The Presidential Commission Investigating Murders and Enforced Disappearances has forwarded the name of former Islamic Minister Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed to the Prosecutor General's Office to raise charges for giving false information to the commission regarding the murder of former MP Dr. Afrasheem Ali.
Shaheem was the Islamic Minister when Dr. Afrasheem Ali was murdered in October 2012. According to the statement given by Shaheem to the commission, Dr. Afrasheem requested to go on the TV program aired on the night of his murder. However, text messages exchanged between Dr. Afrasheem and Dr. Shaheem obtained by the commission show it was Dr. Shaheem who requested Dr. Afrasheem to go on the program. The former MP was murdered in the stairwell of his residence when he returned home after going on the program.
The commission concluded that there were discrepancies between Shaheem's account and the text messages obtained for investigation. However, Shaheem has denied that he gave false information to the commission.
While the commission is pursuing charges against Dr. Shaheem, the parliament has approved to take action against Shaheem, and religious organization Jammiyath Salaf based on the report published by the commission. Both Shaheem and the opposition claim the government is going after Shaheem to destroy his political career.
Shaheem was former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom's running mate during the 2018 presidential election. He was recently ranked among the 500 most influential Muslims. He is currently an advisor to Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC)'s Secretary General, and based at Saudi Arabia.
