February 9 detainees in Addu “forced to walk on smoldering coals”, says former PIC chair
09 Feb 2014, 4:55 PM
Zaheena Rasheed
Detainees arrested in Addu City after the controversial transfer of power on February 7, 2012, reported being “forced to walk on smoldering coals,” former Police Integrity Commission (PIC) chair Shahindha Ismail has said.
Police stations and courthouses were set ablaze in Addu after a brutal police crackdown on opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protesters in Malé.
Shahindha said that a four member PIC team visited the southernmost atoll from Februay 10- 13 on the request of then Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz, interviewing police officers and over 75 detainees.
“Almost everyone who was arrested said they were taken to the Gan Police station. Police officers took them through the burnt down buildings and accused them of arson. They said were pushed onto the coals and forced to walk over smoldering coals. We saw burns on various parts of their bodies. They also said they were tortured and pepper-sprayed. Some of the detainees said the police had threatened to burn them and their houses,” Shahindha told Minivan News.
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