The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has confirmed that the circulating notice regarding taking photos of the external body, excluding genitals, of activist of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Mariyam “Mandhy” Zubair and the party's National Congress member Ahmed “Maaz” Saleem, is authentic.

On Monday, the police institution stated that if a photo of a person or a voice sample is needed for a criminal investigation, it can only be done with their consent. If the person does not give consent, it can only be done under a court order.

The police institution went on to reveal that photos and voice samples are considered samples taken from the external body.

In addition to this, MPS revealed that since samples taken from inside the body include photos and samples of genitals, when the court issues an order to take external body photos and voice samples, it specifies that photos of other parts of the body except genitals can be taken, to clarify that genital photos cannot be taken.

The police institution highlighted that photos are usually taken to compare and identify if a person seen in footage or video is a specific individual, or to determine if a voice belongs to a particular person.

MPS has also confirmed that the police notice currently circulating in the media regarding sample collection is a notice sent to collect photos and voice samples needed for a criminal investigation of a case submitted by the Children's Ombudsperson's Office.