Friday
27th Dec 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Maumoon Hameed the president of Bar council
The Bar Council of Maldives has refused to issue a comment on whether they had taken any action on lawyer Nazim Abdu Sattar, following a leaked video of Sattar and another individual engaging in homosexual acts.
Nazim is seen with a young man, in a room, engaging in various sexual activities. The video and screen grabs have been widely circulated on social media.
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.
Nazim has denied all allegations.
After the video made headlines, public calls to arrest Nazim and suspend his legal license arose on public forums.
TMJ posed the question to Bar Council President Maumoon Hameed – he had not responded to the question.
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.
A subsequent case of Nazim defaming the Prophet (PBUH) had also risen. The case is also lodged at MPS. So far, no arrests have been made.