated’.
At a press conference Dhiyana and her husband addressed the media jointly and the latter narrated the events of his arrest as he alleged that the country was being run by the police and military.