Pres says CoNI report missing; police probe underway
The CoNI report concluded that Nasheed’s resignation was legal, and that he was not forced to step down at gunpoint as had been claimed.
Report of the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI), which looked into the abrupt downfall of then President Mohamed Nasheed in 2012, is missing, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said on Monday.
On February 7, 2012, then president Nasheed resigned after days of protests and tensions between the government and military and police. He was succeeded by his former deputy, Mohamed Waheed Hassan.
In the wake of Nasheed's claims that he was deposed in a coup engineered by then opposition, the government set up the CoNI, with both the UN and the Commonwealth providing legal advice to the commission.
The CoNI report concluded that Nasheed’s resignation was legal, and that he was not forced to step down at gunpoint as had been claimed.
President Solih, who is in Haa Dhaal atoll to campaign for Saturday's presidential election, told the residents of Neykurendhoo island that the CoNI report is missing, and that the police has been asked to investigate the matter.
"What a major state secret is [missing]. It doesn't exist today. When we investigate it, we will know who is responsible," he said.
Police is yet to respond to questions about the president's remarks.
The full CoNI report was declared a state secret, and only a redacted and summarised version was released to the public. Statements identifying individuals were later destroyed to protect the identities and sensitive personal information of ordinary citizens who came forward to testify before the commission.
