President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has stated that he will act in accordance with any decision made by the presidential commission established to investigate the case of 21-year-old Hawwa Yumna Rasheed, who fell from a building on the 18th of last month. The President said this yesterday at a press conference in response to a question about calls for the resignation of Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen during protests by youth regarding the incident of Yumna’s fall. Ameen has been accused of influencing the case after it was revealed that he called the then Commissioner of Police Ali Shujau during a police press conference about Yumna’s incident.
When asked if he was considering removing Ameen from his position, the President said that this case has been one where suspicious matters have surfaced from the beginning. He said that the presidential commission was established to investigate the evidence of the case without any influence. The President stated that he will act on whatever conclusion is reached in the commission’s investigation report.
“Isn’t this case progressing in a very suspicious manner even up to today? That’s why I have established a presidential commission to investigate this matter without any influence, very objectively, by finding all the evidence and clues of the entire case,” he said at a press conference held at the President’s Office. As the President said this, 12 members of the opposition MDP have submitted a no-confidence motion against Ameen to the People’s Majlis last Tuesday. The notice of this motion has already been sent by the Majlis.
Before entering H. Fentenoage, the people who were with Yumna had also spent a considerable amount of time at Minister Ameen’s M. Maandhooge Dekunuge. Regarding this matter, Ameen had previously stated that the house is not his personal property and that the property is registered under his name along with three of his full siblings. He also said that when Yumna and others went to that house, it was not a place under his control.
Ameen has said that he was not in the Maldives on the night Yumna fell. According to him, he returned to the Maldives at around 8:50 am that day after an official meeting in Doha, Qatar. According to footage released by the police, Yumna fell sometime between 4:30 am and 5:30 am that morning. While Ameen denies the allegations against him, the police have stated that they were unable to obtain CCTV footage needed for the investigation of what happened when people entered Maandhooge Dekunuge before the incident of Yumna’s fall. The police said they were told that the CCTV cameras were damaged, and when checked, there was no footage.
The police have searched the terrace and the second and fourth floors of Maandhooge Dekunuge, as well as the third floor of G. Kathivelige, under a court order. However, when these places were searched about four days after the incident of Yumna’s fall, the police have stated that nothing related to the incident was found.
