Criminal court grants police warrant to obtain IP address of Minivan News commentator accused of “violating Islamic principles”

The Criminal Court has granted a warrant for police to obtain the email and IP address of a Minivan News commentator accused of “violating Islamic principles”.

In a letter signed by Police Inspector Moosa Ali, Head of Fraud and Financial Crime, states that a case was filed at police regarding the commentator’s use of the identity ‘Maai Allah’, and requests Minivan News provide the email and IP address for the investigation.

The letter also asks Minivan News to remove the comment, located on a story dated November 28 titled: ‘Government “cynically used xenophobia, nationalism and religious extremism” to attack foreign investor: former President’.

“As you know, the Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim nation and as no human being has been empowered to take for himself the almighty status using the name of Allah, and as this is insulting to the noble name of Holy Allah and undermines noble Islamic principles or tenets, we require information of the person who made this comment for our investigation,’’ the letter stated.

‘Maai’ is the Dhivehi word for ‘holy’.

The accompanying court warrant was signed by the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, and issued in connection with a case filed by the Cyber Policing Department of the Maldives Police Service.

Minivan News understands that this the first time police have requested the details of an internet commentator in connection with a case filed on religious grounds.

As a Maldives-registered media outlet Minivan News has complied with the warrant and removed the comment as obliged under Maldivian law. The particular IP address requested by police is registered in a foreign country.

Police informed Minivan News that the case was filed by religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf.

The serving of the court warrant follows a statement released by religious Adhaalath Party on December 3 stating that “approving and publishing such comments is a failure to properly fulfill the responsibilities of journalism”, and “calling on the person who wrote the comment and who published it to repent and reform [themselves].”

“A person has commented on Minivan News, a newspaper published online in the country, claiming to be Allah. This is something that involves a serious wrong in it. The reason is because the phrase ‘Allah’ refers to the name of Creator Allah, whom Muslims pray to, seek strength from and whom people find peace in their hearts by praising. Therefore, no human can say I am ‘Maai Allah’ [Holy God]. [They should] instead say ‘Abdullah’ or ‘slave of Allah’,” the party explained.

“If the intention of the person who wrote the comment was to characterise himself as a Khaleefa [steward] of God, that too is a serious wrong. The reason is because all things were created by Allah. And all things are possessed by Allah. Nothing escapes the knowing or possession of the deity. Therefore, only Allah would know whom he would appoint a steward on this earth. A person cannot claim on his own that he is the ‘steward of Allah’.”

“As such problems are a recurring one in the aforementioned newspaper, we urge the relevant authorities to investigate this and take action,” the party urged.

A media monitoring report by Transparency Maldives published in December 2011 found that Minian News’ coverage of the Adhaalath Party was 100 percent positive.

Editor of Minivan News JJ Robinson said:

“Whistle-blowers entering a source relationship with a journalist for a story in the public interest are entitled to legal protection from identification under the Maldivian Constitution. However without a prior journalist-source agreement commentators have no such protection, and need to be aware that under Maldivian law news websites registered in the country cannot guarantee the publication of comments, or anonymity.”
“A platform such as Minivan News  is no more accountable for the opinions and statements of its readers than an internet service provider (ISP) is for the content viewed by its subscribers, yet under Maldivian law is obliged to remove comments where advised by relevant authorities,” Robinson said.

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State Environment Minister plays down budget dispute, alleges media “misunderstanding”

State Minister for Environment and Energy Abdul Matheen Mohamed has played down a report that his department yesterday slammed the proposed state budget for neglecting the “fundamental rights” of Maldivians, claiming there had been a “misunderstanding” with local media.

The Sun Online news agency yesterday reported that senior environment ministry officials had raised fears before the Majlis’ National Development Committee that it had been allotted an insufficient budget for proposed water and sewerage projects needed across the country.

Environment Ministry Permanent Secretary Ahmed Saleem was quoted as claiming that some 15 projects proposed by his department had been excluded from the budget is being debated within parliament this week. These projects were said to deal with issues including waste management, as well as supplying water and sewerage systems to more islands around the Maldives.

Saleem was reported as saying that complaints over the matter had also been sent to Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad, who had in turn had responded that any amendments to the budget would have to be made through the Majlis with support of MPs.

Both finance chief  Jihad and Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed were not responding to calls from Minivan News at the time of press.

Speaking following yesterday’s meeting with the National Development Committee, Permanent Secretary Matheen claimed that Saleem’s reported comments had been the result of a “misunderstanding” by its author.  He alleged that the journalist had focused on a few points of a long meeting with the committee.

While Matheen said that there were some “concerns” about the present status of the budget allocated to the Environment Ministry, he that alleged the article’s conclusions were “very misleading”.

“The budget issue is very sensitive right now, so i’m afraid I cannot make any comments about the matter at present,” he said. “The islands are all asking what they will have from the ministry.”

Matheen added that he was presently unable to comment on the exact nature of the “misunderstanding” contained within the Sun Online report due to the fact discussions on finalising the state budget were ongoing.

Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Hassan Adil, a member of the National Development Committee, was unavailable for comment when contacted on the challenges in trying to balance ministry expenditure in the current economic climate, asking Minivan News to call this evening. However, Adil was not answering calls at the time of press.

Budget discussion

Presenting the budget to parliament last week, Finance Minister Jihad explained that next year’s budget deficit was to be financed with MVR 971 million (US$62 million) as budget support and MVR 1.3 billion (US$84 million) from Treasury bill (T-bill) sales.

However, as debate on the budget commenced yesterday amidst, regularly coming to a halt due to frequent loss of quorum – most MPs complained of the lack of funds allocated for development projects in their constituencies.  these projects included developments such as harbours, water and sanitation systems, additional classrooms and upgrades to health centres.

Meanwhile,  it was revealed last week that the proposed budget for defence expenditure for 2013 was found to be 14 percent higher than the funds allocated during 2012.

A total of MVR 930.9 million (US$60.3 million) was proposed for defence expenditure, which amounts to 5.5 percent of the total budget.

Balance of payments

With the Majlis currently contemplating the 2013 budget, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to the Maldives last month noted that a ballooning fiscal deficit had “implied a rise in the public debt ratio, which now stands at over 80 percent of GDP.

According to the organisation, these developments also helped to boost national imports, thus worsening dollar shortages in the economy and putting pressure on MMA (Maldives Monetary Authority) reserves.”

The IMF forecast for the current account deficit was “nearly 30 percent of GDP this year.”

“Gross international reserves at the MMA have been declining slowly, [and] now account for just one and a half months of imports, and could be more substantially pressured if major borrowings maturing in the next few months are not rolled over,” the IMF mission warned.

The mission recommended formulating “a realistic and prudent budget for 2013″ to rein in the fiscal deficit, suggesting hiking taxes and “selectively” reversing import duty reductions.

According to an overview of the economy presented by the Finance Ministry along with the state budget (Dhivehi) proposed to parliament last week, the current account deficit in 2012 was expected to be 27 percent of GDP.

Water shortages

Following water shortages that authorities said affected over 100 inhabited islands back in May, Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodig at the time claimed financial support was the key challenge in ensuring sufficient supplies of drinking water to the public, even with the assistance of local resorts and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

Minivan News reported back in April that in the country’s southerly Addu Atoll, an estimated 90 percent of the local population were reliant on rainfall to bolster their drinking water supplies.

Numerous islands in the atoll are said to experience severe supply issues for drinking water annually as a result.

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Supreme Court declares Hulhumale Magistrate Court legitimate

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared that the controversial Hulhumale Magistrate Court was legitimate and could operate as a court of law.

The decision has ramifications for the trial of former President Mohamed Nasheed, who is facing charges of illegally detaining Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed during his final days in office. Nasheed and his party disputed the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court, which was formed by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) and which appointed the panel of judges hearing Nasheed’s case. The JSC includes two of Nasheed’s direct political opponents.

Out of the seven member Supreme Court bench, four judges ruled in favor of the court’s legitimacy while three judges including the Chief Justice had opposed it. The other two judges were Judge Abdulla Areef and Judge Mu’uthazim Adnan.

The four judges who ruled in favor of the court were Judge Abdulla Saeed, Judge Ali Hameed Abdulla, Judge, Judicial Service Commission (JSC) President Adam Mohamed Abdulla and Judge Dr Ahmed Abdulla Didi.

The Supreme Court majority ruling stated that despite Hulhumale being mentioned as part of capital Male’ City in the Decentralisation Act, Hulhumale was an “island” with a large population and therefore, having no division of a superior court on that island and if not for the presence of Hulhumale Magistrate Court, its inhabitants would have to travel to another island in order to get justice. Therefore it declared Hulhumale Magistrate Court as legitimate.

Supreme Court also declared that Hulhumale’ is a separate island in Male’ division, even though the law recognises Hulhumale as a part of Male’ City.

The three dissenting judges, having taken different legal arguments, mutually agreed that Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court could not be legally established.

All three judges had unanimously agreed that courts should be established through legislation and that the Hulhumale Magistrate Court was not established in accordance with the Judicature Act.

The case was filed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the respondent of the case was decided as lawyer Ismail Wisham.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team also sought to intervene in the court case. Nasheed’s lawyers stated that the case involved the interests of the former president as his case regarding the detention of the Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed is being looked by Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court.

Disregard to principle of bias

During the first hearings, the former Attorney General Husnu al Suood, who was representing the respondent raised procedural points whereby he argued that Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla could not sit on the bench since he was also the President of the JSC, which therefore amounted to “presumption of bias”.

However, the Supreme Court rejected the procedural points.

Following today’s decision, Suood in a tweet described the decision as a “case of actual bias” with regard to his previous arguments in court.

“A case of actual bias because JSC would [have] lost the case without the vote of JSC president: 3 for 3 against, casting vote by JSC [president]” – Husnu Al Suood tweeted

Meanwhile, MDP MP and Lawyer Imthiyaz ‘Inthi’ Fahmy criticised the Supreme Court decision and echoed similar sentiments.

“The suspect sitting on [Supreme Court] bench today killed and buried in Maldives the very basis for the rule against bias! That’s solid murder!” he tweeted.

Arguments

During the hearing, the respondents argued that according to the existing law, there were no legal basis to support the legal existence of Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court, which had been formed in contradiction to the constitution and the Judicature Act article 53.

Judicature Act Article 53(e) states that if four divisions of the four superior courts are established in one island, then “the magistrate court of that island will be abolished. And if a division from among the four courts is established in an island, matters that fall within the jurisdiction of the relevant court shall be carried out by the relevant division and not by the magistrate court.”

The respondent’s lawyer claimed that with reference to the constitution and the Decentralisation Act, it was clear that Hulhumale’ and Villimale are now considered as a part of Male’ even though they are geographically two islands, therefore a magistrate court cannot be set up in any of the islands which under the law are now considered wards.

The intervening Nasheed’s lawyers also echoed the remarks on the case. Nasheed’s lawyers requested a period of three days to research the documents – which they claimed to have only received just a few minutes before the hearing – but were denied the opportunity.

The JSC lawyers who filed the case argued that Hulhumale’ and Villimale were only considered as a part of Male’ for administrative purposes and that this argument did not have any legal basis. Therefore, they stated, Hulhumale’ should be “judicially” considered a separate island.

The lawyers also claimed that the court was set up with the intention of providing easy access to justice for the people of Hulhumale. They also claimed that according to the Judicature Act article 66, each island must have a magistrate court and that prior to the passing of the Act, the court had been functioning as an island court.

The artice 66 states – “A Magistrate Court shall be established in all inhabited islands with the exception of Male’ where there are the four superior courts created in accordance with Article 53(b) of this Act and in an island where four divisions of these four superior courts are established in accordance with Article 53 (c) of this Act.”

Responding to the claims of the JSC, the respondents stated that based on the documents presented to the court, the Hulhumale court was formed to function as a section of Civil Court and Family Court prior to the passing of the Judicature Act.

The added that only island courts were to be declared as magistrate courts according to the judicature act and since Hulhumale Court was a section of the superior courts, it cannot be declared as a magistrate court according to the Judicature Act.

No one should meddle with the courts: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court decision on the matter is followed by its previous order invalidating the decision of Parliament’s Independent Institutions Oversight Committee to not recognise the legitimacy of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court.

In the order, the Supreme Court ordered not to meddle with the business of the courts by other institutions of the state stating that the country’s constitutional system broadly entertained the principle of separation of powers, no one power of the state can go beyond the limits set out in the constitution.

“According to articles 5, 6 and 7 of the constitution that came to force on 7 August 2008, the Maldivian constitutional system has explicitly set out that the executive power, legislative power and the judicial power is independent from one another and the boundaries of each power being clearly set out, it is unconstitutional for one power of the state to go beyond its constitutional boundaries as stated in article 8 of the constitution,” read the order.

The Supreme Court also in its order maintained that as per the constitution, the judicial power of the state was the sole constitutional authority in settling legal disputes between the institutions of the state or private parties.

“The judiciary established under the constitution is an independent and impartial institution and that all public institutions shall protect and uphold this independence and impartiality and therefore no institution shall interfere or influence the functioning of the courts,” it added.

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President Waheed requests parliamentary approval for loans of over US$96 million

Parliament has begun debate on the MVR 16.9 billion (US$1 billion) state budget for 2013 submitted by Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad last week.

At the beginning of Tuesday’s sitting, Speaker Abdulla Shahid read out a letter from President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik requesting parliamentary approval for loans and government guarantees in the coming year.

Parliamentary approval for loans is required under amendments brought to the Public Finance Act in 2010.

Speaker Shahid announced that the President’s request was sent to parliament’s Finance Committee for consideration and review.

Minivan News understands President Waheed requested parliamentary approval for loans amounting to over US$96 million.

Presenting the budget to parliament last week, Finance Minister Jihad explained that next year’s budget deficit was to be financed with MVR 971 million (US$62 million) as budget support and MVR 1.3 billion (US$84 million) from Treasury bill (T-bill) sales.

Of the MVR 971 million estimated as budget support, MVR 671 million (US$43 million) was expected as foreign loan assistance, Jihad said, with the rest to be made up from “domestic finance.”

Jihad told parliament’s budget committee on Sunday that a large number of T-bills were sold to Champa Brothers – at an interest rate of about eight percent – when the Maldives Monetary Authority commenced sales to private parties in August this year.

Sun Online reported that Champa Brothers purchased T-bills worth US$11 million.

MMA T-bills of maturity dates of 28 days are sold at 7.73 percent interest, 91 days at 7.70 percent interest, 182 days at 7.55 percent interest, and 364 days at 7.70 percent interest.

Budget debate

Speaker Shahid announced that the debate would take place from 9:00am to 5:00pm with intervals until Thursday.

During Tuesday’s debate – which proceeded haltingly due to frequent loss of quorum – most MPs complained of the lack of funds allocated for development projects in their constituencies, such as harbours, water and sanitation systems, additional classrooms and upgrades to health centres.

In his budget speech (Dhivehi) last week, Jihad revealed that the public sector investment programme (PSIP) for 2013 included construction and repairs of harbours in 14 islands, establishing sewerage systems in 11 islands, water systems in three islands, 1,500 housing units in eight islands, 21 new mosques and upgrading the regional hospitals in Kulhudhufushi and Addu City to tertiary level.

Jihad said MVR 3.1 billion (US$201 million) was earmarked for the PSIP, with MVR 1.5 billion (US$97 million) from the state budget, MVR 21 million (US$1.3 million) from domestic loans, MVR 1.2 billion (US$77 million) as foreign loans and MVR347.6 million (US$22.5 million) as free aid.

Speaking first during Tuesday’s debate, MP Ali Waheed of the formerly ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said there were no funds or projects in the budget for his constituency or the neighbouring island of Mahibadhoo in Alif Dhaal atoll.

The MDP parliamentary group deputy leader insisted that the government should continue implementing the former ruling party’s manifesto.

Government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP for Kelaa, Dr Abdulla Mausoom, expressed concern with taking more loans to finance the budget deficit while the public debt was expected to reach MVR 31 billion (US$2 billion) in 2013 – 82 percent of GDP.

Considering the high levels of debt, Dr Mausoom observed that his each of his constituents in Kelaa in the northernmost atoll of the Maldives “are indebted by MVR 85,000 (US$5510)”.

As a consequence of “unequal development of the country,” said Mausoom, there was no sewerage in the islands of Kelaa and Filladhoo.

The DRP MP criticised the administrations of both Presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed for running up huge deficits and public debts, claiming that public debt “shot up like a rocket” during the three-year rule of the latter.

DRP MP for Kanditheemu, Mohamed Hussain, meanwhile protested over zero funds allocated for the island of Goidhoo in Shaviyani Atoll, part of his constituency.

The MP contended that smaller islands were neglected during formulation of the budget. He added that details of what was needed for the islands were shared with both President Waheed and Finance Minister Jihad prior to the drafting of the budget.

While he did not propose expenditure of more than half a million for the three smallest islands in Shaviyani Atoll, there was “a blank space next to Goidhoo” in the budget.

Local media reported that islanders of Goidhoo launched protests this week over the lack of funds allocated for development of the island.

Independent MP for Vaavu Atoll Velidhoo, Ali Mohamed, said his constituents in Foddhoo have been protesting at the island council for the past five days because the island’s pier was “crumbling” and damaged beyond use.

MDP MP for Ihavandhoo in Haa Alif atoll, Ahmed Abdulla, objected to infrastructure projects for the constituency approved in the budget for 2012 having come to a standstill.

MP Ahmed Abdulla claimed that MVR 10 million from a MVR 70 million loan from the Bank of Maldives had been disbursed but a planned sewerage project for Ihavandhoo did not commence this year.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of today’s sitting, Speaker Shahid said MPs should be “ashamed and embarrassed” that debate was only able to continue yesterday for two and a half hours out of six hours allotted in the agenda.

Yesterday’s debate was frequently interrupted by loss of quorum and was eventually cancelled around 4:00pm. At least 20 MPs are required to be in the chamber for sittings to proceed.

Shahid appealed for cooperation to let all MPs speak before the conclusion of the budget debate on Thursday.

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Maldives resort arranging repatriation of Finnish tourist killed in speedboat collision

The body of a Finnish tourist killed this week in a speedboat collision near to Male’ will be repatriated “as soon as possible”, the Honorary Consul of Finland in the Maldives has said.

An as yet unidentified male from Finland, who was said to be holidaying in the country with his wife, was killed after an express speedboat service to the island of Hulhumale’ collided with another vessel belonging to the Bandos Island Resort and Spa on Sunday (December 2).

Nine local people were also injured in the collision.  One of the injured – a 29 year-old woman – suffered a severe head injury that was since said to have improved, according to authorities.

A spokesperson for the honorary consul confirmed to Minivan News that its representatives had met with the wife of the deceased and were presently trying to assist the resort in which the couple had been staying with arrangements to return the body home.

The spokesperson said that the consulate was unable to provide any information on the exact cause of death, adding that it was waiting on the details from an ongoing police investigation.

Local media, citing police sources, reported yesterday that the Finnish national had been thrown overboard following the collision and was said to have been found dead when retrieved from the water.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Ahneef was unable to clarify the reports, claiming that investigations were continuing into the matter.

Following the collision on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) said it had temporarily suspended its express speedboat service between Hulhumale’ and Male’ while it reviewed guest safety procedures.

“We believe we need to do some work on safety,” a company spokesperson told Minivan News. “We will be working with transport authorities, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the police on the matter and will resume the services after that.” Dhoni services will continue to run between Male’ and Hulhumale’ as normal, the MTCC added yesterday.

When contacted today, the MTCC said it would be issuing a statement on the matter once the details of its own internal investigation and the findings of the police has been completed.

Meanwhile, Bandos Island Resort and Spa, which operated the other speedboat involved in the collision, said it was “not in a situation to discuss the incident” until police have completed their investigations.

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Maldives repays US$50m loan to India

The Maldives government has this week repaid a US$50m loan  originally supplied by India to the previous administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed, local media has reported.

Citing senior government officials, local newspaper Haveeru reported that the repayment has been made Tuesday (December 4) after the Indian government said it would not be extending the repayment period for the funds.

India late last month requested that the Maldives government make US$50 million in treasury bond (T-bond) payments to India by December, with a second equal payment scheduled to be made in February 2013.

Diplomatic dispute

The Maldives government was in recent weeks been drawn into a diplomatic row with its Indian counterparts over a decision to dismiss an injunction granted to India-based infrastructure group GMR by the High Court of Singapore over the managing Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) in Male’.

Authorities in the country have opted to void the contract signed by GMR and the previous government, whilst vowing that the airport will be run by the state-owned Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) by Friday (December 7) even with the injunction issued by the Singaporean courts.

Indian media has meanwhile claimed that the Indian government is considering freezing aid to the economically-crippled archipelago, notably a US$25 million loan necessary for the payment of civil servant salaries and the construction of a police academy.

“We are not happy with the way Maldives cancelled the GMR airport deal. This has surely left an impact on our bilateral ties,” a foreign ministry official told AFP. “A decision whether the money should be given or not will be taken soon.”

However the Indian High Commission n Male’ has previously stressed to local media that the suggestion of cutting aid was “unofficial”, adding that such a decision would not be “unilateral”.

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