Photo courtesy Jaawid Naseem, Jade Photography
Former President Mohamed Nasheed has been arrested by police ahead of his trial hearing at Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court, scheduled for 4:00pm tomorrow (March 6).
Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed that Nasheed had been arrested and taken into police custody at 1:30pm today (March 5).
“We have received the order. Police have taken Nasheed into custody in order to produce him at Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court 16 hours from now,” Haneef told Minivan News.
Photos of the arrest showed several dozen police wearing balaclavas and black riot gear, several armed with rubber bullet guns, entering Nasheed’s family home in Male’ and emerging with the former president.
Shortly after the arrest, Minivan News observed President Mohamed Waheed’s brother Ali Waheed forced off his motorcycle by several dozen angry demonstrators on the main road Majeedee Magu, at the turnoff to Nasheed’s house. A second, larger group pulled Ali Waheed to safety, abandoning his motorcycle. The first group then attacked a parked military vehicle, smashing a window.
Nasheed’s latest trial hearing follows his exit from the Indian High Commission last month, after the Maldivian and Indian government came to an alleged “understanding” that he would be able to conduct a peaceful campaign and participate in an inclusive election.
The former president told Indian media on Sunday (March 3) that while he had ended his 11-day stay in the Indian High Commission, he was still not entirely free and feared an arrest warrant would be issued against him any day soon.
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor confirmed to Minivan News that there were Special Operation (SO) officers outside Nasheed’s residence earlier today prior to his arrest.
“He has been taken away to Dhoonidhoo [prison], we are still in a state of shock,” Hamid said.
The former President sought refuge inside the High Commission building on February 13 after Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court ordered police to produce Nasheed at his trial hearing scheduled for later that day.
Nasheed has maintained that the charges against him – of detaining the Chief Criminal Court judge during his final days in office – are a politically-motivated effort to prevent him contesting the 2013 elections.
Nasheed spent 11 days inside the commission building before making an unannounced exit on February 23.
Following his exit from the High Commission, the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court issued a travel ban to Nasheed, preventing him from leaving the country.
UPDATES
2:30pm: Shortly after Nasheed’s arrest, Minivan News observed President Mohamed Waheed’s brother Ali Waheed being pulled off his motorcycle by several dozen angry demonstrators on the main road Majeedee Magu. A second, larger group pulled Ali Waheed to safety, abandoning his motorcycle. The first group then attacked a military vehicle, smashing a window as it tried to move past the group.
3:00pm: More people are arriving outside the City Council Building near the demonstration, nearing a hundred people or so in size. Shops in the vicinity are closed, and one man is lying down in the middle of the road, stepped over by the occasional pedestrian. People on motorcycles are stopping to look, and turning around to find another route.
3:10pm: A separate group of two dozen men are turning away traffic at the next intersection, in an apparent attempt to shut down Male’s main road. No sign of police presence yet. A man passes through the blockade with a young girl on a motorcycle, to shouts of “baghee” (traitor).
3:12pm: Nasheed’s brother Dr Nashid tweets: – “given all clear to go to Dhoonidhoo [detention centre]. Waiting for Laila [Nasheed’s wife]”. In a second tweet, he adds that Nasheed’s bodyguards “were changed this morning.”
3:28pm: President Waheed tweeted: “Assaulting my brother Ali Waheed will not help Nasheed escape justice.”
3:30pm: A pickup truck is circling Male’ calling on people to come out on the streets. Light rain earlier has since cleared up.
3:37pm: Photos circulating on social media appear to show one of Nasheed’s bodyguard being restrained by police as the former President was escorted outside his family home.
3:39pm: Approximate 30 police have arrived at the scene. Demonstators threw plastic bottles at officers, who subsequently departed after detaining former Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam. The crowd numbers around 200 people.
3:42pm: SunOnline reports that protesters on Majeedhee Magu have pushed off a uniformed police officer from his motorcycle as he was driving through the protesters. The policeman abandoned his motorcycle and left on foot when the crowd moved to attack him, Sun reports.
3:44pm: Abbas Faiz, South Asia Specialist for Amnesty International tweets: Amnesty investigating concerns that former prez Nasheed arrest politically motivated and his safety uncertain.
3:46pm: A masked man climbed up the posts on which CCTV cameras are mounted on the junction of Majeedhee Magu and Alikilegefaanu Magu and spray-painted the camera, reports Sun Online.
4:01pm: A video of Nasheed outside his house has emerged on DhiTV, titled ‘Anni’s Quarrel’. In the video, a Special Operations police officer states: “We will accompany you there.” Nasheed: “Well, let’s go then. I won’t go in that way. I am doing what is good for you… I will know better than you. Let’s go already.” [Former Foreign Minister] Naseem: “He is going, isn’t he? What is wrong with you baaghees (traitors)?” “Nasheed: Sigh. What more can I say? Even I would know these laws and responsibilities. For God’s sake, let’s just go. Let’s go quickly. Let’s just go quickly.”
4:03pm: The Maldivian Democratic Party has issued a statement condemning the arrest:
President Nasheed was arrested while walking down the street in Male’ at approximately 13:45 local time today. He was apprehended by numerous armed and masked police officers, who did not identify themselves, nor produce an arrest warrant or court summons. Nasheed’s lawyers were not informed of the arrest, or of any court summons.
President Nasheed was taken to Dhoonidhoo Island detention centre – the facility in which he was tortured during the former regime of Maumoon Gayoom.
Commenting on the arrest, the MDP’s international spokesperson Hamid Abdul Gafoor said: “Once again Dr Waheed has proven that he can’t be trusted to hold a free and fair election – despite his assurances to the international community.
“Nasheed was supposed to be on an election campaign trip but instead he is languishing in jail.
“This arrest comes just days after the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, said the judges overseeing President Nasheed’s case had been appointed “arbitrarily”.
“Dr Waheed, in collusion with his friends in the judiciary, is pulling out all the stops to prevent President Nasheed competing in the elections.”
The UN Special Rapporteur also said that the Judicial Services Commission, which established the court trying President Nasheed, was “politicised” and subject to “external influence”.
4:07pm: The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) has issued a statement condemning an attack on Sun journalist and a VTV cameraman:
Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) strongly condemns the violent attacks carried out against a journalist and a cameraman while covering the arrest of former President Nasheed today.
The journalist from sun.mv was attacked and tore his shirt and snatched his mobile phone while VTV cameraman was attacked and snatched his video tape in his camera. Both the incidents was happened near former president Nasheeds residence. We strongly call on all parties to allow media to do its duty without any harrasements. And also call on all responsible authorities to investigate the above incidents and call on media regulatory authorities to not to allow ‘hate speech’ on media.
4:11pm: President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad told Minvan News: “I have already told Indian and local media that the Maldives government has made no deal with the Indian government over Nasheed’s exit from the Indian High Commission. It was never said there would be a delay in Nasheed’s trial hearing, or his court case or any other matter involving him.”
“[The government] cannot make any delay or decision based on legal matters because it is not our business, it is the judiciary’s decision,” Masood said.
Asked if Nasheed’s arrest would harm relations between Maldives and India, Masood said: “If we had made a deal and broken it, then that would be an issue. But we have not made any deal, and there has been no deal between India and the Maldives regarding Nasheed’s case. There was no understanding between the respective governments. If Nasheed thought there was an understanding, it must have been something he understood. There is no dealing between us and the judiciary on Nasheed’s judgement, It is totally up to the judiciary, we will have have no interference with the court. I did not know that the court would order police to summon Nasheed today.”
4:21pm: Scuffles are breaking out between protesters and passerbys they deem to be “baghees” (traitors). One woman clung to a man screaming as the crowd surrounded them. “There is hatred here,” said one protester. “He was asking for it. He could see there was a [blockade] but came through anyway.”
The attitude of the crowd is divided between the angry and those appealing for calm. Around 20 riot police have arrived with shields.
4:30pm: Police reinforcements have arrived at an nearby intersection, heckled by the crowd of 200 demonstrators blocking the road.
4:31pm: A middle-aged women was arrested after heckling and singing songs, and was dancing in the back of the police truck. A further five or so individuals have been arrested.
4:36pm: Police have brought the area under control and are now directing traffic.
5:30pm: The US Embassy in Colombo has issued a statement:
The United States is increasingly concerned about ongoing events in Malé. We understand that both the Police Integrity Commission and the Human Rights Commission are monitoring the situation, and that the Human Rights Commission has requested access to Former President Nasheed. We urge all sides to remain calm, reject the use of violence, and avoid rhetoric that could increase tensions. Former President Nasheed must be accorded due process under the law regarding his pending court cases.
We urge that the Presidential elections scheduled for September 7, 2013 be free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive. The integrity of and public confidence in the Maldivian electoral process must be maintained. Accordingly, we note that all parties participating in these elections should be able to put forward the candidate of their choice. We also call upon the Government of the Maldives to implement all the recommendations of the Commission of National Inquiry (CONI) report, including the recommendations related to judicial and governmental reforms. We continue to urge all parties to chart a way forward that strengthens Maldivian democratic institutions, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
5:30pm: Sun Online reports that protesters have rolled over a Redwave van (owned by shop owner Eydhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem) near Male’ City Council. The van was broken into, milk packets were taken and subsequently distributed to protesters.
5:51pm: British entrepeneur Richard Branson has tweeted on the Nasheed arrest: “Maldives former president Nasheed arrested, in court tomorrow. Hope he is treated with respect & fairness”.
6:31pm: Local media has reported that police have once again left Majeedee Magu.
7:10pm: Some 150 demonstrators remain on Majeedee Magu, situated around 20 metres from the Male’ City Council building. No police presence is witnessed by Minivan News at the current time, although traffic is still being diverted as a result of the makeshift blockade.
8:52pm: At a press conference held this evening, the Maldives Police Service have said that a total of 47 people were arrested so far during demonstrations today on Majeedee Magu. Of those arrested 31 were male, 16 females were also detained. Among those arrested was MDP MP Ahmed Easa, who authorities said was later released.
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This is no surprise, Mr Nasheed faces charges of illegally ordering the military to detain Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla Mohamed when he was in power in January 2012. He has accepted his wrongfulness on this case and just before he detained Judge Abdulla Mohamed. He should know this day would come and why should anybody has to leave this case without investigating. He was the one who was taking about the unlawful arrests done by Maumoon Regime however eventually we saw Mohamed Nasheed doing the same thing which the regime has done. What difference does this makes. My second thought was why is Dr Waheed is the only culprit. Why not the Chief Justice Honorable Ahmed Faiz who considered the Oath for a the Preseident of Maldives or Why not the Speaker of Parliament Hon. Abdulla Shahid. Its funny to understand why everyone is caught up with this propaganda of MDP.
Mr. JJ, I always thought foreign journalists could set an example for Maldivian journalists but in terms of fair and balance reporting minivan is as bad as other news websites in Maldives. Our journalists are just out of school but you are a graduate in journalism. why cant you say arresting a judge illegally is against human rights. Minivan news supports MDP and this is as clear as day light
Maybe Anni`should not have said in an interview he gave in Delhi that he had even tried to make the school curriculum's "more balanced and not so Islamic"!!!!!!.. Did he think he was going to be president of Timbaktu? This is Maldives, we pride on Islam, ISlam and more Islam.
Why is it that the great majority of Islamic Scholars in this country (with the exception of two mainly) have backed up against President NAsheed??
This country is on the edge, yes. However nothing destabilizing or substantial will happen. The MDP power-base has been spent, their support bases are also now numbering in a few thousand... It is only if they prove able to get 50,000 people onto the streets that the Industrialists and Military Coalition (all seeking solace from their holy book via the scholars, and the dictum of money)- will budge. There are also other more dangerous hidden elements in control of the Maldivian Government.
I urge Minivannews to remain calm, especially to treat their foreign staff with respect and protection. They need to know that the Maldivians behind Minivannews, for them also it is not safe at all!
The Maldive people will prevail. They are learning and studying from their experiences. The best and first step we must take, in order to better understand this, is to stop listening to their respective "politicians".
Blindly follow is what Hitler's followers also did. Everybody has an agenda, and everybody has a directive, that comes from higher up. maybe
good times
This is all due to Mariya didi's advice and her seduction of Nasheed. What a shame..the only president who truely came to represent people's power is derailed by a lady and he is still blind. He had such strength and wisdom years back and made decisions independently until this lady and her family invaded into his life and distroyed the only hope! Now we are left to the gang leader brother Yameen and his gang in 2014. Amazing how people lose track of purpose when in love!
FREE the Elected president of this country. This coup government is going all out to make sure President Nasheed can't contest in the comming elections, it is not enough that they ousted him in a coup.
It is the citizens who should have the last say in who governs this country and attempts to get rid of candidates is a huge disservice to the population.
Not to mention the fact that a presidential candidate Gasim sits on the JSC a prime place to influence the judiciary with.
Down with Waheed and this corrupt judiciary.
I just came here to see how biased these people are. I am not disappointed.
To any foreigner reading this site, the news presented here are not to be trusted. This is MDP's news-wing.
@ Ainth what exactly is false In the news here! Minivannews is one of the few trusted websites in the maldives, if you wanna see biased nes tune in to dhitv and vtv.
Dear readers please visit the following LOCAL NEWS websites for live updates:
http://sun.mv/english/
http://www.haveeru.com.mv
The only thing that Minivan news can be trusted is that they will tow the MDP party line at whatever cost. They don't care about readership or good journalism just as MDP does not care about people's beliefs and religion. The results are telling.
the links posted by Ann are coup and the brutal government sponsored and allies. they are pro coup govt and do not carry a professional journalism
i totally agrree with Sharyf. all the media is sponsored by this brutal regime except some professional news like minivan news and Rajjetv
@ hathim
First of all, it is not even registered. The media regulatory body says so.
Secondly, no rubber bullet GUNS were used by the police. No newspaper/blog/tv station reported that. There is no photos or an eye witness who suggested anything like that. Its only minivan news who is saying that.
In any of there reports involving any recent police operation minivan news always state that rubber bullet guns (which is non lethal btw) being used by police, whether it is true or false.
It is because of these type of lies we dont trust it a bit.
The Circus has begun again. Funny how the Untouchables live as they were as before.
Kenereegeyy (KGY) made a gross miscalculation. The Maldives is not ready, and they will claim they will never be, ready to embrace 'English ways' blindly.
KGY fueled hatred initially against Maumoon Gayyoom, who it cannot be denied had autocratic elements in his rule. However the schism was primarily between Nasheed family and friends versus Gayyoom rule.
The problem now is hatred of Maumoon has been carefully made to be hatred against Islam (which by definition or any extreme has been made to imply 'radical' for the sole reason of being Islam-any Islam is now labelled radical).
Maumoon was a religious orator. Hatred of him has been made targeting "Islam" ..And anyone who feels the Maldives should remain within the premise of Islam is carefully labelled a radical, because this would otherwise imply challenging Kenereegey agenda- which hates all things Maumoon. They hate Maumoon so much, they hate his behaviour, mannerism, his ways also. They hate his religious sermons thus. They wanted to "spice things up", make it "different". Their British influences, and British education also helped. The 'style' of this family has been monitored and documented by many dangerous people.
Thus the attempt was to change things, "change Everything", you know what that meant. And within Kenereeygey there was a command structure, they regularly distributed bucket loads of cash to instigate or foment crisis across the country- because of this money and 'understanding' there is also no questioning of "orders" that come from Anni-mouth which I` like to compare to the mouth of Sauron (keke).
The Maldive people will resist this "change". Hatred of the person of Maumoon should not be equated to Islam or the side-lining of Islam as a tool which he uses. Islam is the basis of this countries union, many many still agree.
The association between Maumoon and Islam also greatly benefited 'special interests within Maldives and outside'. Maumoon's sometimes liberal views on Islam was also seen by everyday Maldivians at the same time as hypocrisy on Maumoon's part. This helped Nasheed garner support also, made things worse.
This is not about Democracy, this is about Islam. Democracy is a sweetened word there to aide non-Islamic interests and also for those who wish to keep Maumoon in check, who is on and on about Islam always. His people meanwhile appeared to have embraced 'modern ways' like excessive skin etc, and Nasheed thought he could take it to the next level. So on and so forth.
Basically a lot of baloney, but I hope there is a point in here somewhere (keke).
The supporters of Kenereegey now include his soviet-style 'Propaganda-Ministers' paid by him, under his ownership basically, and distributed across the various party lines and important regions of Maldives. These Propaganda-Ministers (which do not imply only previous Government Ministers) also at times fear for their life, because of what they heard coming out of Nasheed's mouth. They dare not ever correct him, or disagree with him also. This is basically the heretic-lounge within their house the everyday people supporting "MDP" are unable to visualize. These MDPians also, many, fear they cannot admit how gross an error they have made in this regard.
Maumoon was trouble for some, controversial in many ways, a challenege to those who opposed him and all that. But "Nasheed" is a whole nother block ------------hehehehehehe
Eventually the MDP numbers which number in the pockets of thousands in various parts can be dissipated. There are wandering smoldering in their own disbelief, the myths that they have created to satisfy their own mistakes, and the belief that their decision to help KGY or Nasheed was the right decision, the belief that Nasheed really is a "good boy". This has become a small ideology, and they have been brainwashed.
If Mohamed Nasheed says he has decided to separate Religion from State also these aliens calling themselves MDPians first and country later, will consent, will believe. This is a dear-leader mentality. HE is revered by a people who have come to believe by deposing the great-Satan Maumoon, they have attained super-powers, they can do anything, achieve anything now. Even make a fisherman folk and tourism community, on teeny tiny island dispersed across a vast swathe of Ocean into a Singapore, themselves and if they stand by KGY- irrespective of what they have deemed to be the right thing.
There is witch-hunt now but it will be done with 'patience' and 'vigilance'. A military-State structure around the guise of religion and scholars has been created. Islam at it's center.
It is also claimed Maumoonism has strong backing and help from Chinese elements now. Maybe they have had it since early seventies.
Let's not become another Solomon Islands. Accommodating different ideas can always be difficult. However much as the sacred foundations of 'Democracy' cannot be challenged or changed (it's sacrilegious now), perhaps Islam also cannot be challenged like this. That is what Maumoonism claim to be about.
personally i feel the whole thing is just funny- we will all go back to our homes laughing, as friends eventually.
Many wish to say it was just an experiment. They wished to gauge the vigor of the Dhivehi people perhaps.
(I hope nobody was offended).
Nasheed is all alone now..he was a true leader who wanted to create a modern maldives but politics has been played on him as well..May the Almighty Save Maldives!!!
MDP is hijacked by those who mock Islam, alcoholic and drug dealers, like the PPM Yameen! Mariya wants to distroy Nasheed and his family.
Rubber bullets or not, Nasheed was arrested by MASKED policemen. There was no evidence of a court warrant. The guy was marched out of his house by armed and masked policemen. This is how things operate in a terror state.
How can Waheed claim the rule of law when the above took place infront of thousands of Maldivians? There is clearly no rule of law here. Evidence:
(1) Not a single police officer who beat up civilians have been charged to date.
(2) None of the recommendations of the CONI report regarding the judiciary and the police have been acted upon.
(3) The UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of the Judiciary has said that she did not believe the Hulumale Court was set up properly, nor its bench. She also said that the Judicial Services Commission that setup that Court was dysfunctional.
Amidst all of this, armed MASKED policemen went on to arrest Nasheed. Justice, right!
@manafoo
It is very true MDP is ruined by Mariya Didi. She is very corrupt and also my husband saw her drinking red wine and beer at one of the resorts openly as she if she is above the law. Mariya has to go if MDP need to represent aslu people power and aney dhivehi raaje.
Mariya, Jabir are kind of people MDP need eject and attract more people who are clean and decent in moral conduct. Mariya is famous for her sexual and drinking problem since childhood. No good comes from Jabir or Mariya. MDP ordinary people speaks ill of these kind of people. But Anni is too attached to them for obvious reasons. Guess what, Mariya will abandon her play toy (anni) when she is satisfied.
@Ahmed Bin Addu Bin Suvadheeb
And justice Abdulla Mohamed was abducted by masked army personel after kicking off his door in the middle of the night. There was no court warrent. He was held in solitary confinememt without any legal rights and was torterd mentally if not physically.
Where was the rule of law then??
The whole police opperation to take nasheed into judicial custody was video taped, I hope the police release it, so that we know that nasheed was presented his court summon chit.
The pictures available on social media sites also show a police officer reading out the content of the summon just beside nasheed. Nasheed reportedly refused to accept the summon and hence the police had to read it to him.
And where is the news about all the lootings done by MDP thugs. They overturned some vehicles transporting goods and looted it. What a bunch of thugs. Still "peaceful" protesters, eh, MDP propegenda machine?
Past instances of police brutality notwithstanding, I must point out that I haven't seen a single picture of excessive force being used by the police today. This, despite almost all photographic evidence coming from the MDP media posse. I suppose, while one can dispute the legality or the moral grounds of the arrest, it is downright manipulative of the MDP to imply that the police were unreasonably violent. Also, to expect the police to be subjective in their treatment of Nasheed only makes the MDP sound like a bunch of hypocrites, since the lack of objectivity while taking orders among a section of the police and MNDF pretty much forms the bedrock of their case vis-a-vis the events of last February!!
It would be most unfortunate for a young democracy like Maldives (if we can call her that), if Mr Nasheed and/or his party is not allowed to contest next election. And me, as a neutral observer feel that is the sole purpose of arresting him. Any how, I believe the international pressure on Maldives would be too much if it so happens to bear.
@ thechronicallycheerful, I suggest you take a look at the photos circulating in social media including the arrest of a woman who intervened in the arrest of an under age girl , this young girl can be seen sobbing after she was thrown in the police van and threatened with being stripped.
Why so much drama guys, Anni has been taken to prison from the prison. Maldives is a country by definition but literally it is a Jail its citizens are inmates. I wonder, can anyone break this jail, not physically definitely, may be in matrix.
It is a unique prisons system; prison within prison. The Maldivian behave like any ordinary prison inmates. Maldivian are rock proof that when people confined to small holes they start behaving abnormal.
@Ainth, media regulatory board my ass. Use your brain and process the information that is in front of you. Minivannews has been operating since Dictator Gayoom's time.
Their journalists have been harassed even deported, nevertheless Gayoom never dared to close down the site as this would have caused an uproar in the international world.
Now if Minivannews was not registered he could have easily closed it down on a technicality and no body could have said a thing about it. Also take into consideration the fact that Minivannews came into being during Gayoom's time when Newspapers and news websites could only be operated after guidelines from the INformation ministry and under strict registration process
Until pretty recently whenever DhiTV or VTV talked about Minivannews, both when Nasheed was president and afterwards, they took particular delight in pointing out that Nasheed's younger brother was registered as Masooluveriyya for Minivannews. I believe you do trust these biased TV channels who hate MDP and news sites like Minivan that actually bring both sides of a story. So when even they talked about the obvious registration of this website in order to score points, how can this in the space of a couple of months suddenly become unregistered?
Unless ofcourse the person in charge of media regulatory board ate the registration papers that had been there from Gayoom's time.
Hate away as much as you want, this website or all those who are fighting for a change in this country. But lets stick to facts or do you need lies in order to maintain your hatred?
Some says here: 'why cant you say arresting a judge illegally is against human rights' What aignorence... like judges are above the law!! whahahahaha. The man is cirrupt and should be in jail. that's why he got arrrested...is what all intelligent people think.
Only Nasheed is to blame for the situation he is in now. People elected this guy (many with reluctance) to bring a change of Leadership.
The moment he was elected, he ended his partnership with the very Coalition that brought him to power which in turn spiraled in to an all out huge opposition to his rule.
After being elected as the first democratically elected President, Nasheed soon became a worse dictator than Maumoon himself. Nasheed challenged the whole judiciary, locked the Supreme Court, abducted a judge using his military just to name a few of the several violations of the Constitution and the Law.
Furthermore, rampant corruption was the name of the game. Activists of MDP were given multi-million dollar projects without any transparency. Treasury went bankrupt. The Rufiya was devalued. Economy crashed. While "Rome" was burning Nasheed and his henchmen partied inside the Presidential Palace and in resorts consuming alcohol in the open. Being a Muslim country, the ultra liberal lifestyle created an uproar in the outwardly conservative society where people "sinned" only in private.
Religious "liberalism", Mismanagement, corruption and outright disregard for the law and the constitution by Nasheed (who did so after declaring on public media that he will do so many a times) only helped swell the already huge opposition to his rule.
The military abduction of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Judge Abdulla (regardless of what was being accused against him) on the direct orders of Nasheed was what finally triggered the final collapse of the short lived regime of an eccentric young man who is best qualified as an activist.
For the moment, Nasheed's enemies hold the upper hand. It is highly likely that Nasheed will not be able to contest in the upcoming elections.
@ shana
I also advise you to stick to facts and not to lies.
It was only recently that minivan news mocked islam (as usual). But this time the case was taken up by religious NGOs, religious parties and islamic ministry. Minivan news was investigated by the maldives media council who brought your Nadheed relative for questioning because as you claim they also thought he was the masooluweriyaa of it and under his name it appeared to be registered. But once questioned he denied any involvement with this minivan news website and he told that it was not registered under his name!!
The concluding report by media council clearly states (as widely reported by maldivian media) that the council found no registration documents of this website to run a newspaper in maldives and they dont know who owns it.
So, i am not the one telling that, its the media regulatory. I suggest you go with your registration certificate to them and sort it out instead of pointing fingers at others.
Good luck with your registration!
We can only hope that we can get free and fair elections although it is difficult to trust those who came to power through questionable means. Whatever anyone says and wants to believe the transfer of power on Feb 7 was a coup, masquerading as Not a coup. Subsequent events have proven this. It is disturbing to see the number of posts on this site insulting Minivan news and implying that the only biased reporting comes from this. Those who don't want to live in denial,read this as well as other sites, but do not ignore this site calling it an MDP vehicle. Given the amount of propaganda flying around, that would be a foolish thing to do.
Two fact emerge from this incident of Mr Nasheed's areest by the current Government headed by his ex-deputy Mr. Waheed:
that India is considered no more than a paper tiger in the Maldives where even a special Indian envoy failed to keep the hands of Police off Mr Nasheed.
that the current president Waheed is fully in collusion with corrupt Bureaucracy and the judiciary to keep himself in power and return Maldives to lawlessness and darkness that predated the presidency of Mr Nasheed.
I thought India was the Great-Friend of Saeyku-Anni. We were all ready to have him inaugurated again. The power, pride and Majesty of this Party was so diabolical. How have a 'few weary old men cloaked in religion' managed to defeat this equally majestic being called Anni? I just don't understand. We were sure Maldives Government was now too afraid of Anni to arrest him. India is also full MDP member for life they said Ennu. After all MDP is 'the people', the only people in Maldives also. The Coalition is a myth, like religion. The rest of us don't know what we are doing also, MDP knows everything, MDP is everything. It's a secret, but they will make Anni-raajje into a Singapore. If you join them they will really show you 'Power'. And I thought I was delusional (keke).
~excuz de humor
India India What a joke i read from a previous paper that the indians are rural dirty people i think thats true they pretend to be a bit smart than they are
MDP said that Fili Nasheed can not be arrested?
Coomon guys. Fili Nasheed can not be above the law and he need face the court need to bow his heads to judiciary.
He need to be put behind the bar for the crimes he committed. If he can prove the his innocence, then he should be freed.
But he need to answer why he arrested Yameen, Gasim and chief judge also.
He also need to answer why had give illegal orders to police and army also.
If he can prove these orders were legal then he should be freed immediately.
transfer of power on 7th Feb. is not a coup. tell me any country where the former president is walking freely after the coup?
This is basic and history proves that no leader was ever able to live in the same country after any coup?
Here the guy is a nut and he he is not leader but an activist who had no experience an quality to lead the people and that is why he resigned on that day due to pressure mounted on him.
The guy has no tolerance and the guy do not know how to control his pressure.
The guy was arrogant and never thought people have the right to ask to resign when he was challenging the constitution.
Fili Nasheed is a threat to our democracy .
@Me on Tue, 5th Mar 2013 7:18 PM
"And justice Abdulla Mohamed was abducted by masked army personel after kicking off his door in the middle of the night. There was no court warrent."
Two wrongs do not make a right. Are you implying that the current behaviour of the Maldives Police Service and the regime controlling it is simply a matter of tit-for-tat?
The points I raised remain, i.e.
(1) The police personnel who beat up civilians in broad daylight are at large and no charges have ever been filed against them.
(2) The CONI recommendations regarding the Judiciary and Police have never been acted upon.
(3) Police continue to arrest and harass members of the public whilst wearing balaclavas. It was claimed today (by MPS) that despite wearing balaclavas they are identifiable. This flies in the face of the Police Integrity Commission investigation into the arrest of MP Jabir. Since those who arrested Jabir were wearing balaclavas, MPS concluded they could not identify the officers who beat up Jabir and therefore could not file a case against them.
Clearly, a terror state is in full swing here in the Maldives.
Since nobody seems to know why Anni ordered the arrest of Judge Abdulla, lemme clarify it. He did so with the knowledge that he cannot be prosecuted because the parliament at that time was of majority for his opposition. That time they made a law specifically tailored for his predeccesor Maumoon stating that a former president cannot be prosecuted for anything he did while in office or omitted while in office. The interesting tidbit in this law was that it specifically talked about a president who completed his term. Anni thought he can take advantage of this piece of law which his enemies coined for Maumoon. However Anni did not complete his term so his opponents are now gleeful about this. Had waited his time out in office they cannot do anything about him now. But now it seems Anni is very unfortunate.
Questiopn is, how long will BMW and the terror squads take to bring the Maldivian people to their knees to kneel before them. Protests will go on in various forms, not necessarily on the streets, until the spirit of the people is broken through intimidation and violence. The Maldives is now a Soviet-style gulag.That's the best the Baagees can do.
Going back and looking back to the Time of Mohamed Nasheeds Presidency what do you all see and why did the MDP members ignored him during the time, specially 7th Feb 2012. Why did Maizan Ali manik and Ali waheed went to Jumhooree park in the early morning of Feb 7, 2012 and try to calm everone there and told that we are all with you and we will try to stable things out with the help of the Military and Police. Why did Colnel Nasheed and Dr did came up on TV that night and tried to compromise the situation.Think again and try to bring a change within MDP to win the coming election.
can somebody answer these questions for me.
1. If Nasheed does not have people's support as some claim here why didn't the government hold elections shortly after Feb 7th.(If constitution does not allow it they could have passed a new legislation)
2. Why can't the case against Nasheed be put off till a new government is elected. What is the agenda behind rushing this case when so many cases are pending
3. If what Mr.Nasheed has committed a crime by arresting the chief justice isn't Mr.Waheed part of that crime for he was the vice president at the time and he too has a moral responsibilities. If one argues that he was not a part of Nasheed's govt for he was a member of a different party had he in his capacity as the vice president voiced his displeasure anytime before Nasheed was forced to resign.
the only solution for this problem is to let Anni contest the election without any obstacles and let the people judge him first. If he wins the election it means people support him in all what he did. If he loses then have the trial. It is what all those love this country should do
ch.ch
Nasheed gets arrested and that doesnt mean that India govt is going to get involved in the primitive judicial wranglings in Maldives....that would be getting involved in Internal Matters dho!
It was shocking to read that Mr.Nasheed was arrested from his home by 20 masked men who are said to be the policemen.I have never heard this before that any court in any country sent masked policemen to arrest somebody and that also without any arrest warrants!The manner in which Mr.Nasheed is picked from his home by masked men,they should not be called "policemen", they should be called "gundas" and the act of picking Mr. Nasheed from his home should not be called "arrest",it should be called "kidnapping".Police must have some code of conduct to follow and arrests also should be made by following a proper process .People are first the citizen of the nation and then the members of political parties.It is duty of the citizens of Maldives to stand against such dictatorship and raise voice against this act of Waheed government because if a prominent figure is being ill-treated in such a shabby way,one can easily imagine where the ordinary citizens stand.Every right thinking person and even right thinking people from Mr.Waheed's party also should raise voice against this act of Waheed government because they too are citizens of Maldives first and party-men second.If Mr.Nasheed,for miss using his power is being arrested in such shabby and ill-legal manner, then Who is going to be the next to arrest Mr.Waheed for the same act of miss-using the power.
@Ambrosia Try to open your eyes when are describing a situation, having one eye opened is like a blind man writing a colomn. Dont you know how Mr Nasheed faces charges on? He illegally ordered the military to detain Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla Mohamed when he was in power in January 2012. The difference between this arrest is that the police had arrest warrant unlike Mohamed Nasheed arrested Abdulla Mohamed. To note it was the chief judge of the criminal court and it was a midnight as well. Will it be called a kidnapped too?