Day: May 3, 2012

Department of Judicial Administration failed to distribute RF1.3 million in child support

The Director of the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) has made no effort to distribute child support money worth over Rf1.3 million (US$85,000), according to the Auditor General, while large amounts of money owed after court rulings has not been collected from offenders or distributed to successful plaintiffs.

According to a 2010 audit report on the DJA released on Thursday, auditors found that if the recipients of the child support did not explicitly collect the money from the court, the money remained undistributed and no additional measures were taken by the court deliver the child support to its rightful recipient.

“Until December 2010, a total of Rf1,301,767.67 million remains undistributed with the court. However, the documents indicate that the court has made no efforts to distribute the money,” the report reads.

Following the breakdown of a marriage, husbands are mandated to make payments to their former spouses to cover the costs of childcare.

The report further notes that “as the records on child support money received by the court so far have not been maintained by the court properly”, it was unclear as to how much money the court was also supposed to receive as per the court orders.

The audit report noted that the DJA had not collected a total of Rf 1.6 million (US$104,000) owed by men found guilty of divorcing their wives outside the court.

A total of Rf2.1 million US$136,000) needs to be collected by the Civil Court as of February 2011, while a significant sum of Rf22 million (US$1.42 million) is owed to the Criminal court following court rulings and remained uncollected as of January 2011.

“The Department of Judicial administration has not done adequate work to collect the funds,” Auditor General Ibrahim Niyaz observed in the report.

Niyaz refrained from issuing an opinion on the financial statements provided the DJA, citing that the statements were not prepared in accordance with international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) following principles of “accrual accounting” or the “financial reporting under cash basis of accounting” issued by the IPSAS board, while several “fundamental records” were unaccounted for in the statements.

He noted that earnings from the magistrate court amounting to almost Rf4.9 million (US$318,000) were not recorded as income in the financial statement, while the funds remained in court safes and bank accounts. Similarly, Rf6.9 million (US$448,000) dispersed in advance to magistrate courts were recorded as an expenditure in the financial statement, while the auditors found that the funds remain “unspent” by the courts.

In an issue highlighted in previous audit reports of state institutions for 2010, the AG noted that between October 2008 and December 2011, Supreme Court judges had paid their phone bills amounting to Rf281,519 from the state budget, despite the fact that parliament had not allocated any phone allowances to the judges.

Therefore he recommended the amount be reimbursed and that the granting of phone allowances be determined as per parliament’s decision.

Meanwhile, Rf117, 832 (US$7640) was found to have been overspent on wages and allowances to the driver of a judge’s car.

DJA’s reponse: “loophole in the system”

The Director of the Department of Judicial Administration Ahmed Maajid said there is a “loophole in the implementation and enforcement” system that is resulting in millions of rufiya not being collected or distributed after legal decisions have been made.

Maajid explained these findings, arguing that there was currently no governmental authority or body to handle this aspect of the court’s work.

“It is upon the mother to get [the child support]. We have not executive or judicial authority to distribute it. There is a loophole in the system. It is not a case of corruption but a weakness in the system itself,” said Maajid.

“Currently the courts have no authority to give money over to the women. What normally happens is that the men get away without paying,” he continued.

Maajid went on to say that the issue concerned both the collection and the distribution of moneys owed. He argued that a new authoritative body was needed with the responsibility to collect these outstanding fees.

Maajid, however, did not see the problem as insurmountable although he felt it required urgent attention.

“This shortcoming in the system must be patched up very soon in order to fix this loophole,” he said.

Additional reporting by Daniel Bosley.

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High Court denies ACC injunction as commission appeals Civil Court ruling on Nexbis

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has appealed a ruling from the Civil Court blocking its order to halt the implementation of a border control system agreement between the Immigration department and Malaysian firm Nexbis.

The commission also called for an injunction on the installation of the system until the High Court case was resolved, however Judge Azmirelda Zahir said such a decision could only be taken after both sides had presented their cases. The ACC requested an injunction on the grounds that it would lose the possibility of appeal should the project be implemented before the conclusion of the High Court case.

The ACC in December forwarded corruption cases against former – and now reappointed – Immigration Controller Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim and Director General of the Finance Ministry, Saamee Ageel, to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG), alleging that the pair had abused their authority for undue financial gain in giving the US$39 million to Nexbis.

The ACC had earlier ordered a halt to the project following the signing of the contract in October 2010, announcing that it had received “a serious complaint” regarding “technical details” of the bid, and that the agreement presented “instances and opportunities” for corruption.

The 20-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement with the Malaysian-based mobile security solutions provider was to upgrade border security in the Maldives with new technology including facial recognition and fingerprint identification, facilitating the identification and tracking of expatriate workers and eliminating the opportunity to people to enter the country with forged paper documents.

The agreement allows Nexbis to levy a fee of Rf30 (US$2) from arriving and departing passengers in exchange for installing, maintaining and upgrading its immigration system. The company would also charge a Rf231 (US$15) for every work permit card.

Immigration Controller under the later months of President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, Abdulla Shahid, contended that the agreement meant that Nexbis would draw US$200 million in revenue from the project over the life of the 20 year contract, while five percent royalties to the government would equate to US$10 million.

Speaking to Minivan News following the ACC’s initial injunction, Shahid claimed that the deal would deprive the government of significant revenues, when “border control is not something we are unable to comprehend – it is a normal thing all over the world.”

Shahid estimated that a free system given by a donor country would cost at most several hundred thousand dollars a year, and said he was unsure as to why such an agreement had ever been signed.

However, Nexbis said in a subsequent statement that its agreement meant that neither the government nor the Maldivian public would pay upfront for “state-of-the-art border security protection”, and suggested that “reasonable persons will likely realise that once the hidden costs after are taken into account and adjusted for inflation, the benefits and efficiencies of the Nexbis system will far outweigh the risk, inadequacies and uncertainties of any such alleged cheaper system.”

The Civil Court in January 2012 ruled that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) did not have the legal authority to order Immigration Department to terminate the agreement, with Judge Ali Rasheed ruling that while the ACC Act gave the commission the authority to investigate corruption cases, it was not able to annul contracts.

Judge Rasheed asserted that it was “unfair” to the contractors if ACC could annul an agreement without their input, as this violated their protections under Maldives Contract Law.

During the High Court hearing this week, the ACC charged that the State Attorney during the Civil Court case, Deputy Solicitor General Ahmed Usham, had a conflict of interest as he had been a member of the tender board responsible for awarding the project to Nexbis. Usham disputed the charge.

The case continues.

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Dhiraagu restores internet services, announces service credits

Dhiraagu has repaired damage to its underwater cable that slowed internet in the Maldives to a crawl and affected some overseas phone calls, and announced the restoration of full service.

The cable suffered damage at a depth of 40 metres, 26 kilometres from the Sri Lankan coast, on April 18.

The company announced service credit to affected customers, including the waiving of rental for ADSL customers for the affected period.

TouchNet Postpaid customers will receive a free 20 percent data allowance until May 31, while TouchNet Prepaid customers will receive an additional allowance of 200mb until May 15.

Mobile internet users will receive an extra 20 percent allowance on any data packages until May 31.

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Handover of state broadcaster “best decision I’ve made”: President Waheed

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan today said the handing of the state broadcaster to the Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) was the “best decision I’ve made”.

Video footage on February 7 shows rogue police and military officers storming the state broadcaster’s compound prior to President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation, using a firearm or some kind of explosive to break down the gates.

Nasheed subsequently claimed he was forced to resign “under duress” in a coup d’état orchestrated by remnants of the former dictatorship, and carried out by mutinous elements of the police and military.

Speaking at an event to mark World Press Freedom Day, Dr Waheed claimed the handing of the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) to the parliament-created Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) had ended executive control of the media.

Nasheed had refused to hand control of state broadcasting to MBC claiming the then-opposition controlled-Majlis had appointed their supporters to the MBC board in “a media coup.”

Dr Waheed also announced today that the government would resume commercial advertising in privately-owned newspapers, marking a return to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s policy of effectively subsidising private newspapers through government advertisements.

Advertising an “incentive” for newspapers

Ousted President Mohamed Nasheed ended the policy in 2008 and shifted government announcements to a free weekly in-house gazette, claiming the move saved Rf 32 million (US$2,077,922) annually.

The Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) had campaigned against Nasheed’s decision, claiming the move had bankrupted news outlets and led to the closure of several newspapers.

Speaking to the press at a function held to mark International Press Freedom Day, Waheed said, “I want to open up government advertisements instead of publishing them solely in the government gazette even today. I think that will help the newspapers”.

MJA President ‘Hiriga’ Ahmed Zahir also spoke at the function held at the President’s Office, and said government advertising had provided “an incentive” for newspapers.

“I am not calling for the gazette to be annulled. But I don’t believe announcements for jobs and tenders should come through this gazette,” he said.

Handover to MBC

Under Nasheed’s administration, the MBC and the MNBC were engaged in a long-running tug-of-war for the control of state broadcasting assets.

Video footage on February 7 shows rogue police and military firing an explosive device to open MNBC gates. MNBC staff told Minivan News the security forces cut off MNBC coverage and ordered the station to air private Villa TV station’s live feed.

Former MNBC Managing Director Ahmed Shareef told Minivan News that President Waheed’s younger brother Ali Waheed had ordered the handover of MNBC to him on the orders of then VP Waheed. After Shareef refused, Ali Waheed led the military takeover of the MNBC.

Shortly after President Waheed took office, he signed over state media to the MBC. He told reporters today that the “best decision I’ve made was handing over TV and Radio to MBC.”

“The executive does not own any TV or radio stations any longer. I think this is the first time in Maldivian history that the executive does not control radio, TV or newspapers. I met with the MBC board within my first week in office. Even among all the stress and turmoil, I ensured the handover of state radio and TV to MBC as stipulated by law,” Waheed said.

Waheed said the handover of state assets to MBC ensured independence for the media as the government no longer controlled the media. “Today, the executive does not want to try and make the government’s view to be the truth,” he said.

“I believe freedom of expression exists in the Maldives to its widest extent today,” Waheed added.

However, Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has accused the MBC of “blatant propaganda”, alleging the station produced biased content and did not give adequate exposure to all political parties.

Meanwhile, MBC has announced a temporary halt to all political programming until the TV and radio stations better understood their public service role and could provide “intellectually debatable programs”.

Former President Nasheed held a parallel press freedom lunch for journalists and MPs at Traders Hotel.

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Dr Didi files complaint with Elections Commission following removal as MDP’s President

Dr Ibrahim Didi, the former President of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), yesterday submitted an official complaint with the Election Commission (EC) regarding his ouster by the party.

At a specially-convened session of the party’s national council on Monday, nearly 95 percent of those in attendance voted in support of the no-confidence motions against Dr Didi and Alhan Fahmy, the vice-president.

Alhan Fahmy is today holding a ‘free MDP’ protest against what he considers as the undue influence of former President Mohamed Nasheed on the party.

Dr Didi meanwhile argues that the vote taken on Monday was not in conjunction with the version of the party constitution currently registered with the EC.

“The October 2010 amendments to the constitution are not registered. It cannot be practised until it is lodged there. It is very clear in the Commission that [the vote] is totally against regulations,” said Didi.

Neither the President or Vice President of the EC were responding to calls at time of press, while the EC’s Director General Ahmed Tholal said he was not in a position to comment on the matter.

Speaking with local media after handing in his complaint, Didi said: “As you know the Elections Commission acts as the parent organisation to all political parties, and so only the party’s basic regulation submitted and approved by the commission is effective.

“Under the current legitimate basic regulation of the party there is no room to take a vote of no confidence against the President or the Vice President of the party, something on which even the members of the Election Commission agree,” he contended.

When Minivan News asked how tenable his position would be within the party should his complaint be upheld by an EC investigation, Dr Didi declined to comment.

He also mentioned that the changes were not sent to the EC for approval due to the negligence of the chairperson. The chairperson of the party when the amendments were made was Mariya Ahmed Didi, while the current interim chairperson of the party is Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik.

The no-confidence motion came after the council decided that both Didi and Fahmy were issuing statements in contradiction of the MDP’s agreed official line that the government of President Nasheed was illegitimately removed in a coup d’etat on February 7.

“I forwarded the resolution because [Alhan and Didi] have been making malicious statements intended to incite chaos and conflict among ordinary members of the party and the party activists. Making such statements at such a fragile time is damaging to the party,” Ghafoor told Minivan News on Monday.

Dr Didi today met with President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, reporting to local media that he had discussed the issues facing the country in his personal capacity rather than as a member of the MDP.

Speaking to the media after this meeting, Didi said: “The MDP leadership is currently in a legal void, therefore I have used this opportunity as an individual.”

He said that the discussions involved the restructuring of the Committee of National Inquiry (CNI) as well as the all-party roadmap talks which he felt would suffer due to the divisions within the MDP leadership.

Didi added that he had been asked to meet with the President on numerous occasions previously but had declined out of respect for his party’s position.

“My interest does not lie in gaining position – my interest is in the security and safety of the nation,” said Didi.

Minivan News was unable to reach a spokesman from the President’s Office for comment on the President’s meeting with Dr Didi.

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Police arrests suspected thief who stole Rf100,000 products from a shop

Police have arrested a man suspected of stealing Rf100,000 (US$6500) worth of products from a shop near South West harbor area, according to police.

The man is allegedly stole four cases of Camel Lights cigarettes, 35 cartons of Kent brand cigarettes, 45 cartons of Benson cigarettes, 120 mobile phone recharge cards worth Rf100 each and 100 Rf50 recharge cards, and a number of cans of Red Bull.

Police have not disclosed the name of the person, said he was a 24 year-old male who was arrested while he was trying to sell the cigarettes.

Police said 25 cartons of cigarettes had been recovered. The theft was reported to police earlier last month.

Recently police arrested two people accused of a series of robberies in which holes were cut in the roofs of the target premises, mostly shops in Male’.

The arrests followed a series of robberies from April 7-15 in which shops were robbed at night, with the burglars entering through holes cut in the ceilings of the stores.

Police recovered Rf498,000 (US$33,200) worth of stolen items and money, and Rf 37,000 (US$2466) and Rf50,000 (US$3333) worth of stolen jewelry following the arrests.

According to police statistics, 700 cases of theft, 127 cases of assault, 84 cases of robbery, 275 cases related to drugs, 166 cases of traffic violation, 57 cases of sexual offense, 18 cases of domestic violence, 13 cases of counterfeit and forgery, 71 cases of vandalism, 22 cases of check bounce and 28 cases of embezzlement were filed at police in the month of April.

So far in May police have received two cases of assault, 22 cases of theft, one case of robbery, five cases related to drugs, 12 cases of traffic violation, one case of vandalism and one case of embezzlement.

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Maldives’ first protective order issued to a woman allegedly abused by husband for 21 years

A woman allegedly abused by her husband for 21 years has received a protective order against her husband, the first to be granted under the recently enacted Domestic Violence (DV) Law which provides protection for victims of domestic violence.

According to the police, the protective order – intended to protect the victim from further harm or harassment – was requested by the Ungoofaaru Police Station following a complaint filed by the victim at the station on April 30.

In a statement released on Thursday, the police said that the woman has been “a victim of domestic abuse for 21 years” and has faced various forms of abuse from her husband over the years.

“During the investigation police found that the woman definitely needs protection,” the statement read.

Police media official Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News that the case is under further investigation and no arrests have been made yet.

Meanwhile, the woman remains protected from any further abuse under the protective order, he observed.

“A great help”

“The enactment of the Domestic Violence Act has certainly facilitated  police investigations into domestic violence cases. But more importantly, it is a great help for victims of such crimes,” the Sub-Inspector added.

Should the police find reasonable evidence to believe  a person is a victim of domestic abuse, the DV legislation stipulates the police can enter the place of crime without a court order and arrest perpetrators and even request for a protective order on behalf of the victim.

Furthermore, if requested, the courts can command the accused person to refrain from certain activities (a restraining order) in a domestic violence case and even  issue a maintenance order to ensure a means of support or livelihood to the victim.

The court can grant a three-month provisional order without a trial, or the knowledge of the alleged perpetrator, while he or she is given the right to challenge the order during the trial to make the order permanent.

The Domestic Violence Act defines sexual, physical and emotional abuse of victims, economic and psychological abuse, intimidation, stalking and harassment, deliberate damage to property of the victims as offences while the perpetrators can be subjected to the punishments and court orders.

Violations of these orders are considered criminal offences and the perpetrator can face a maximum fine of Rf50, 000 (US$3242) and a maximum three years of imprisonment.

In addition, the legislation stipulates the formation of “Family Protection Authority”, mandated to conduct programs to support victims of domestic violence, setting out measures for taking all necessary steps to prevent domestic violenceincluding rehabilitating perpetrators of such crimes, arrange easy reporting mechanisms and facilitating the investigations.

A seven member board needs to be appointed to the FPA . The board will be appointed soon, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan said after ratifying the legislation on April 23.

The passage to endorsement took over a year longer than anticipated, mostly due to the resistance from several MPs who had argued the bill was “un-Islamic” and criticised it for “unduly favouring women” while at the same time making life “extremely difficult” for men, who they said, were wronged by women.

Maldives has a high rate of gender-related violence, particularly affecting women and girls. A national survey on “Women’s Health and Life Experiences” conducted with the support of UNFPA, UNICEF, and WHO showed that one in every three Maldivian women aged 15-49 reported experiencing some form of physical or sexual violence at least once during their lifetime.

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Three men arrested with 58 packets of drugs

Police have arrested three men with 58 packets of illegal drugs on the island of Funadhoo in Shaviyani Atoll.

Police said that on May 1 they received a report that a group of people were using drugs in a house on the island. Police officers attended the scene and two of the men tried to flee, however all three were arrested.

Police are currently investigating the case.

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Deposed VP of MDP Alhan Fahmy launches ‘free MDP’ protest; claims Nasheed behind the party coup

Deposed Vice President of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), MP Alhan Fahmy, today announced that he would be launching a campaign to “free” the party from former President Mohamed Nasheed, and to advocate reform of the party.

Speaking at a press conference this morning, Fahmy alleged that Nasheed was behind his ousting, and the ousting of Party President Dr Ibrahim Didi.

On Monday MDP’s National Council declared a lack of confidence in the party’s leadership and removed Didi and Fahmy from their positions, in a near-unanimous vote: 69 of 73 votes cast (almost 95 percent) were in support of the no-confidence motion for both Didi and Fahmy’s leadership. Four members abstained from voting for either motion.

The motion was proposed by MDP Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, who alleged that Dr Didi and Fahmy had made public statements contradicting the party’s official position on the illegitimacy of the new government and Dr Waheed’s presidency, a position passed in a resolution on February 8.

Fahmy today stressed that the motion of no confidence taken against him was in contrary with the party constitution, and referred the move as a “coup” within the party.

“This [motion of no confidence] was a pre-planned attempt to defame certain figures of the party instigated by former President Nasheed and those who blindly follow him,” Fahmy told the press. “Nasheed is behind all this,” he claimed.

Fahmy criticised Nasheed claiming that the MDP could not be saved or liberated if members of the party allowed Nasheed to ‘rule’ the party according to his wishes, and sit back applauding him.

He also alleged that Nasheed had not once entered the party office since his fall from the presidency, and that he had been driving the entire party from his own residence at Kenereege.

“When you start running the party inside Kenereege, that is not democracy. No single person can take the fruit from the hard work of many like that,” Fahmy claimed.

Fahmy further alleged that Nasheed had given statements to the international media which were contrary to Islam and Sharia law, and that allowing Nasheed to become the party’s presidential candidate would “destroy the party”.

He further claimed that he would have challenged Nasheed in the presidential primary party if he had been old enough to compete.

He also claimed that Nasheed was the only MDP member permitted to meet President Mohamed Waheed Hassan or the Vice President, Waheed Deen: “When a certain person wants to he can, but if we do so, it becomes a huge problem,” Fahmy claimed.

However, Fahmy acknowledged that Nasheed had contributed a lot to the democracy of the country during his tenure as President.

Fahmy’s campaign began this afternoon at 4:00pm in the Raalhugandu Area near the tsunami monument. A small group of 15-20 of the MP’s supporters were quickly outnumbered and heckled by a large group of MDP members, as they made their way to Majeedee Magu.

One of Fahmy’s supporters told Minivan News that the campaign would call for the party to be “freed” from forces that had “hijacked” it.

“The MDP is the largest political party in the country, and it is also funded by the state like all other parties. No one person or a group can hijack a party like that. We are coming out to call for the party to be freed, and reformed,” the official told Minivan News.

Fahmy was elected as a Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) MP, but switched sides in early 2010 after facing the DRP’s disciplinary committee for voting against the party line in a vote of no confidence against then-foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed. The DRP had accused Dr Shaheed of fraternising with Israel.

MDP response

Speaking to Minivan News, the party’s international spokesperson, MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, said he was “disappointed” by the Fahmy’s comments.

Responding to the claim that Nasheed was behind his ousting from the deputy leadership, Ghafoor said that MDP was “full of people who can think for themselves” and Fahmy’s comment was “outright disregard”.

” The MDP is full of people who can think for themselves, in fact I am the sponsor of the motion and I can assure you that I forwarded it in my own capacity and nobody had any influence on me,” said Ghafoor.

In response to claims that Nasheed was driving the party from his personal residency, Ghafoor stated that the party secretariat still worked in the party office and that for security reasons, when there was an issue that had to be discussed with Nasheed, members came to his residence.

Ghafoor also added that MDP was run by committees and some committees met at venues other than the party secretariat office, because it lacked space.

Regarding Fahmy’s claims that Nasheed made ‘unislamic’ statements to foreign media, Ghafoor claimed that this was “just the usual rhetoric” to discredit political opponents on religious grounds “when one switches ship.”

“It seems like Alhan [Fahmy] has taken an Islamist position. It is not something new to the Maldives. The rhetoric of religion and foreign influence has always been played down in the Maldives for political reasons. It is not something we worry too much about,” Ghafoor said.

“Let’s see the political weight of that event. It is rather ironic for someone to believe that they have room within the party to call for room after they’ve been voted out with such large majority,” Ghafoor told Minivan News.

” MDP is always in process of reforming and will continue to do so. All I’ve got to say to Alhan [Fahmy] is ‘good luck’,” added Ghafoor.

The MDP has maintained that as the transfer of power on February 7 was illegal, former President Nasheed and his cabinet should continue to sit in the National Council as senior members of government.

The motion was forwarded by Ghafoor, citing that the issue was “political” rather than “personal”.

The ousting of the party’s leadership was “a solemn occasion and I took no pleasure in it,” Ghafoor said. “But it was a good day for the party and a good day for democracy. We have shown that the largest party in this country can act democratically,” said Ghafoor.

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