The younger brother of former Maldives President and current speaker of parliament Mohamed Nasheed has been arrested over homosexuality charges. Nazim Sattar, whose homosexual sex tape had gone viral earlier this year, has been arrested by the current president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration.
Mohamed Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of Maldives in 2008. His brother Nazim Abdu Sattar is a lawyer, lecturing at Maldives National University and other colleges around the country.
Sharing the news of his brother’s arrest on Twitter, Mohamed Nasheed said, “President @ibusolih‘s administration has arrested my brother selectively accusing him of homosexuality.”
Nasheed also mentioned that the arrest is against criminal procedures in the country and has been done to appease hardliner extremists in the country who are part of the government. Islam is the state religion of Maldives and the Maldives law criminalises homosexuality and prescribes criminal penalties for same-sex sexual conduct and relationships.
Sex tape leaked of Nazim Sattar, brother of Mohamed Nasheed
Earlier this year, in June, a sex tape of Nazim Sattar was leaked on social media. In the video, Nazim, who is the younger brother of Nasheed, was seen engaging in various sexual activities with a younger man in a room. The video was shared with the local journalists by an anonymous account and it subsequently went viral.
Maldives law, which is based on Islamic Sharia law, prohibits any sort of homosexual activity, whether consensual or not. Clause 412 (b) of the Penal Code forbids homosexual conduct, while clause 42 (a) and (b) of the Sexual Offenses act criminalizes any homosexual act, irrespective of whether it was consensual or not.
Rise of Islamic hardliners in the Maldives
The Maldives, advertised as the perfect picturesque tourist destination, has been observing a rise in radical Islamism in recent times.
On June 21, Islamist extremists disrupted Yoga Day celebrations in the Maldives. Videos of the incident emerged on social media platforms where Islamists could be seen entering the Galolhu stadium where people were doing Yoga on eight International Yoga Day. They uprooted the flags in the stadium and used them to attack the participants of the celebrations.
Apart from disrupting the actual event, Islamists from the country could be seen on Twitter flagging the event as ‘anti-Muslim’. Agitated with ‘Muslims’ being invited to the event (where everyone irrespective of their religion was invited) Twitter users from the country said that Yoga is Shirk and that the event is being held to humiliate Islam.