Opposition fails to prove their allegations against Government: Afeef

Home Minister Hassan Afeef has said that the opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Deputy President Dr. Mohamed Jamel and Sandhaanu Ahmed Didi failed to prove their allegations against the government and President Mohamed Nasheed that the government was working with Jews and Christians to weaken the Islamic Unity of Maldives.

At a press briefing held yesterday at Maldives Police Headquarters, Minister Afeef said that former Justice Minister Dr. Jameel confessed to the Police that his allegations were merely based on rumours and that he could not substantiate these allegations.

Afeef said that Sandhaanu Ahmed Didi kept on ranting instead of answering the questions posed by the Police.

Minister Afeef said that the opposition leaders are inciting hatred and instigating violence with baseless hate speech. He said that the Police will not tolerate such spurious claims that are leading to discord and unrest.

The Minister said that the government will not allow anyone to use religion as a weapon to achieve political agendas. He said that disseminating false information that causes confusion and incite hatred is a crime.

Minister Afeef called on the media to take note of this and not to disseminate such information that breaches the ethics of professional journalism.

Speaking to the media, Minister Afeef also said that the Police are not investigating the cases filed by the opposition against President Mohamed Nasheed because the charges are baseless and there is nothing to be investigated.

Meanwhile, Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair recently said that the propagation of unauthenticated information regarding the government amounts to impermissible religious innovation and maybe considered as a criminal offence in many instances. He warned the media that necessary steps will be taken against all media outlets that spread false information regarding the government. He said that to make false claims against the government to instigate the masses against the government is a criminal offence.

In addition to this, Zuhair denied the accusations of the government being run by the influence of foreign Christian missionaries. He said dismissed the claims as a shameless lie which was reiterated by the opposition since the Presidential Elections of 2008.