President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has made an appeal against publicly shaming people and taking advantage of mistakes and crimes.

The President's remarks came as a video of South Henveiru Constituency MP-Elect Imran Latheef (Immu) at the scene of an accident between former Home Minister Sheikh Imran Abdullah's car and a pickup truck of a civilian was circulating on social media. In the video, Immu asks the Adhaalath Party leader to forgive the man driving the pickup, describing him as a “poor civilian.”

The video produced mixed reactions, with some ridiculing Imran, while others criticized the newly-elected MP.

Sheikh Imran and his wife remained silent from the beginning till the end of the video.

Because of that, many people criticized him for being "arrogant" while others have condemned the act. Sheikh Imran’s Ahdaalath Party also condemned the act, saying Immu was trying to obstruct law enforcement.

In a post on X on Monday morning, President Muizzu said he finds acts of publicly shaming people “for whatever reason” unacceptable.

“Taking advantage of a crime committed by someone and taking a video and publicly shaming them for whatever reason is completely unacceptable by both moral and societal standards,” wrote the president.

“The law prescribes how to treat a person who commits a crime. There are law enforcement agencies and a legal system in place for this.”

President Muizzu said that abandoning religious and societal standards and taking the law into own hands is a barrier to eliminating the spirit of retaliation Maldives wants erased from society.

“Let us all be kind, compassionate and responsible people who build a responsible society!” he said.