Police on Friday summoned and questioned main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) secretary general Anas Abdul Sattar over a Tweet sent from the party's official Twitter handle the day before.
Speaking to reporters outside the police headquarters, Anas said police had questioned him over a Tweet sent out urging people to gather in support of the now opposition Jumhoory Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim when he was quizzed by police the evening before.
Noting that people gathering support of top politicians when they are questioned by police was normal in the Maldives, Anas said it had never been an issue before.
Anas is the latest top opposition figure to be questioned by police in the past few days. Police had questioned the now government lawmaker Dhangethi MP Ilham Ahmed after JP lawmaker Abdulla Riyaz and business tycoon Gasim.
The Maamigili lawmaker told reporters later that police had questioned him over a recent speech he had given during a JP rally where he was alleged to have hinted at possible bribing of fellow lawmakers.
Gasim during his speech had vowed to assist re-election of lawmakers if they voted in favour of ousting parliament speaker Abdulla Maseeh.
"Somebody had filed a police complaint over my speech. I was treated well by the police. They just asked me questions. They even said I won't have to come down to police station again," the business tycoon added.
Gasim is the latest top opposition figure to have faced a possible backlash after the failed bid to unseat the speaker on Monday.
Amid the chaos in parliament on Monday, the government had comfortably defeated the motion.
