Parliament yesterday rejected amendments presented by Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf narrowing some of the rights guaranteed in the constitution, as well as extending the Gang Violence Act to encompass all persons charged with criminal offences.
Out of the 52 MPs present only 15 MPs voted in favor of the amendment, while 34 of them voted to dismiss the amendment proposed to Gang Violence Act.
Under the amendment, persons charged with criminal offences stated in the Gang Violence Act do not have the right to remain silent and the right not to be detained during investigation.
The amendment assumes that any person charged with offences mentioned in the Act should be considered a person who will attempt to influence witnesses and is therefore a danger to the public.
Mahlouf said that the objective of the amendment was to prevent criminals from being left at large during the time their verdicts should be implemented, and said it would pave way for the judges to easily convict persons charged with offences related to gang violence.
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary Group Leader and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, speaking in the parliament session during the preliminary debate, said he supported the amendment.
Moosa said that judges attended parliament’s 241 (national security) committee to discuss gang violence and were told that judges did not have an adequate level of security because each did not have a car and house in Male’.
Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed, former legal reform minister, noted that the whole amendment was based on withdrawing the right to remain silent, an article of the contentious ‘Sunset Bill’ that would greatly boost police powers for a limited period and remains before parliament.
Parliament also rejected an amendment presented by Mahlouf to the Child Act , which would lower the legal age to 15 years.
Meanwhile, parliament has added to tomorrow’s agenda a request by the MDP to dismiss Judicial Service Commission (JSC) member Dr Afrasheem Ali.
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ITS CRAZY THAT MAHLOUFS BILL WAS REJECTED. THIS SHOWS HOW MUCH OUR MPS ARE CPNCERNED IN CONTROLLING THE GANG VIOLENCE IN THIS COUNTRY. OR PERHAPS THEY REJECTED IT BECAUSE THEY ARE ALSO INVOLVED IN OPERATING THESE GANG VIOLENCES.!!!!!!!!!
Inshallah I hope any MP with any bad hidden agendas who does not support an iron fist crackdown on gang violence is exposed for who they are.
People need to ask these MPs questions daily and ask them what they have been doing all this time in Parliament? Pressure them since they obviously have not done enough. Many of them have learnt to be like Western politicians who get away with things by saying things which are only politically correct and careful. They learn to avoid questions with the answers they reply with. So just like in the west, the only way to get politicians like this is to keep an eye on them 24/7.
Umm, Ziyan, your caps lock is on. 🙂
Don't worry Mahloof.. U have done your job.. This shows how concerned the other MP's are.. Is this the reason why MDP is buying majority ?
@Hassan
You idiot. Whats there in Mahloof's amendments that deserves praise. How can you force someone not to remain silent and get a valid confession out of him. Any confession drawn by not letting someone remain silent is moot because it could as well be that he doesnt know a thing but was forced to say something because the law doesnt allow him to remain silent. By passing this bill you are opening doors for more human rights violation than protecting it. Yes, this bill could allow you to just lock up gang members, but who's to say who is a gang member and who is not. You yourself could end up being the victim. Are you prepared for that?
Parliament made the right decision this time. This would have been a very dangerous bill, if passed. It opens so many doors to abuse of power, and it's quite clear either Mahloof doesn't fully comprehend what he's proposing or was deliberately attempting to use this bill for some other purpose.
Lowering the legal age to 15 years was another huge mistake in this bill. All in all, this was a thouroughly non-sensical piece of legislation that'd have a mockery of the current Constitution.
The trouble on our streets is not due to lack of legilsation. It's enforcement and education that are key to long term success.
Anyway, I bet Mahloof is pretty bad at chess, since he doesn't seem to fully grasp what happens beyond a couple of moves!
@Ahmed: Yes you have said wisely, Gangsterism effects us all, but we have to be careful not to repress the innocent in the name of cracking down...