MPS Defends Safeguards in Court Order Targeting Two MDP Members
Photograph showing police’s crime tape | Photo: Maldives Police Service
The Maldives Police Service (MPS) issued a clarifying statement today regarding the court order issued to take full-body images of two Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) members, stating the explicit caveat regarding the exclusion of intimate organs is to prevent unauthorised collection of intimate samples under the guise of collecting non-invasive samples.
These court orders were issued for MDP’s National Council member, Ahmed Saleem (Maaz Saleem), and activist Mariyam Zubair (Mandhy).
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According to the statement, as per the police’s Criminal Procedure Code, bodily samples are classified as either non-invasive or invasive.
#MPSPressStatement: 171-A(CA) PS/2025/07: Clarification on Procedures for taking non-invasive samples, such as photographs for identification https://t.co/SuRgaCVjdE pic.twitter.com/OxIXhIZj0d— Maldives Police (@PoliceMv) April 21, 2025
“Non-invasive samples include photographs or the recording of audio samples of a suspect during a criminal investigation. Where the taking of photographs may involve the exposure of intimate areas of the body, such images are deemed intimate samples and are subject to additional legal safeguards to ensure the protection of individual rights during the investigation process,” the police said regarding the criticism aimed against them for the wording of their court order.
The police said the explicit caveat regarding the exclusion of intimate body parts is included in the court order to prevent ambiguity.
“This caveat clarifies that the warrant does not extend to the capture of intimate samples and authorises only the photographing of non-intimate areas,” the police said.
They said this is a widely adopted practice in the Maldives and is in place to prevent unauthorised collection of intimate samples under the guise of collecting non-invasive samples.
Saleem and Zubair were recently summoned by the police for a second time about statements allegedly made about the President’s son during an MDP demonstration. The second summons, as detailed in a formal chit, cited the court order requiring full-body photographs and voice samples of the pair. The police stated that the photographs were necessary to compare with video footage to confirm the identities of individuals captured making the remarks.
