Posted by Chinenye on Tue 03rd Nov, 2026 - tori.ng
A former government minister in the Maldives has been arrested over claims that he abused a child.
(Minister Abdulla Shahid. Photo Credit: AFP)
Abdulla Shahid, a prominent opposition leader and former foreign minister of the Maldives, has been arrested over suspected sexual abuse of a child.
The police stated on Tuesday that he was taken into custody at his home in the capital on Monday night, a day after he was campaigning for his party's presidential primary.
Police reported that he was arrested under a court warrant on suspicion of sexually abusing a child under 18.
Shahid, who is 64, was also president of the UN General Assembly until September 2022.
Shahid has denied the allegations.
He says they are a political attempt to damage his reputation before the Maldivian Democratic Party primaries and the presidential election, which is due by September 2028.
He called the claims completely baseless lies.