Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Cab driver accused of attempted rape

A taxi driver has been reported to police for allegedly trying to sexually assault a girl inside the cab.

Police Lance Corporal Abdul Majeed Moosa told Minivan News that the incident occurred in Male’ inside a taxi yesterday.

”No person was so far arrested in connection with the case,” he said. ”We are now investigating the case.”

Local media has reported that the girl was 20 years-old and had called the taxi dispatch to send a taxi to take her home during her break at noon yesterday.

Instead the cab driver allegedly took her to a pickup parking lot near the Customs Office in Maafannu and attempted to take advantage of her, according to local medias, tearing her dress in an attempt to remove her clothes.

Media reported that the girl cried out and tried to knock on the car windows during the attempted rape, but the car had darkly tinted windows.

Then the driver took to Chandanee Magu, where she escaped and ran home.

The driver had tried to hold her inside the taxi by covering her mouth using his hands, however the girl attacked him with a pin, local media reported.

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Failing to obey superior court’s decision violates constitution and Judges Act, Supreme Court warns Naeem

The Supreme Court has said that refusing to follow a decision made by a superior court violates the constitution and violates the Judges Act.

The Supreme Court’s statement comes after Civil Court Judge Mohamed Naeem said he would not accept cases concerning the state because the parliament had not then decided whether to give consent to reappointed Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad.

Sawad has now been dismissed by the parliament for the second time, following his second reappointment by President Mohamed Nasheed.

The Supreme Court’s statement said that judges should at all times avoid any matters that could harm the reputation of the judiciary or cause people to lose confidence in the justice system.

The court also noted that it was against the code of conduct of the judges to disobey a decision made by a superior court.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has formed a sub-committee to investigate judge Naeem after he told the press that he had decided not to accept cases concerning the state, despite the High Court’s decision to accept cases.

Judge Naeem revealed that the Civil Court judges were split on the issue, however the majority of the judges said they wanted to accept and conduct trials of cases concerning the state despite the fact that Dr Sawad’s appointment procedure was then not completed.

President’s Member of the JSC, Aishath Velezinee, has stated on her Article 285 blog that “Judge Naeem has been under investigation since the interim Commission, [for] nearly two years. No updates on the investigation [have been] tabled despite the legal requirement that a report must be submitted in writing every 30 days.”

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None of the 47 arrested were connected to murder case, says Criminal Court

The Criminal Court’s Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed has said that none of 47 persons arrested by police and brought to the court for extension of detention following the gang murder of 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer were connected with the case.

”Nobody arrested was brought in connection to the murder case,” said the Chief Judge, after the string of arrests.

Police began a special operation in Male’ after the murder case, and reported that more than 50 persons were arrested.

”Police said those persons who were brought before the judges were persons were planning assaults,” Abdulla said. ”Some of them were released but most of them are still kept in detention.”

Police will need some time to investigate and collect evidence, he added.

Local media quoted the Chief Judge as saying ”while persons were arrested to that amount there were nobody presented with adequate evidence, in fact there were persons who cannot even be arrested [according to laws].”

Police Spokesperson Lance-Corporal Abdul Majeed Moosa told Minivan News that those arrested during the special operation was to curb the rise in gang related crimes in Male’.

”They were arrested on different charges, but now there are only a few kept in detention,” Majeed said. ”Police are currently investigating the murder case and it’s very difficult to say anything at this time.”

Ahusan Basheer was murdered on Thursday last week on one of the main roads of Male’.

After the murder, police claimed that Ibrahim Shahum was a suspect in the case and called on the public to report sightings of Shahum, who has disappeared after the murder incident.

Shahum was charged with murder but was recently released from detention after serving six months.

He was then arrested in connection with the death f a 17 year old boy who bled to death after he was stabbed while on his way to home after watching a football match.

Before the attack on Basheer, another gang attacked occurred in Henveiru, with a ganging stabbed three persons in front of crowds before fleeing, reportedly on a police officer’s private motorbike.

The incident took place on broad day light in front of many children, men and women.

Witnesses of the incident said that when the first group of police officers attended the scene, the two gangs were attacking each other, but said that the police officers waited util the gang finished their fight.

Only this week Maldivian Democratic Party MP Ibrahim Rasheed presented and withdrew an amendment to the Clemency Act to execute murderers if ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Presenting the amendment, he said it was the only way to curb the rise in gang violence and referred to the recent incidents. He said people had been “chopped and sliced like fish” in the streets of Male’ during broad day light, but withdrew his amendment moments before the vote stating that we would re-submit it after the evidence bill, criminal procedure bill and bill on penal code were all enacted.

Recently a person found guilty of murder and issued a death penalty according to the penal code of the Maldives has now appealed the ruling at the High Court.

The last time the Maldives executed a person was in 1953 when a person named Hakim Didi was executed by firing squad after he was found guilty of attempting to murder by performing black Magic.

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MDP requests parliament dismiss Dr Afrasheem from JSC

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary Group has sent a letter to the parliament requesting the removal of DRP MP Dr Afrasheem Ali from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The letter was signed by the leader of MDP Parliamentary Group MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik.

In the letter, Moosa alleged that Dr Afrasheem had violated Judicial Service Commission’s Act, Act number 10/2008 Section 20[a] and [b] which states that a meeting of the JSC could be held only if more than half of the total number of members were present and 20[b] which requires majority vote of present JSC members to make any decision.

Moosa referred to the incident where Dr Afrasheem allegedly phoned JSC member Fahmy Hassan also head of Civil Service Commission (CSC) to ask whether he was fine with Dr Afrasheem speaking in the Supreme Court on behalf of the JSC in the trial conducted after Criminal Court Judge filed a case against the JSC’s appointment of Judges to the High Court.

”Records of the JSC shows that Dr Afrasheem Ali has made that decision against the policy that the law state,” Moosa said in the letter. ”Although Article 164 of the constitution very clearly states that persons appointed to the JSC who is not a member of the parliament shall receive allowances and salary as decided by the parliament, records of the JSC shows that Dr Afrasheem Ali has been paid such allowances.”

Dr Afrasheem had played a role in the unlawful and unconstitutional activities the JSC had conducted, and he has been insincere in carrying out the responsibilities of the JSC, Moosa claimed.

”Therefore, [we] find Dr Afrasheem is not an appropriate person to represent the parliament in the JSC, [we] hereby present this complaint according to article 165 of the constitution and request his dismissal,” Moosa said in the letter.

Minivan News understands that parliament is currently conducting a closed door investigation of the JSC, however no information on the progress or outcome has been provided.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) recently published a report on the JSC critical of the commission’s independence, among other observations. The JSC has not tabled the report.

Dr Afrasheem was not responding to calls at time of press. JSC interim Secretary General, Abdul Faththah, also the JSC’s legal representative, referred Minivan News to the JSC’s media spokesperson, Hassan Zaheen. Zaheen said the JSC had no comment on the matter, but noted that “the parliament decides which MP represents it on the commission.”

Faththah has previously told Minivan News that while there “should be quorum”, in time-sensitive matters such as court summons members sometimes had to make decisions outside formal meetings, with the approval of other members.

“This is not a matter so important to take a decision with the discussion of the members,” he said at the time.

JSC members had also previously decided who should attend court hearings, during a meeting of full attendance, he added, “[but] that day the Chair was not in Male’, so members decided instead that the Deputy [Afrasheem] should attend [court],” acknowledging that “they may not have had quorum that time.”

“These kind of things happen with things like court attendance issues, but no other decisions,” he said.

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Voice clip of MDP T-shirt negotiations leaked to local media

A voice clip of a conversation has between Special Envoy to the President Ibrahim Zaki and a person named Anandhu, purportedly in the UK, has been leaked to the local media, concerning negotiations for the delivery of T-Shirts for the Maldivian Democratic Party ahead of the Presidential election.

In the voice clip that first appeared on the website of local radio station SunFM, Zaki and Anandhu speak about payment for the T-shirts ahead of the 2008 presidential elections.

The General Elections Act article number 70 states that “products or money” given by foreigners shall not be used by a Presidential Candidate or any person on behalf of a Presidential Candidate, and article 70[a] states that ”Products or money given by foreigners, foreign parties or foreign administrations shall not be used.”

Zaki told Minivan News that he had provided ”many T-shirts” to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

”No foreign party has directly contributed the MDP, it all came to me and from the things I received I gave things that I felt like giving to MDP,” he said. ”The General Election Act prohibits political parties accepting offers from foreign parties.”

Elections Commissioner Fuad Thaufeeq did not respond to Minivan News at time of press, while Vice Commissioner’s phone was switched off.

Director General of the Elections Commission Mohamed Tholal said he was out of the country and was unable to comment.

The leaked conversation:

Anandhu: Yes, Zaki. On the 1st I will make the transfer. Now, I understand from you, from the email I got also, that I got to do it directly to Elements (?) Garment.

Zaki: Yes, because that makes things very easy for us. That means by wire transfer.

A: Ok, no problem. The rest, I mean you can count me. On the 1st it will be done by wire transfer, ok? And I will then send you an email on the 1st itself to say it’s done and chase it up with Elements Garments to make sure everything goes according to plan. But if I do it on the 1st, say we receive the funds on the 2nd, I mean, do you know the company very well? Does Mausoom know the company very well?

Z: Mausoom knows very well.

A: OK, tell Mausoom to tell then that the funds are coming. Prepare everything and as soon as they receive the funds they can just send it. Because what my fear is that by the time it comes to Male’ – I don’t know how long it will take.

Z: I think it will not take more than about five, six days.

A: Five, six days, ok. As of today, when do you envisage the date of the election will be? It will be around the 11th of September?

Z: Well, you know, the original contemplation of the government was to have the first round on the 20th of September and to have the second round on the 4th of October.

A: Then we have enough time. Because what my worry was, I didn’t want the t-shirts to get to you too late.

Z: Yeah, and in the meantime, an EU delegation came here a couple of days ago.

A: Yes, yes.

Z: And they met us and they said they’ve been talking to Gayoom also and talking to us. And they said their idea is that the 1st of September to the 30th is the month of Ramazan, the fasting month. So their suggestion is why don’t we have the first round on the 4th of October and the second round after two weeks.

A: It makes sense. I don’t know how you feel, but it makes sense. It gives you a bit more time to prepare.

Z: No, our reply was very simple. We cannot agree that the current regime can be extended more than the 11th of November.

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MDP MP withdraws controversial death penalty amendment moments before vote

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Rasheed has withdrawn his amendment to the Clemency Act at the last minute, hours before a vote to send the bill to committee. The controversial amendment would have required implementing agencies to execute murderers if the Supreme Court upheld a guilty verdict.

After the preliminary debate over the past three sittings, MP Rasheed was given the opportunity to say his last words on the amendment, which he used as an opportunity to withdraw the bill.

Presenting the bill to the parliament earlier this month, the Hoarafushi MP explained that he was prompted by the recent increase in assaults and murder cases, which had “forced the living to live amid fear and threats.”

In 2008, said Rasheed, 104 cases of assault were sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), rising to 454 cases in 2009 and 423 cases in 2010.

”In Quran, Sural Al Baqarah verse 178, God says: ‘O ye who believe! the law of equality is prescribed to you in cases of murder: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman. But if any remission is made by the brother of the slain, then grant any reasonable demand, and compensate him with handsome gratitude, this is a concession and a Mercy from your Lord. After this whoever exceeds the limits shall be in grave penalty’,” he then said. ”During broad day light in this very city of Male’ people have been chopped, sliced and crushed using axes, machetes – just like fish are chopped.”

While he did not specify reasons for his decision to withdraw the amendment, Rasheed claimed that he would resubmit the amendment once belated bills on evidence laws, criminal justice procedures and the penal code were enacted. Criticism of the amendment had centered around the capacity of the Maldivian justice system to rule fairly and impartially in such cases.

Unlike most parliamentary debates, MPs were not divided on the issue of death penalty along party lines. Several MPs of the ruling MDP as well as some opposition MPs argued that the fledgling Maldivian judiciary did not have the capacity or public confidence to dispense justice fairly.

The decision comes after 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer was murdered on the streets of Male’ during a gang attack on Thursday night.

The last person to be executed by Maldivian state was Hakim Didi in 1953 for the crime of practicing black magic.

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JSC investigates Civil Court judge

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has announced that it has formed a subcommittee to investigate cases concerning judges, indicating that its first subject was Civil Court Judge Sheikh Mohamed Naeem.

The investigation of Naeem came after media reported that during the first hearing of a case filed against the state, he stated that he would not accept cases related to the state before Parliament approved the appointment of Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad, and cancelled the hearing.

Parliament today declined to approve Sawad for the second time, prompting President Nasheed to appoint Solicitor General Abdulla Muizz as his replacement.

The JSC said the committee, which consists of President of JSC Adam Mohamed Abdulla, Member of JSC Abdulla Didi and Member of JSC Shuaib Abdurahma, was established to take measures against judges under the Judges Act. Its first scheduled task was selected by a popular vote taken among its members, it said.

Naeem’s case will be the first time the JSC has investigated a judge in over a year, despite receiving over 140 complaints.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has published a report critical of the JSC’s independence,  however the commission has thus far refused to table the report.

Local media SunFM reported that the first hearing of the case against Judge Naeem was held today, and he was questioned.

President’s Member of the JSC, Aishath Velezinee, stated on her Article 285 blog that “Judge Naeem has been under investigation since the interim Commission, [for] nearly two years. No updates on the investigation [have been] tabled despite the legal requirement that a report must be submitted in writing every 30 days.”

Last Monday, local media reported the hearing of a case filed against the state by Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) claiming that the agreement made between the Finance Ministry and GMR was not valid and that it violated the constitution.

In the Judges Chamber, Judge Naeem said that four of the Civil Court seven judges had agreed to accept cases related to the state, in a meeting to decide whether or not to accept cases related to the state after Dr Sawad was reappointed as the Attorney General following his first dismissal by parliament.

However, Judge Naeem said he would not follow the majority decision of the Judges and would not accept cases concerning the state before the parliament decided on Dr Sawad, or until a superior courts ruled otherwise.

The constitution requires all members of the cabinet to have the consent of the parliament.

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Convicted criminals being brought to court for extention of detention, says Criminal Court

The Criminal Court has claimed that police have been arresting and bringing already convicted criminals to the court and requesting extensions of detention, despite the fact that the individuals are supposed to be behind bars.

On March 18 the police brought a person to the Criminal Court who had previously been sentenced to 45 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of theft, objection to order and three drug related charges, said the Criminal Court.

A second person was also brought before the court who had been sentenced 10 times on different charges and was supposed to be serving 27 years imprisonment, the court said, after he was found guilty of five robbery cases, two cases of objection to order, two cases of driving without license and one case of possession and using of drugs.

”The court’s documents show that those two persons were handed over to the concerned authorities to implement the verdict,” the court said. ”They were brought before the judges on March 18 on charges of robbery and were caught that night while the police was conducting a special operation to curb the violence in Male’.”

The Criminal Court that night ordered police to handover the two criminals to the penitentiary department within two days.

”The court queried why a person sentenced to 45 years prison and another to 27 years, who are supposed to be in jail, were released into society. [Police] replied that it was the Home Ministry that released them,” the court added.

Head of Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) Ahmed Rasheed told Minivan News that there were many challenges the department had to face when handling the prisoners.

”There are people who escape, people who are released for house arrest, people who cannot be kept inside the cells because of their medical condition,” said Rasheed. ”A very infamous criminal named Mohamed Ibrahim Didi, also known as ‘Kiyawa’, escaped recently.”

Kiyawa, Rasheed said, was brought Male’ to report to the hospital as he had a severe knee injury.

”The doctors said his knee needed to undergo an operation and that he needed to be admitted for a month before operating,” Rasheed explained. ”One day, late in the afternoon, he fled from hospital. There are reasons why a person who cannot stand on two feet by himself escapes.”

Rasheed said in other incidents when prisoners escaped while they were being transferred from island prisons to Male’.

”Somehow their relatives, friends and lovers get to know that they are scheduled to come Male’ at this time for this purpose and will be at the jetty when prisoners arrives, they will all circle around and gather,” he said. ”Some of those times, the prisoners friends will come by, threaten the prison officers and flee.”

He said that currently there were more than 70 prisoners released on parole.

”There will be 15 prisoners in Thilafushi in the work corporation, and there will be fugitives as well,” he said.

Rasheed said a legal framework needed to be established to solve the issues.

”There has to be a lawful system where good prisoners can be granted clemency, such as a reward for a prisoner who learns by heart two books of the Quran or the whole of Quran. If such a law was established then prisoners cannot escape by having a friend in the President’s Office.”

He also noted that there were times DPRS officers were attacked during prisoners’ escapes.

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HRCM investigating leak of child molestation allegations against MP

President of Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) Maryam Azra has said that the commission has begun an internal investigation to find out the source of a story published in local newspaper Haveeru that the commission was investigating an MP regarding child molestation.

Minivan News understands that Haveeru removed the story from its website this afternoon.

When Minivan News queried Azra as whether the commission was investigating such a case, she replied “I do not know.”

”We are trying to find out who it was that has told Haveeru so,” she said.

Haveeru had quoted an official at HRCM as saying that a child molestation case related to a MP had been filed at commission, which was investigating alongside police.
The official declined to reveal the name of the MP, said Haveeru.

Spokesperson of HRCM Ahmed Rilwan told Minivan News that he would “have check whether such a case was reported to the commission.”

”The statement given to Haveeru by whomever was not an official statement,” he said.

A police spokesperson said police had no comment on the matter.

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