Maldives police have arrested two serving ministers for allegedly performing black magic on President Mohamed Muizzu, several reports said on Thursday.
Shamnaz Saleem, who was the State Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Energy and her ex-husband Adam Rameez, who was serving as a minister at the President’s Office, and two others were arrested, local media said quoting the police, according to a report in PTI.
The police, however, declined to share any information about the reasons or the alleged performance of black magic.
“Shamnaz, alongside two other individuals, was arrested on Sunday. All three of them have been remanded in custody for seven days. She was suspended from her post on Wednesday as per the Environment Ministry,” news portal Sun.mv reported.
Rameez too has been suspended on Thursday. Incidentally, both Shamnaz and Rameez have worked with Muizzu as members of the Male City Council when he was serving as the city’s mayor.
Media reported that after Muizzu assumed office as the President in November last year, Shamnaz was appointed as a state minister first at Muliaage, the official residence of the president and then transferred to the Environment Ministry.
Her position is significant in a nation on the frontlines of the climate crisis, with UN environment experts warning that rising seas could make the island nation uninhabitable by the end of the century, according to AFP.
“Rameez, during his time at Male City Council, was known as a close aide of Muizzu, who was the mayor at that time,” Sun.mv said further and added, “However, he has been absent from the public light in the past five months or so.”
Neither the Maldives government nor the President's office has made any official comment on the issue.
Sorcery is not a criminal offence under the penal code in Muslim-majority Maldives, but it does carry a six-month jail sentence under Islamic law.