Maldives police are looking to question two top main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) officials over the defamation case filed by incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
MDP chairperson Hassan Latheef along with party secretary general Anas Abdul Sattar have been summoned to the police at 4pm on Friday over the lawsuit which is set to be heard by the country's Civil Court.
MDP had released a report alleging president Yameen's direct involvement in the vessel which had been flying the Maldives flag suspected of transferring goods to a North Korean tanker in defiance of United Nations (UN) Security Council earlier this year.
Both Latheef and Anas had been present during the press conference held to release the report.
Police meanwhile had denied any link between the vessel and president Yameen dismissing the MDP report as "blatant lies."
President Yameen has also asked the broadcasting regulator to penalize opposition aligned Raajje TV for providing live coverage to the press conference.
The contentious defamation law passed in 2016 by the parliament despite widespread criticism, criminalises speech deemed to be defamatory, to comment against “any tenet of Islam”, to “threaten national security” or to “contradict general social norms”.
Those committing an offence under the bill can face fines and failure to pay the fine will result in jail sentence of three to six months.
