Friday
22nd Nov 2024
Dhivehi Edition
President Nasheed and Nazim Sattar.
A sex tape of Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed's younger brother Nazim Sattar has been leaked on social media.
Nazim Abdu Sattar is seen with a young man, in a room, engaging in various sexual activities.
In the widely circulated video and screenshots, Nazim is clearly seen. The video was first shared in a local media group that included several prominent journalists. The video was shared from an anonymous account.
Clause 412 (b) of the Penal Code forbids homosexual conduct, while clause 42 (a) and (b) of the Sexual Offenses act criminalizes any homosexual act, irrespective of whether it was consensual or not. Moreover, homosexual conduct is forbidden in Islam and Islamic shariah has clear laws on the matter.
The number of individuals calling to legalize homosexual conduct in the Maldives has increased under the administration of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Nazim Abdu Sattar is a lawyer, lecturing at Maldives National University and other colleges. He has denied all allegations.
After the video and screenshots began circulating on social media, Nazim had filed the case in Maldives Police Service (MPS) for investigation. TMJ has been able to ascertain that MPS is focusing attention on who leaked the video. A senior official of MPS, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Nazim had admitted that he was the individual seen in the video.
At 1700hrs on Friday, Nazim was escorted to MPS headquarters to give his statement. He exited the building around 1840hrs. Reporters at the location had asked about the video. Nazim had refused to respond to the questioning.
MPS is yet to comment on the nature of the investigation, but had reported that they were looking into blackmail attempts of several individuals.
Normally in criminal cases, summons is issued on an individual to give his statement. Contrastingly, Nazim Abdu Sattar was given a police escort to and from MPS headquarters. He was personally accompanied by an investigative officer of Serious and Organized Crimes Department. Therefore, there is room to speculate that Nazim is being treated as the victim here and taken to MPS to give a statement on the case he had filed.
Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed was at his residence of G. Kenereege, when Police escorted Nazim home.
Local social media is abuzz with calls to arrest Nazim. While this is the first time videos and screenshots were circulated, there always had been suspicions that Nazim did engage in homosexual acts.