Lawyers condemn Minister's remarks on safari rape case

Lawyers for the victim of the safari rape case have spoken out against Home Minister Imran Abdulla after comments by the Minister depicted the incident as minor and blown out of context.

The team of lawyers representing the victim said condemned the words of the Minister and in a letter called on Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed to take action against the Minister. 

The Minister was responding to a question by a caller on a radio program last night when he said that the case involved procedural issues. He stated that the version of events that were spread among the public was very different from what actually happened. 

Riza and Co law firm representing the victim condemned the remarks by the Minister when an investigation into the case was underway. The letter also detailed the events of the incident where the accused touched and grabbed the private organs of the victim without consent and even made death threats before attempting to forcefully take the victim to a room of the safari. 

The letter by the lawyers read that the “statements by the head of the investigative body depicting that (what happened on the safari) it was something that could happen or be done in any public place” was not based on information provided by the victim to the investigation.

The case has also been submitted to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Integrity Commission for lack of fairness in the investigation. The letter also read that the law firm did not believe that the Minister was capable of performing his responsibilities having spoken out in a manner where the accused were innocent from the case. Riza and Co said that it could not be accepted that the Minister would oversee a fair investigation into the matter and called for a move of no confidence against the Minister.