Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Maafushi Prison inmates petition president over poor conditions

Inmates in Maafushi prison have petitioned President Dr Mohamed Waheed over poor conditions in the prison.

In the petition, the inmates stated that there were people in the prison sentenced to be incarcerated for more than 100 years, calling for the chance to reintegrate into society.

According to the petition, the inmates alleged they were being deprived from basic human rights guaranteed by the constitution, regulations made under the constitution and international treaties the Maldives had signed.

The inmates said that some of the cells were so small there was no space to kneel towards the Qibla during prayer time. They complained they had been able to perform Friday prayers for the past four years and had not been provided with healthy food and clean water.

According to the petition, the daily amount spent on food for each inmate had dropped from MVR95 (US$6.16) to just MVR35 (US$2.26).

The inmates called on Dr Waheed to take urgent measures to ensure food and clean water were provided in the cells.

‘’There are inmates who have serious medical conditions, who are advised by doctors to take medication accordingly, but the prison officers are not providing them the medical treatment as asked by the doctors,’’ the petition stated.

The inmates referred to one incident in which an inmate identified as Mohamed Ibrahim of Seenu Hithadhoo was refused medical treatment, which allegedly resulted in his appendix bursting inside his stomach while he was in the cell.

The petition also claimed that when inmates travelled to Male’ by sea, they were handcuffed to the back of the vessel with no prison officer on standby, which was against safety regulations.

The inmates also claimed that prison officers had banned inmates from marrying another inmate.

The inmates said they regretted remarks by former Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel alleging that inmates were homosexual, and alleged the banning of marriages in prison was intended to force inmates into homosexuality.

The petition called on the state to allow inmates to marrying inmates of the opposite sex ,and to fix issues the Maafushi Prison.

President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad told Minivan News that the office had not received the petition.

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Court extends detention of man accused of killing traffic police officer

Police have confirmed that a motorcyclist who collided with and killed a police constable in the earlier hours of Friday morning is being treated in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

A police spokesperson told Minivan News that 27 year-old Hassan Afeef suffered injuries in the collision, but would not give details.

‘’Although he is in hospital, he is under police charge. The court has granted a 15 day extension of his pre-trial detention,” the spokesperson said.

The passenger on the motorcycle was also arrested, but was released by the Criminal Court when police sought to extend his detention.

IGMH’s spokesperson Zeenath Ali declined to provide information of the injuries Afeef had received, with local media claiming he had requested the hospital withhold information about his condition.

Previously media reports stated that Afeef was taken into custody and then to IGMH.

In a statement issued yesterday, police alleged Afeef had a previous record of assaulting and intentionally crashing into traffic police officers, and had previously been arrested.

Twenty-two year-old Constable Misbah Abdulla was killed while manning a checkpoint near the President’s jetty in Male’, after the speeding motorcycle collided with him.

According to police, the collision threw the officer 80 feet from the checkpoint. He was taken to ADK hospital but later died of his injuries.

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MATATO complains tourism not included in Islamic Ministry’s blessings during Friday prayer

The Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has written to the Islamic Ministry expressing concern that tourism was not among those industry sectors blessed during Friday prayers.

MATATO President Mohamed Khaleel confirmed to Minivan News that a letter had been sent to the Islamic Ministry yesterday (May 29) expressing concern that the country’s farming and fishing industries continued to be blessed following Friday prayers, while tourism sector had not received the same courtesy.

Under the country’s laws, traditional holiday staples such as the sale and consumption of alcohol and pork products, and women publicly sunbathing in bikinis, are outlawed outside designated ‘uninhabited’ islands set aside exclusively for resort development.

A letter sent by MATATO to the Islamic Ministry stated that the biggest gift from God to the Maldives over the past 40 years was the establishment of tourist resorts on uninhabited islands in the Maldives, according to local media.

The letter also argued that profits from the travel industry over the 40 years had been used to build harbours, roads and mosques across the country.

Considering the financial impact of tourism to the country’s revenue, MATATO President Khaleel said a letter had been sent to the Islamic Ministry asking for tourism to be included along with other industries worthy of being blessed in the Friday prayer.

“We are expecting a response [to the letter] by Sunday (June 2) or Monday (June 3) next week. We are expecting positive feedback from the ministry, not for ourselves, but for the sake of the country,” he said.

Given the substantial contribution of tourism to the country’s GDP – thought to indirectly reach over 70 percent – Khaleel questioned the financial impact to the country should the industry cease to exist.

Khaleel added that the government had earned large amounts of additional income from import taxes on goods and services brought into the country to cater for holidaymakers.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed and Minister of State for Islamic Affairs Mohamed Didi were not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

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Police searching for 24 year-old man in connection with gang rape of 16 year-old girl

Head of the Police Child Protection Department, Chief Inspector Hassan Shifau, has said police are searching for Mausoom Abaas of Hunaru in Maafannu Ward in connection with the gang rape of a 16 year-old girl in February.

Police first sought public assistance in locating Mausoom Abbas in mid-February.

Yesterday (May 29) Chief Inspector of Police Hassan Shifau issued a video interview regarding the case and said that on February 12, a 16 year-old girl was gang raped by four men, three of whom had since been arrested. The fourth was yet to be located, he said.

Shifau stated that Mausoom was on the police service’s list of the 50 most dangerous criminals, with a record of 16 criminal offences ranging from drug related crimes to assault and robbery.

The three already arrested over the gang rape were aged 18, 19 and 22, and all had previous criminal records, he said.

According to Shifau, the victim had marks on her body that indicated she had been sexually harassed when she came to the police to report the case.

He also said that the DNA samples taken from the clothes she was wearing that night matched with the DNA samples of the persons arrested.

Police have not revealed details of the case nor have they identified the three arrested in connection with the matter.

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Police arrest stabbing suspect Sharufan and three others

Police have located and arrested 19 year-old Sharufan Abdul Razaq Ahmed of Lonumidhilige, after calling for public assistance to locate the suspect in a recent double stabbing.

Police said that the four were arrested Tuesday night at 11:00pm while they were inside an apartment on the first floor of Nikoshia house in Maafannu ward.

Police stated that the other three were arrested on allegations they assisted Sharufan to hide from police.

According to police, the three arrested included two males aged 32 and 27, and a 20 year-old female.

Officers obtained a search warrant for the premises and discovered evidence related to the crime, police said.

According to local media, the three arrested in the apartment included Sharufan’s brother Ibrahim Shafaz of Lonumidhilige in Maafannu ward. Shafaz was arrested in 2011 after police labelled him a drug lord.

Shafaz and the 20 year-old woman were released yesterday when they were taken before the Criminal Court for extension of detention. The court however granted a 15-day detention period for Sharufan.

Police said the operation to arrest the suspects was conducted by its special task force recently established to combat the rise in gang related crimes in Male’.

Police had earlier appealed for public assistance in locating Sharufan, alleged that on May 18 at 3:25 pm he stabbed two people near the junction where Chanbeyly Magu meets Haveeree Hingun.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the two people injured in the attack were still in a serious condition.

Razzaq has a prior criminal record, according to local media, after he allegedly entered Nalahiya Manzil House in Henveiru Ward in January 2010 with a companion and stabbed a person inside the house.

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Security services authorised to grow beards

Police and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officer uniform regulations have been amended to allow the growing of beards.

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz informed local media that the police management board had decided to allow officers to grow beards as officers had been requesting it.

Riyaz said the regulations had been amended and sent to the Home Ministry to be forwarded to the President’s Office, for publication in the government gazette on June 1.

According to the new amendment, police will be allowed to grow their beards up to two centimetres in length.

Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim has also confirmed the uniform regulations for MNDF officers will be amended, and published in the government gazette.

Nazim told local newspapers that the decision was made after requests from MNDF officers, on the grounds of religion and human rights.

The growing of beards by the armed forces was permitted in many other countries, Nazim said.

In May 2012, the Islamic Ministry requested amendments to the uniform code of the security services to authorise army and police officers to grow facial hair.

A media official from the ministry told Minivan News at the time that a letter was sent to the President’s Office officially requesting the policy change “to give permission to police and army officers to grow beards as in other Islamic countries, since our constitution is based on Islamic principles.”

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Court extends detention of MNDF officer accused of planning Dr Afrasheem’s murder

The Criminal Court has extended the detention period of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) officer Azleef Rauf who was accused of planning the murder of Dr Afasheem Ali by Hussein Humam, the main suspect charged in the murder case.

Criminal Court Media Official Ahmed Mohamed Manik confirmed that Azleef’s pretrial detention period was extended yesterday (May 28).

‘‘He was brought before the judges last night,’’ he added.

Manik said police had charged Azleef with terrorism, intimidation, involvement in gang activities, participation in gang activities and conspiring to conduct criminal gang activities.

On May 22 Humam, the chief suspect arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Dr Afrasheem, said the idea of killing Dr Afrasheem was given to him by Azleef Rauf, who he met at a baibalaa tournament held in 2012.

Baibalaa is a sport played by young men in the Maldives in a sandy ring, requiring speed and agility.

Humam said during the tournament Azleef and that night sent him to pick up a kilogram of drugs from the airport that were smuggled in to the country by a Pakistani man. He said he dropped the drugs off to the house where a person he identified as ‘Mukkar’ lived.

According to a  statement read out in court on Humam’s behalf, he was invited to coffee with Azleef, Javid and his brother ‘Jana’, during which Azleef allegedly said “I promise you will get MVR4 million if you murder Dr Afrasheem,” to which Javid’s brother ‘Jana’ replied “yes you will.”

Rauf and Javid were also previously detained by police over their alleged involvement in the case. Both were later released by the court.

Javid spent 45 days in detention in connection to the Afrasheem murder, after which time his lawyer argued his continued detention was unconstitutional given there was no evidence to support keeping him in custody.

On the day of Javid’s release (January 17), his brother Shahin Mohamed was arrested by police while he was waiting with the rest of Javid’s family outside the court. Mohamed was released from police custody three hours after he was detained.

An MDP activist Mariyam Naifa was also arrested several days following the murder, and was subsequently released. Her lawyer at the time said she was arrested in connection to intelligence received by police in the Afrasheem case.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali has since confirmed to the media that the passports of Abdulla ‘Jaa’ Javid, Adam ‘Spy’ Solah and Shahin Mohamed had been held in compliance with a request from police.

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Couple charged with aborting child deny murder charges in court

The Criminal Court has  conducted its first hearing into charges of murder against a couple who allegedly aborted their 20-week old foetus.

The local media present at the court identified the couple as Aiminath Shaahy Aalam, 21 and Ibrahim Visam, 26, both from Addu City.

The mother Aiminath Shaahy Aalam was given the opportunity to respond to the charges and told the court she had previously stated how the incident occurred in the statement she gave to police.

The statement was read out in court, in which she confessed she had not sought medical care when she knew she was pregnant, and that she and her husband had discussed the matter and decided to abort the child. According to the statement, she confessed to taking abortion pills.

However, today in court she denied taking the pills with the intention of aborting the child and said she did not know what the pills she used were. She told the court she got the pills from a doctor working in the Dhilshaadh Clinic on Hithadhoo in Addu City.

In the statement she gave to the police investigators, she stated that her stomach had started aching at night while her husband was sleeping. She said said she woke up her husband and told him about it.

She said her husband then took off his shirt and she dropped the fetus on his shirt.

When the judge queried this, she said that she felt that something dropped on the shirt, but she didn’t see what it was, and neither did her husband showed her. Instead, he wrapped the shirt around it and put it into a plastic bag and took it away.

In  the court today, Aalam denied she was involved in killing the baby and told the judge that she wanted the state appoint a lawyer for her.

The father’s trial was also conducted today. He also denied the charges and requested the court give him time to appoint a lawyer, which the judge granted.

Police discovered the foetus buried on the beach of Maradhoo-Feydhoo in December 2012, after local witnesses reported a motorist acting suspiciously in the area, according to local media reports.

Abortion in the Maldives is illegal unless it is proved the conception is the result of rape, or that the pregnancy is a threat to the mother’s health.

The Prosecutor General’s Office forwarded the couple’s case to the Criminal Court on May 2.

Police have claimed that the buried foetus was found with its heart beating, but later died after being taken to the hospital.

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Police appeal for public assistance in locating stabbing suspect

Police have appealed for public assistance in locating a person identified as Sharufan Abdul Razzaq Ahmed, 19 of Lonumidhilige [house] in Maafannu Ward.

On May 27 police issued a statement informing the public they were seeking to question Razzaq regarding a recent stabbing, but had been unable to locate or determine his whereabouts.

Police alleged that on May 18 at 3:25 pm  Razzaq together with some other persons stabbed two people near the junction where Chanbeyly Magu meets Haveeree Hingun.

Police said Razzaq was needed for the police investigation into the case, and stated that any person who disclosed information about his whereabouts would receive protection as required by law.

Local media has reported that the 18 and 21 year-old victims were hospitalised following the attack.

The 18 year-old received injuries to his chest, back and other parts of the body while he 21 year-old suffered injuries to his back.

The media reports say that Razzaq has a previous criminal record, after he allegedly entered Nalahiya Manzil House in Henveiru Ward in 2010 January with a companion and stabbed a person inside the house.

That case is now in Prosecutor General’s Office waiting to be forwarded to the court for trial.

Progess of special task force

Police have also said that the police special task force established to curb gang related crimes occurring in Male’ had arrested seven people.

Police said four were persons police were looking for in connection with a recent stabbing incident.

In a statement issued to update information about the special operation, police said they had searched areas related to gang activities 960 times, and stopped and searched 290 persons.

Police also established vehicle check points in different areas of Male’ and searched 651 vehicles. 29 licenses were held for traffic violations.

Police said they would continue to stop and search people out late at night, or on the streets in the early hours of the morning.

Police recently arrested 11 persons for alleged involvement in a stabbing attack at the ‘Home X’ store in the capital on May 19, that hospitalised one male victim.

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz  told local media that members of the taskforce were now searching for 50 “high-profile” suspects alleged to have had involvement with gang-related activities.

“They are a threat to the society. We consider everyone who has not been punished for a crime they have  committed as a criminal at large,” he was quoted by local newspaper Haveeru as saying.

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