Former Maldivian foreign minister Abdulla Shahid was arrested at his residence in the capital on Monday night on suspicion of sexually abusing a minor, police said.
The 64-year-old was reportedly campaigning for his party’s presidential primary ahead of the 2028 elections when he was taken into custody. Shahid, a senior figure in the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), also served as president of the United Nations General Assembly until September 2022.
Police said in a statement that Shahid was arrested on the night of November 2 under a court warrant over allegations of sexually abusing a person under the age of 18.
Before his arrest, Shahid rejected the accusations, describing them as politically motivated attempts to damage his reputation ahead of the party’s primary and the next presidential election.
In a post on X, he termed the allegations baseless and urged the public not to circulate unverified claims.
Shahid is a prominent opposition politician in the Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation known for its luxury tourism industry. The country is scheduled to hold its next presidential election by September 2028.
