Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Crowd leaves man lying in street after gang stabbing, no arrests made

A group of more than 10 men beat and stabbed a 19 year old man in Male’ yesterday in front of many witnesses, as he was walking down a street in Mahchangolhi, Male’.

An eye witness told Minivan News the group of men “appeared and circled around him, then they started beating him and [eventually] stabbed him.”

The man claimed that many people gathered to watch the man being attacked, “but no one step forward to cared to lend a helping hand.”

After the attack the crowd dispersed, “leaving the victim on the street bleeding.”

The witness said when he tried to help the wounded man to hospital, “the taxi refused to take him because he might put blood on seat.”

The man was stabbed in four places, said a person familiar with victim.

”He had a deep cut in the back and injured his lungs. His left arm was injured very seriously when he tried to block an attack aimed at his head.”

The victim was eventually admitted in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and in undergoing operations on his lungs and left hand, the source said.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said no one has yet been arrested in connection with the incident, and police were investigating.

Meanwhile, daily newspaper Haveeru reported that an 18 year-old boy was admitted to ADK Hospital with severe injuries after he was stabbed while watching the World Cup tournament.

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Muthalib: “100 percent sure no-confidence motion against Education Minister will succeed”

A no-confidence motion against Education Minister Dr Musthafa Luthfy has put on parliament’s agenda for June 30, after the motion was put forward by Independent MP Ibrahim Muthalib.

Muthalib said that “by divine will” he was “100 percent sure the motion will succeed if the vote is taken.”

”We [and the MPs who signed the petition] forwarded the no-confidence motion because of many concerns we had,” said Muthalib, adding that he did “not want to talk further on the issue yet.”

Dr Luthfy has come under heavy criticism, extending to protests outside his home, after the ministry’s steering committee suggested that the subjects Islam and Dhivehi be made optional at A-Level.

Muthalib has also claimed that Dr Luthfy had told him that students of Arabbiya School, which was shut down after a wall collapsed, would be transferred to other schools.

Dr Luthfy told Minivan News that demolition work on the old site was starting tomorrow, so the refurbishment could begin.

Muthalib said that a meeting with the Education Minister was scheduled for Thursday at request of the minister.

“We now believe that national education matters will not go well because of the attitude and thinking of the Education Ministry, especially Mustafa Luthfy,” Muthalib said recently. “So [Luthfy] should either make amends or resign.”

Dr Luthfy meanwhile claimed that if the situation was dealt with fairly, there “was no issue that can lead to a no-confidence motion.”

”The constitution says that a no-confidence motion should be forwarded if either a minister fails to implement the government’s policy or if he or she was irresponsible in his duty,” Dr Luthfy said.

”I am a person whose duty is to implement government’s policy, and everything I do is done to implement the government’s policy.”

Dr Luthfy noted that the issues mentioned in the no-confidence motion were all religious matters.

On June 8, Muthalib presented a petition to forward the motion against Education Minister, which was signed by five independent MPs, three Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs and two People’s Alliance (PA) MPs.

The government has meanwhile launched a spirited defense of the Education Minister.

“This is a part of DRP’s plan to pick off ministers one-by-one,” said the President’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair.

“First they plan to try and bring down the Education Minister, and if that succeeds they will then go after other ministers. This no-confidence motion is a shallow attempt to destabilise the government and the country.”

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Maldives to be the “best country” for press freedom, says President Nasheed

President Mohamed Nasheed has said that the Maldives intends to be “the best country in the world in terms of press freedom.”

In a message to the Commonwealth media development workshop, a four day training event that started this morning at Holiday Inn in Male’, Nasheed said the government wanted the Maldives to have  “the most free and most professional media in the world.”

”We strongly believe that press freedom is important for consolidating democracy,” said Nasheed. ”We also believe that development can only be achieved through a transparent and free discussion of ideas.”

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad, and President of Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir also addressed participants in the workshop.

Secretary General of Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma, in his message to the participants, highlighted the role of journalism in the society and explained how  important a balanced news article was.

”Journalism is an honourable profession,” Sharma said. ”You can hold accountable both the government and the private sector.”

He said that members of the press played a pivotal role in revealing the truth and upholding the values and principles that would lead to a just society.

In his address, Dr Sawad said journalists in the Maldives “are not responsible”, and urged them to be more professional, sophisticated and accountable.

Dr Sawad said that in the past the free pens of the Maldivian journalists were held hostage.

”But today we are seeing what we dreamed we would see in the 80s,” Sawad said. ”Now we have a new constitution and new legislation.”

He urged journalists at the workshop to convey the truth with their pens, adding that ”the government will not let you down.”

The Commonwealth media workshop is a four day event being conducted by the Commonwealth in collaboration with Maldives Journalists Association (MJA). Around 25 local journalists are taking part, including Minivan News.

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Corpses being stacked as Male’ cemetery reaches capacity

The cemetery (Aa-sahara) in Male’ has reached capacity and Male’ municipality council has begun burying dead bodies on top of one another, by adding six feet of soil to the burial ground.

Islamic burial practices state that bodies must be buried six feet under the earth, and must not be stacked above other bodies – a logistical challenge for densely-populated Male’, where space is at a premium.

Head of Municipality Council Adam ‘Sarangu’ Manik said the council had no other choice because there was no other land in the city to bury dead bodies.

”We have to do it like this because every day one or two people need be buried there,” Adam explained.

”The soil was put on top of the graves and prepared by the former government,” he said. ”We have no other place to bury dead bodies, so we continued burying them there.”

State Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed reiterated that under Islam it was prohibited to bury dead bodies in this manner.

”It is allowed only if there is no other way,” Sheikh Shaheem said, noting ”it is not a must to only bury dead people in Male’ – there is space in Hulhumale and Villingili. We should take the dead bodies in a speed boat to Hulhumale’, Villingili or another nearby island,” he said.

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Wind fells 500 year-old Banyan tree in Kuribi

A strong wind blew down a 500 year-old Banyan tree in Kuribi of Haadhaalu Atoll, which was believed to be among the ancient relics remaining on the island.

Island Councilor Abdul Wahid told Minivan News that the tree fell down on Friday afternoon at around 3:00pm due to a strong wind that came with the rain clouds.

”The wind was blowing faster than 70 km/h,” said Wahid. ”Many coconut palm trees and other trees in the area fell down,”

Wahid said the tree was 125 feet long and was used as a landmark for travelers, as it was visible on the horizon before even the island appeared.

”It would have a diameter of 15 feet and a spread of 200 feet,” Wahid said.

He said that nobody was injured during the incident.

”It fell and hit the outer wall of Hukuru Miskiy [Friday mosque] and damaged the wall,” he said. ”Some other trees in the area were also pulled down.”

He said that the ancient Banyan tree would be put up for auction tomorrow.

An official at the Department of Meteorology (MET) said that its bureau on Hanimaadhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll has recorded that Hanimaadhoo experienced strong winds blowing at almost 90 km/h on Friday afternoon.

She said that the heavy rain and strong winds was due to the southwest monsoon,  and added that no tornadoes had been recorded recently.

Floods

A solid two days of rain in Nolhivaram, also in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, has caused shin-high flooding.

Island Councilor Hussein Areef said the deluge lasted from Friday morning to 10pm last night, and had caused the water level to rise to to 1.5 feet in some areas.

Eight houses on the island had been flooded, he said, and some trees had died.

Areef said that schools were closed today due to the flood.

”Many trees on island also fell due to the rain and strong wind,” Areef said. ”We are trying to drain the water and we hope we can reopen the schools by tomorrow.”

”Now it is not raining, but the sky is overcasts and by 6:00pm it would start showering again,” he added.

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PA proposes bill to protect Dhivehi language

A bill to protect Dhivehi, the Maldivian language, has been presented to  parliament by People’s Alliance (PA) MP Abdul Azeez Jamaal Abubakuru.

Jamaal said that the Dhivehi language was “why Maldivians remain as Maldivians” and the source of the country’s success.

”Dhivehi is one of the most valuable national relics that our forefathers have delivered to us,” Jamaal said. ”Without doubt it is our responsibility to deliver it to the next generation safely, like our forefathers did.”

Jamaal said if people were careless with their mother-tongue, there was a potential for words to be lost.

”I believe that allowing the Maldivian language to dissolve is like dissolving our nationality,” he said.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed thanked MP Jamaal for presenting the bill, but said he did not believe a bill was the only solution.

Nasheed said that linguistic experts of had noted that languages  form, change and decease naturally.

”A perfect research paper on this was produced by Dr Noam Chomsky,” he said. “All these things are mentioned very clearly in his book, ‘Language Death’. It mentions three stages a language goes through before it dissolves.”

Nasheed said that research conducted by UNESCO showed that there were 6800 languages used in the world.

”Our language is included in a list of languages in the report that are at risk of disappearing in 20 years.”

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader and MP Ali Waheed said that he supported the bill.

”It was not  for political gain that we criticised the disbanding of the National Centre for Arts and Culture,” Waheed said. ”We were just expressing concern.”

Waheed said that although the Maldives was just a small dot compared to many much larger countries, “we should be proud to have our own language.”

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Islamic Sharia applies where Maldivian law silent, High Court clarifies

The High Court of the Maldives has clarified that Islamic Sharia law defaults in cases where crimes may not be specifically forbidden by Maldivian law, and instructed parliament to keep this in mind when amending the penal code.

”When bringing amendments to the penal code of the Maldives, I rule that the concerned state institution amend the penal code in a manner that does not obstruct the giving of penalties for crimes prohibited under Islamic Sharia,” Judge Abdul Gany Mohamed ruled.

Judge Gany added the landmark ruling to the verdict in a case concerning a man who threatened a doctor last year in Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

The prosecution claimed that Sulhath Abdulla, of Maafannu Kurevi, went to IGMH in May last year and threatened a doctor who had refused to write him a prescription for a control drug.

The Criminal Court of the Maldives last year ruled that there was no specific law forbidding Sulhath Abdulla’s actions, and therefore he could not be punished.

Judge Gany said that although there was no Maldivian law for the crime he committed, anything prohibited under Islamic Shariah was consisted prohibited according to articles 2, 10, 19 and 59 of the constitution.

”Under article number 142[a], the courts must rule according to Islamic Sharia when deciding a matter on which [Maldivian] laws are silent,” Judge Gany said.

Judge Gany sentenced Sulhath Abdulla for four years house arrest for objection to order and violating article 88[a] of the penal code.

He explained that using foul words when addressing to people, threats to damage another’s body or property, intimidation, refusing to give samples necessary for investigations, obstructing investigation, using or possessing a sharp object that might cause “fear in society”, and using any object that could potentially be classed as a weapon should all be considered prohibited under article number 2, 10, 19 and 59[a] of the constitution.

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Family of man who self-immolated in custody decide to bury body

The family of the man who died in police custody have decided to bury his body after keeping him for four days for investigation.

The man set himself ablaze after pouring petrol onto his body from a bottle stored in the police station, suffering severe burns. He was transferred to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) but died during treatment on Saturday. However, a member of his family claimed he was tortured in police custody.

Today a family member of the man told Minivan News that the body was buried today Asru prayers.

”We decided not to do the postmortem examination of the body, and besides it’s not very good to keep a dead body without burying,” she said. ”We have not received further information on the case.”

She said that the police were fully cooperating with the family to investigate the case and find out if there was any irresponsibility on behalf of the police.

”We will know further information after the police finish the investigation,” she added.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that police were investigating the incident and would reveal details after the investigation.

”The police are ready to provide any assistance that the family requires from police,” Shiyam said. ”They requested police investigate.”

He said that if the family requested police would offer the family postmortem but they wanted to bury them today.

Shahindha Ismail from the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) said that a team from the commission had arrived at Gahdhu Police station [where the incident took place] to investigate the case.

Shahindha said that the details of the case would only be given after the conclusion of the investigation.

”After finishing the investigation we will issue a press statement to give details of the case,” she said.

She assured that action would be taken against police if they were found to have been negligent.

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