Police postpone summons issued to MDP's Zahiyya
According to Zahiyya, police informed her by phone that the summons issued on Tuesday had been withdrawn and that she would be called again soon.
Police on Wednesday postponed a summons issued to Fathimath Zahiyya, an opposition MDP candidate contesting the Hulhumalé North constituency in the upcoming council elections, in connection with a Facebook post made in October last year.
Zahiyya had been ordered to appear before police at 2.00 pm on Wednesday. However, she said in a post on X that the summons had been cancelled.
According to Zahiyya, police informed her by phone that the summons issued on Tuesday had been withdrawn and that she would be called again soon to provide a statement.
“The police called me to inform me that the summons sent to me to appear before the police office today has been cancelled. They also said that I will be summoned again very soon to take a statement,” she wrote.
The summons stated that Zahiyya was required to appear in relation to an allegation that she had threatened police in a Facebook post dated 4 October.
The notice did not specify the post in question. However, Zahiyya had written on that day: “I have started preparing Kandoodhoo pepper spray in preparation for November 17.”
Maldives Police Service seized Zahiyya’s mobile phone in October as part of the investigation. The phone was returned to her about a week later.
The renewed summons was issued nearly three months later, during the council election campaign period.
