Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Man stabbed to death near West Park restaurant

A group of men stabbed a man to death near West Park restaurant this afternoon.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef said the victim was attacked at about 4:15pm while he was on Boduthakurufaanu Magu, the outer ring road of Male’.

”His body was taken to Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) at 4:15pm,” Haneef said. ”His body was carried to the hospital by a witness and a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officer who was in the area.”

Police identified the victim as Ali Shifan of Fairy Corner in Maafannu Ward.

”His age is not verified yet,” he said. ”According to witnesses, a group of men on a GN model motorbike came and attacked the victim.”

He said the number of assailants had not also been verified yet.

”It could be one, two or even four,” he said.

IGMH Spokesperson Zeenath Ali told Minivan News that she could only confirm the death of the person.

”We do not have clear details at the moment,” she said. ”But he was dead when he was brought to the hospital.”

She said the hospital could not verify the age of the victim.

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More MPs could desert MDP for Gasim’s JP, claims MDP MP

A member of MDP parliamentary group has told Minivan News on condition of anonymity that it is “very likely” that at least two more MPs could desert the party and join Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhoree Party (JP).

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdulla Abdulraheem rejoined the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) earlier this week, a year after leaving his original party while it was in opposition.

A JP council member told private broadcaster DhiTV that two Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs were to join the party next month.

Minivan News’s source alleged the MPs could include MP for Nolhivaram constituency, Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed, and MDP MP for Mid-Fuvamulah Shifaq ‘Histo’ Mufeed.

‘’These are the two names that have been rumored, it is possible that they may leave MDP and join JP,’’ he said. ‘’They are close to JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim and they are personal friends.’’

The source suggested that although current rumours suggested that MDP Deputy Leader and MP Alhan Fahmy was also going to leave MDP, it was unlikely “as long as he is in the position of Deputy Leader.’’

Alhan came to MDP after the then-opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) decided to take action against him after he voted in favor of the then-Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed, in a no-confidence motion in parliament to oust him.

The source also said it was unlikely that MDP MP for Thoddoo constituency Ali Waheed who was a former Deputy Leader of DRP, would leave MDP.

‘’The story inside MDP is that Colonel Nasheed and Shifaq are planning to join Gasim, who has been acting very proud lately telling everyone that he was the one who ousted both former Presdient Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and former President Mohamed Nasheed,’’ he said, adding that Gasim had also been boasting that he would ousted the present government and become president.

The source said the traumatic ousting of the MDP had brought the whole party behind former President Nasheed, and that the MDP remained proud of him.

Asked to respond to reports that they were considering joining the JP, MP ‘Colonel’ Nasheed told Minivan News that there was “nothing to talk about”, while Shifaq had not responded to calls at time of press.

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Two minors arrested in connection with the murder of ‘sorcerer’ confess to accessory in court

Two minors arrested and charged with the murder of Ali Hassan ‘Ayyube’, 76 of Kudahuvadhoo in Haa Dhaalu pleaded guilty to accessory in court today.

Newspaper Haveeru reported that the two 16 year-olds were charged with spying on Hassan before the murder, and assisting the assailants to hide the weapons they used to murder Hassan.

Another 17 year old boy was also summoned to court today in connection with the case, and charged for involvement in murdering Hassan.

He told the court that he wishes to continue the trial with a lawyer and the judge granted his request.

Last Sunday the step-grandson of Hassan was summoned to the Criminal Court for his involvement in the case.

He told the court that Hassan was murdered because he was informed that Hassan killed the mother of Fauzan Mohamed, a main suspect in the murder, using sorcery.

Hassan’s step-grandson told the court that his part in the murder involved spying on his step-grandfather, and also admitted that he got a long sharp knife because Fauzan told him that he want to cut Hassan’s throat.

On January 8 this year, the body of 76 year-old Ali Hassan was discovered with multiple stab wounds in an abandoned home on Kudahuvadhoo.

On January 31, Police arrested six persons for their alleged involvement in the murder of Hassan.

After Hassan’s body was found on Kudahuvadhoo at about 8:00pm on January 8, a special team from the police’s Serious and Organised Crime Department were dispatched to the island the very same day.

The victim himself had previously been accused of using sorcery on a 37 year-old woman, who was reported missing at 2:00am on December 4, 2011 and whose body was found floating in Kudahuvadhoo lagoon later that morning.

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Former Home Minister summoned for questioning by police and HRCM over detention of Chief Judge

The former Home Minister Hassan Afeef was yesterday summoned to the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) to the police for questioning over the arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

Speaking to the press outside the police headquarters, Afeef said he had no role in the arrest of Abdulla and that he had only requested the military to arrest him after police had asked him to make the request.

Afeef said it was the police that informed the Home Ministry that there were issues concerning the national security of the Maldives if Abdulla was to remain at large.

He said that in a letter he sent to the Defence Ministry on behalf of the Home Ministry, issues concerning the national security of the country were outlined very clearly.

He declined to provide details on the arrest of Abdulla because they concerned the national security of the country, he said.

When Minivan News contacted Afeef for a comment he said what he told last night outside the police headquarters was all he could say regarding the issue.

A police spokesperson today told Minivan News that police asked Hassan Afeef to come to the police headquarters at 9:30pm last night.

‘’He came on time and we questioned him about the arrest of Judge Abdulla Mohamed,’’ he said. ‘’He answered all the questions very well.’’

Yesterday afternoon Afeef was summoned to HRCM for questioning over the arrest of Judge Abdulla.

Afeef met the press outside the HRCM and said the commission faced him a lot of questions and that he answered all the questions fully and declined to provide details of the questions.

Recently Former government’s Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim and former President Mohamed Nasheed were summoned to the HRCM.

Tholhath was also summoned to the police headquarters, however, he used the right to remain silent.

Judge Abdulla Mohamed was arrested by the Defence Force in compliance with a police request.

However, the protests sparked in Male’ following the arrest and lasted until the resignation of the former president.

The opposition-led protests in the run up to Nasheed’s resignation initial called for the release of the Criminal Court Judge.

The first complaints against Abdulla Mohamed were filed in July 2005 by then Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed, and included allegations of misogyny, sexual deviancy, and throwing out an assault case despite the confession of the accused.

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC), the judicial watchdog, eventually formed a complaints committee to investigate the cases against Judge Abdulla in December 2009, which met 44 times but had failed to present a single report as of March 2011.

The JSC eventually concluded an investigation into politically-contentious comments made by Judge Abdulla Mohamed on DhiTV, but the report was never released after the judge sought a Civil Court injunction against his further investigation in September 2011.

Then-Home Minister Hassan Afeef subsequently accused the judge of “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist”, listing 14 cases of obstruction of police duty including withholding warrants for up to four days, ordering police to conduct unlawful investigations and disregarding decisions by higher courts.

Afeef accused the judge of “deliberately” holding up cases involving opposition figures, barring media from corruption trials, ordering the release of suspects detained for serious crimes “without a single hearing”, and maintaining “suspicious ties” with family members of convicts sentenced for dangerous crimes.

The judge also released a murder suspect “in the name of holding ministers accountable”, who went on to kill another victim.

Then Vice President of the Maldives Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan opposed the judge’s detention, stating on his blog that “I am ashamed and totally devastated by the fact that this is happening in a government in which I am the elected Vice President.”

Nasheed’s government requested assistance from the international community to reform the judiciary. Observing that judicial reform “really should come from the Judicial Services Commission (JSC)”, then Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem said the commission’s shortcoming are “now an issue of national security.”

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MDP MP Abdulla Abdulraheem rejoins DRP

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdulla Abdulraheem has rejoined the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), a year after leaving his original party while it was in opposition.

Raheem joined the MDP in the footsteps of former DRP Deputy Leader, now MDP MP Ali Waheed, former DRP Sports Wing head Hassan Shujau, and deputy head Assad ‘Adubarey’ Ali.

On Tuesday late afternoon at the DRP Office there was a small ceremony to mark his signing and a meeting afterwards with the press.

Speaking at the meeting, Raheem said he came back to DRP because his views did not match those of the MDP leadership, and because he felt that in the future the number of MDP supporters would deteriorate.

When a journalist asked him whether he believed that the current government was legitimate, he replied that he was obliged to stay behind the stand of DRP after signing with the party.

Raheem also said that he believed that the current government was constitutional and was formed according to the law.

MDP MP Mohamed Musthafa today told Minivan News that Raheem’s resignation from MDP was “regrettable”.

‘’We are in a very difficult situation and he worked with us very well,’’ Musthafa said. ‘’I don’t think that any of the MDP members saw this coming.’’

Musthafa said he think that Raheem left MDP because he wanted to stay with the government at the time.

‘’But his action will make his constituents lose confidence with him, and if he is to run for the parliament election next time I do not think he can win the seat,’’ he said. ‘’More than 70 percent of Male’ citizens are MDP supporters.’’

Musthafa described the move as a “big challenge” to Raheem’s political career.

MDP Spokesperson and MP Imthiyaz ‘Inthi’ Fahmy said he would not like to comment on the matter.

‘’We did not have a clue that this was about to happen,’’ he said. ‘’But there are people like that who come and go.’’

MDP current Deputy Leader and MP Alhan Fahmy is also from DRP, along with figures such as Ali Waheed and Shujau.

Alhan joined MDP in February 2010, after DRP Disciplinary Committee decided to take action against him for voting against a no-confidence motion passed to the parliament by the then-opposition to oust the then-Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed.

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Gang murdered 21 year-old man by mistake, says police inspector

Twenty-one year-old Abdulla Muheeth was mistakenly killed by a gang on February 19 and was not the intended target, Police Inspector Abdulla Satheeh said on Monday.

Inspector Satheeh said the police investigation into Muheeth’s death showed that he was not attacked because he had done anything, and that he was a good person who had no police record.

He also noted that Satheeh was not a member of any gang, and was working in a good and responsible job when the incident occurred.

Police said four men and two minors have been arrested in connection with the case, all of them with criminal records.

Satheeh said there was  enough evidence to prosecute the six suspects, but said police were still working to collect more evidence.

He said that police give high priority to such cases and assured the public that the case was proceeding at a fast pace.

Muheeth died on February19 after he was attacked at 1:55am in the morning. Three others were injured following a series of stabbings in the Maldives capital Male’ that same night.

A friend of Muheeth told Minivan News on condition of anonymity that Muheeth was never involved in any gang related activities and that he was a good person.

‘’He was a really nice friend, he treated all his friends like they were family to him, he was never involved in any gang related activity,’’ he said. ‘’It brought great sorrow to all his friends to hear he was murdered.’’

The friend alleged Muheeth was attacked by the gang because he was a close friend of the person they wanted to attack.

‘’It was a week after the person they wanted to attack had left the country to study and was killed,’’ he claimed. ‘’I say the assailants should receive the death penalty, and the police should also make them apologise to his mother and father.’’

He called on the police to investigate the case thoroughly and to bring everyone involved to justice.

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HRCM questions former Defence Minister over arrest of Chief Judge

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has summoned former Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim for questioning over the arrest of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Tholath said he told the commission that the information about the arrest of the judge could not be revealed to HRCM as the matter concerned national security.

Tholhath told Minivan News that he had informed the commission that he would only answer questions related to human rights violations.

Tholhath was accompanied to the commission by  lawyer Nooruban Fahmy, the sister of MDP Deputy Leader and MP Alhan Fahmy.

President of HRCM, Mariyam Azra, recently told Minivan News that the commission was hoping to conclude the investigation before next month.

On March 4, Police summoned  Tholhath for questioning over former President Mohamed Nasheed’s arrest of Abdulla Mohamed.

Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed was arrested by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) on the evening of Monday, January 16, in compliance with a police request.

The judge’s whereabouts were not revealed until January 18. The MNDF acknowledged receipt but did not comply with Supreme Court orders to release the judge.

Opposition political parties held a series of protests which culminated on the morning of February 7 with police joining opposition demonstrators in an assault on the MNDF’s headquarters, and the resignation of Nasheed – allegedly under duress – and the handover of the presidency to Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

Last week, Former President Mohamed Nasheed was also summoned before HRCM, in connection to his role in the controversial detention of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed earlier this year.

The former president attributed the initial arrest call to his Defence Ministry, on the grounds of “protecting” national security relating to alleged ethical concerns about the judge.

On the day Nasheed resigned, Judge Abdulla was brought Male’ and released from his detention.

The first complaints against Abdulla Mohamed filed in July 2005 by then Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed included allegations of misogyny, sexual deviancy, and throwing out an assault case despite the confession of the accused.

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC), the judicial watchdog, eventually formed a complaints committee to investigate the cases against Judge Abdulla in December 2009, which met 44 times but had failed to present a single report as of March 2011.

The JSC eventually concluded an investigation into politically-contentious comments made by Judge Abdulla Mohamed on DhiTV, but the report was never released after the judge sought a Civil Court injunction against his further investigation in September 2011.

Then-Home Minister Hassan Afeef subsequently accused the judge of “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist”, listing 14 cases of obstruction of police duty including withholding warrants for up to four days, ordering police to conduct unlawful investigations and disregarding decisions by higher courts.

Afeef accused the judge of “deliberately” holding up cases involving opposition figures, barring media from corruption trials, ordering the release of suspects detained for serious crimes “without a single hearing”, and maintaining “suspicious ties” with family members of convicts sentenced for dangerous crimes.

The judge also released a murder suspect “in the name of holding ministers accountable”, who went on to kill another victim.

Then Vice President of the Maldives Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan opposed the judge’s detention, stating on his blog that “I am ashamed and totally devastated by the fact that this is happening in a government in which I am the elected Vice President.”

Nasheed’s government requested assistance from the international community to reform the judiciary. Observing that judicial reform “really should come from the Judicial Services Commission (JSC)”, then Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem said the commission’s shortcoming are “now an issue of national security.”

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Former SAARC Secretary General calls for new law to dissolve political parties

Former SAARC Secretary General Dhiyana Saeed – also a former Attorney General – has called on parliament to enact a law to dissolve political parties.

Her comments have been widely reported in local media and were reiterated in a statement from the Jumhoree Party (JP), of which she is a member.

According to International Convent on Civil and Political Rights, there was opportunity to narrow the role of political parties, Saeed reportedly stated, during a recent address on Gaafaru island accompanying President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

Saeed claimed the Council of Europe had guidelines on the prohibition and dissolution of political parties, and that there were situations in which a political party could be dissolved.

Parliament currently does not have the authority to dissolve a political party, the JP noted. However Saeed suggested that the  law should be drafted in such a way that a court of law, preferably the Supreme Court, could declare that the party was in situation where it has to be dissolved.

Speaking to Minivan News, Saeed said that the new law needed to specify in which situations a political party could be dissolved, suggesting that using violence and unrest as a method to achieve the goal of the party was one such reason.

”I can allege that MDP is using violence and unrest as a method to achieve their goals, the events of arson and vandalism and the attack on police officers are more like organised crimes,” she claimed. ”If anyone looks at the video footage they can see who did it and which color bands they were wearing on their head.”

She said if such a law was enacted, MDP could take the current government to court and that if they could prove that the government changed following a police and military coup, then the MDP could ask the court to dissolve the party in government.

Her comments come following criticism aimed by the government at the behavior of the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which it has accused of violent protests and in several instances, terrorism.

The MDP last week condemned acts of violence against police, “recognising that there is a high level of public animosity towards police officers with regards to their involvement in the February 7 coup, overthrowing the first democratically elected Government in the Maldives, and their subsequent brutal crackdown on unarmed civilians. However, MDP strongly urges all members of the public to express themselves through peaceful protest.”

Saeed did not refer to the MDP specifically, but did claim to Haveeru that MDP members had broken into her house one evening and tried to attack her, before fleeing when they saw the police.

Saeed was formerly an MDP member but she resigned following comments in protest over former President Mohamed Nasheed’s detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed, the culmination of a long-running judicial crisis.

The government’s rejection of court orders to release the judge could “only be solved by the people”, said Saeed at the time on VTV, a channel owned by JP MP and leader Gasim Ibrahim, but added this should be through the parliament “and not by coming out on the roads”.

Nasheed’s government expressed outrage over Saeed’s television appearance, arguing that her position as SAARC Secretary General demanded her political impartiality in the internal affairs of all SAARC nations – including her own.

Saeed subsequently resigned from the prestigious SAARC post – becoming not only the first female and youngest person to head SAARC, but also holding the shortest term.

“I am first and foremost a Maldivian citizen. It is my right [to comment] on whatever happens in my country, and I will not give away that right. As a lawyer I am also a member of the Maldivian bar,” she told Minivan News at the time.

“[The Chief Judge’s detention] is a violation of individual human rights, a violation of the independence of the judiciary, and the violation of the constitution,” she stated.

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Audio of officer admitting to planting beer at MDP protest “edited”, claims MNDF

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has issued a statement challenging claims made by private broadcaster Raajje TV, which aired a voice recording of a MNDF officer stating that beer cans discovered during the police dismantling of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s protest camp had been planted by security services.

‘’We do not believe the audio is a voice recording of a MNDF officer that was in  the area that day,’’ the MNDF said in the statement. ‘’We believe that the voice has been edited.’’

MNDF said it condemned attempts to slander the MNDF.

In the voice recording released by Raajje TV, the MNDF officer admits taking beer cans to the area and keeping the beer cans inside a box in the area. He also says that the beer cans were cold when then they were taken to the area.

CEO of Raajje TV Abdulla Rafeeq told Minivan News that the voice recording was “100 percent valid” and “the voice of a member of the armed forces”.

‘’In our news we did not mention whether it was a MNDF officer or Police officer, we only said it was a member of the armed forces,’’ Rafeeq said. ‘’We did not edit the voice recording but we changed the voice to keep the source anonymous.’’

‘’There are other officers of the armed forces that have witnessed the incident,’’ he said. ‘’This officer that gave us the interview said he just could not ignore the matter knowing all this.’’

On March 19, Police and MNDF officers entered the MDP’s protest camp and demolished all evidence of it, taking down the podium, tents, yellow flags, and even repainting the seawall to remove anti-government slogans.

Media was initially ordered to leave the area, but was subsequently readmitted. Police then claimed to have discovered beer cans, homemade alcohol and condoms.

The MDP has since accused the police and MNDF officers of planting the items to discredit the MDP.

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