According to local media sources, Maldives Minister Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem was suspended after being detained alongside her two brothers on suspicion of using “black magic” on President Mohamed Muizzu.
Saleem serves as the Maldives’ state minister for the environment, climate change, and energy. Shamnaz and two other suspects were taken into jail and placed under remand for a period of seven days on June 23.
Maldives-based Sun claims that Shamnaz has been added to the list of former political appointees after previously being featured on the Environment Ministry’s website as a political appointee.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Ahmed Shifan, who serves as the chief police spokesperson, told Sun that “police were investigating a case involving Shamnaz and two other individuals.”
Interestingly, the Maldivian government has not yet released an official remark regarding this circumstance. When President Muizzu was the mayor of the city, Shamnaz was a member of the Male City Council.
Shamnaz left the council following Muizzu’s election to the presidency of the country last year. He was then named a state minister at Muliaage and subsequently moved to the Ministry of the Environment.
She plays a crucial role in a country that is most affected by the climate issue. By the end of the century, increasing sea levels might render it all but uninhabitable, according to UN environmental experts.
Maldives’ black magic history
According to the Mihaaru news website, a 62-year-old woman on Manadhoo was fatally stabbed in April 2023 by three neighbors who suspected her of practicing black magic. Police said they had conducted a thorough investigation and had discovered no evidence to back up the victim’s alleged involvement in magic.
In a different instance in 2012, police said the organizers of an opposition political gathering tossed a “cursed rooster” at officers who were raiding their offices during a crackdown.
