Police have arrested a 25-year-old man from HA. Baarah after he posted calls on social media to set fire to buildings and vehicles and loot shops.
Ali Juman of Kuhlhavahge was taken into custody on Thursday under a court order. Officers say his posts encouraged violence, arson attacks on buildings and vehicles, and the looting of Redwave outlets. The case remains under investigation.
What the Posts Said
In an X post last Monday, Juman told people they could not sit still while the government handed land to "jews." He urged the public to riot, burn buildings and vehicles, and target Redwave shops. Other reports link his comments to anger over the allocation of land in Rasmalé to Eagle Hills, a company critics say has ties to Israel.
Is this the kind of online outburst that turns into real trouble, or just another angry post that crosses a line? Police clearly decided it crossed that line.
Previous Run-In With Police
Juman, known in some circles as an MDP activist, had been arrested before. On 3 October last year he was held for failing to obey police orders during an MDP protest. The Prosecutor General's Office later dropped those charges. This time the allegations are more serious.
Similar Case Involving Former Official
The arrest comes days after police detained Hassan Zihan, a former MNDF First Lieutenant and one-time Deputy Minister of Transport under the current government. Zihan was held over a Facebook post in which he asked why no one had set fire to the President's Office, the Supreme Court and Parliament, adding that it "would be fun." He deleted the post about an hour later, but screenshots spread. A court in Fuvahmulah has remanded him in custody for 15 days.
Zihan graduated from the US Naval Academy and once worked as a naval architect in the military. Associates claimed his earlier dismissal from the MNDF was political. He later joined the current administration as a deputy minister before being removed from the post and becoming a vocal online critic.
Two men, two sets of fiery social media posts, and police moving quickly. Whether these cases reflect genuine threats or heated online talk that went too far is for investigators and the courts to sort out. For now, both men sit in custody while the probes continue.
