MALE: Maldives Customs Service on Sunday denied any wrongdoing in issuing clearance for a fireworks shipment imported by Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) which has been linked to the blast aboard the presidential speedboat last month.
The statement came hours after President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in his first address to the nation since the blast had said investigators were concerned by the lack of documentation on a fireworks shipment that was brought in for the Independence Day celebrations in July.
“We don’t believe it was properly checked by customs. We don’t know what was brought in among that shipment,” he had said.
However, customs service in a statement insisted that the shipment was issued clearance under the laws and regulations of the country.
The service stressed that it had always acted within the laws and would continue to do so.
The president had also told reporters that he was compelled to sack his defence minister Moosa Ali Jaleel as he had personally sanctioned MMPRC to import fireworks into the Maldives which was earlier overseen directly by the army.
But he was quick to insist that the decorated army veteran had no involvement in the plot.
MMPRC Managing Director Abdulla Ziyath had been questioned by police on several occasions before finally taking him into custody.
President Yameen had also alleged that MMPRC funds were used by the now detained Vice President Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor to influence the police and the military.
The president said he was “surprised” by the level of influence his vice president had within the police.
“I did not want any member of my cabinet including the vice president to have any close connection to either the police or the army. I have always wanted the two institutions to function independently,” the president said.
But the VP had provided the police with money and equipment outside of the state budget, the president added.
“The vice president is being detained for the safety and security of the entire nation. There are many allegations concerning the vice president. Because of his influence over the police, it was deemed that an impartial investigation could not be carried out with the vice president remaining in office,” the president added.
