Fathimath Shammaz Ali Saleem, a state minister in the Maldives’ environment ministry, was detained on Thursday, June 27, along with her ex-husband Adam Rameez and two other people, for allegedly using black magic on President Mohamed Muizzu.
Rameez was employed by the President’s Office as a minister.
“On Sunday, Shamnaz and two other people were taken into custody. They have all three been placed under detention for a period of seven days. According to the Environment Ministry, she was suspended from her position on Wednesday,” the news outlet Maldives Sun said, adding that Rameez and Shamnaz had also been suspended by the government.
Shamnaz and Rameez had previously served alongside Muizzu as members of the Male City Council during his tenure as mayor of the city.
“Rameez, during his time at Male City Council, was known as a close aide of Muizzu, who was the mayor at that time,” the Maldives’ Sun said.
“However, he has been absent from the public light in the past five months or so,” it continued.
The President’s office and the Maldives government have not yet commented on the matter.
The police acknowledged that they were looking into a case involving Shamnaz and two other people, but they did not formally confirm that they had been arrested for using “black magic.”
The state minister for the environment, climate change, and energy of the Maldives is Fathimath Shammaz Ali Saleem. She has been detained for the last seven days.
According to the Sun, a newspaper located in the Maldives, Shamnaz was formerly on the environment ministry’s website labeled as a political appointee, but it has since been changed to the list of former political appointees.
In his capacity as environment minister, Shammaz had been a major player in the global climate problem.
According to the Maldives Sun, Shamnaz previously worked with President Muizzu as a member of the Male City Council while the latter was the mayor of the city.
Shamnaz left the council and was named a state minister at Muliaage, the president’s official home, following Muizzu’s election to the presidency last year. She was later moved to the Ministry of the Environment.
Although it is not illegal in the Maldives, practicing black magic or sorcery carries a six-month prison sentence under Islamic law.
