Gayyoom and his false allegations against his critics in nothing new in Maldives :: Dhivehi Observer

Editorial
Gayyoom's false allegations against his critics is nothing new

A.S.I.Moosa (Sappe'), Dhivehi Observer, 05th May 2005

The new allegation against the Maldivian opposition being devised by Gayyoom is just another pathetic attempt by Gayyoom to halt the activities of his critics who continues to expose his dictatorship to everyone. Since Gayyoom came to power, everyone who has opposed him has been accused of outrageous crimes with most of them serving years in prison.

In recent times, this has become more and more outrageous but the most outrageous of all was the accusation laid against the former Editor of Sangu Magazine in 1990, after it published several articles critical of Gayyoom and his government. Mohamed Shafee (known popularly as Sappe') is one of the most prominent architects in the country and along with his friends, Mohamed Nasheed (Anni), the current chairman of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), was accused of a plot to assassinate 6 heads of states of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, including King, President or Prime Ministers of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Bangladesh. The charges were brought against him several months after keeping him in solitary confinement and he was sentenced for 14 years in prison out of which he served nearly two years in solitary confinement and 4 years in total. Mr. Nasheed was sentenced for 4 years on the assumption that he must have known about the plot as he was a close associate and friend of Sappe'. However, the case was never proven. Gayyoom was angry with Sangu Editor and writers because it exposed the corruption in his government and promoted freedom of press and called for a responsible democratic government to be installed in Maldives. The connect with the SAARC summit was devised by Gayyoom because Sangu Editor and Reporters were successful in arranging interviews with those leaders who were attending the SAARC Conference held in Male', Maldives that year.

Similarly, last year, Gayyoom's government accused Sheikh Fareed of plotting to kidnap and kill key government official in an official statement given to Amnesty International, which were all lies because his Attorney General could not confirm those charges. Fareed was later sentenced for inciting religious hatred and not on any of the false accounts stated by Gayyoom in minute detail in that statement. There has been several other similar incidents which proves the extent of lies and conspiracies Gayyoom devises to continue his reign of terror.

We now have a similar situation. An unknown person Ibrahim Asif has been charged with plotting to purchase arms from India and has been linked to two MDP officials and more people are now bring arrested in connection to the case such as Mohamed Zahid from Feydhoo. Ibrahim Asif has been linked to an Islamic extremist organisation and to make it even more absurd, an UK NGO which has close affiliation with the opponents of Gayyoom has been accused of financing the plot. Ever since its inception, Friends of Maldives (UK) has been labelled by Gayyoom as a Christian missionary organisation until now. Now Gayyoom is saying that FOM is linked to an Islamic extremist organisation and plotting to carry out terrorist activities. And, in this context, along with several other foreigners, the founder of FOM is now barred from entering the country.

Everyone knows what Gayyoom wants. Label his opponents as criminals and get them off his back so he can continue oppressing and killing the people of Maldives whilst enjoy the wealth of the people. The pathetic attempts to hold of to power is yet another proof that Gayyoom does not intend to reform the country. No matter how hard Gayyoom tries, no one will believe what he says and what he is doing is convince the world that he is the one and only Maldivian terrorist, who has terrorised his people for more than 25 years.