Charges against Sheikh Fareed “political matter, not a religious issue”
30 Jan 2011, 5:18 PM
Ahmed Nazeer
The President of the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM) Ibrahim Fauzy has called on the authorities to withdraw charges against Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed Ahmed, after he appeared in the Criminal Court charged for violating the former Religious Unity Act.
The Court alleged that Sheikh Fareed had preached on some islands without permission from the government authorities in 2007.
Sheikh Fareed was summoned to the Criminal Court today and was given the chance to respond to the charges.
”The former Religious Unity Act is contradictory to the new constitution, it is not acceptable to charge Sheikh Fareed over this issue,” said Fauzy. ”It is all related to politics. The former government confiscated his permission to preach, and later he only spoke at political rallies when he was in the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).”
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