Police officers refused to let Easha Ashraf give her version of events in her defence, her lawyer Hussain Shameem told the press after the former political appointee was summoned for questioning for the second time. Shameem said police asked three main questions and that Easha was being accused of qazf (false allegation of adultery), but officers would not specify whom she was alleged to have defamed. Police told her lawyers the investigation statement was complete. Shameem said the allegation kept shifting: the passport-withholding order had cited Sections 612 and 630 of the penal code, but Tuesday's questioning relied only on section 612, and Wednesday's allegation was reframed again from comments made in a recording for "some news outlet" to claims made in public spaces and to other people, neither of which appeared in the original written allegations. "We don't actually get the chance to prepare or to defend during the investigation stage," he said. Shameem reiterated his position that Easha was the victim, not the perpetrator. State-issued legal texts on what constitutes a victim made this clear, he said. He stopped short of attributing the procedural conduct to government interference but said police had departed from their normal practice of allowing defendants to speak in their defence.
Information Commissioner Ahid Rasheed publicly pushed back on Attorney General Ahmed Usham's claim that the Right to Information Act was being "abused", saying his office had seen no evidence of systemic abuse and that mute refusals ≠ where public authorities simply do not respond to requests – were far more prevalent than vexatious filings. Usham said at a press briefing that the RTI Act was being "heavily abused," forcing government agencies to spend excessive time processing requests. The remarks came in response to a question about the President's Office's failure to meet legal response deadlines. Ahid said vexatious requests existed in isolated instances but did not constitute a trend. No government ministry had yet fully complied with proactive disclosure obligations under the law, he added, inviting the Attorney General's office to engage with the data in his annual reports and implementation assessment. Of 712 complaints filed with the Information Commissioner's Office last year, 487 – over two-thirds – concerned a complete lack of response from state institutions. The President's Office was among those with the highest number of complaints. Home Minister Ali Ihusan made similar criticisms of RTI as a costly process last year.
Attorney General Usham announced the government will submit a bill to parliament next week outlining procedures for political parties to remove sitting MPs, after the Supreme Court upheld constitutional amendments on anti-defection. Usham said the bill is nearly finalised. He also announced the government plans to submit a Data Protection Bill within the next few days, with the legislation aimed at safeguarding personal data, establishing transparent data processing standards, and defining the rights of data subjects and obligations of processors. A Cybersecurity Bill, which would establish a dedicated cybersecurity agency, is also among the bills to be submitted this parliamentary session under the ‘Maldives 2.0’ initiative.
The Supreme Court ruled that a minor, convicted of the 2012 murder of Abdul Muheeth 'Bobby' cannot be executed, finding that the death penalty is prohibited under the Juvenile Justice Act and that Islamic Sharia also bars retributive execution when the perpetrator is a child. The court overturned the lower court and High Court rulings and remanded the case to the Juvenile Court for resentencing. The killing, in which Muheeth was stabbed 20 times and had his head smashed, was carried out by a group of six — three of whom were minors at the time — with two ultimately receiving death sentences from the Criminal Court.
Infrastructure Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib defended the quality of the Thilamalé bridge after social media users posted videos suggesting visible bends or dips in the structure, saying these were illusions and that the segment-by-segment design would not align if there were genuine defects. He spoke during a media tour of the Vilimalé construction site, where he was joined by Indian High Commissioner Bala Subramaniam. The project, now 72 percent complete, was said to be on track to fully connect Malé, Vilimalé, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi by the end of 2027. The US$ 500 million project is the largest infrastructure undertaking in the Greater Malé area, financed by a US$ 400 million Indian Exim Bank line of credit and a US$ 100 million Indian government grant. Muththalib said the bridge would be "an engineering marvel" once complete.
Police arrested a 38-year-old man, Moosa Mohamed of Malé, on suspicion of stealing MVR 50,000 (US$ 3,243) from a victim's bank account through a malicious Viber link. Investigators found that on April 24, the suspect contacted the victim via Facebook Messenger before sending a link through Viber that reset the victim's phone and drained their account, with the funds transferred to the suspect's account. He was arrested on May 2 and remanded for 15 days. Police urged the public not to click links from unknown sources.
The Professional Standards Command launched an investigation into Assistant Commissioner of Police Ahmed Shifan after he allegedly instructed investigators to include the names of two uninvolved senior officers in a statement related to a duty-free cigarette smuggling case at Velana International Airport, Adhadhu reported. The suspect's lawyer refused to add the names as requested and later disclosed Shifan's alleged interference to the PSC. The case adds to a growing list of serious misconduct allegations against Shifan, who is also the police spokesperson. Senior officers filed a whistleblower letter to parliament in November detailing accusations of misconduct and abuse of authority, though parliament has yet to take any action.
The Maldives strongly condemned drone and missile attacks on civilian sites and infrastructure in the UAE, calling them a blatant violation of UAE sovereignty and a threat to regional stability. The government expressed full solidarity with the UAE and urged all parties to pursue dialogue and diplomacy to prevent further escalation.
Maldives Islamic Bank reported MVR 113.5 million in profit for the first quarter of 2026, up MVR 18.12 million from the previous quarter. Total assets grew 11.11 percent to MVR 18.50 billion over the quarter, with customer deposits rising 12.89 percent to MVR 15.40 billion. Operating profit was MVR 163 million, up MVR 37 million quarter-on-quarter. Customer deposits have grown by over MVR 5 billion year-on-year, the bank said. MIB also reported CSR contributions during the quarter to the STEM Hub Project, the Al-Lail Academy Qur'an Competition and its MIB Faru coral restoration initiative.
