Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Male’ City Council denies plans to erect signs banning ‘immodest dressing’

Male’ City Council member Ahmed Falah has denied media reports today that the council has decided to put up sign boards banning immodest dressing to discourage tourists from wearing bikinis on beaches and other public areas in the capital.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported Male’ City Council member Ibrahim Shujau as telling the paper that the council had received complaints from the public that tourists had been wearing improper clothing around the capital’s beach. He reportedly said the council met with the Tourism Ministry and decided to put up sign board to inform tourists that improper clothing was not allowed.

However, Falah today said that the council has not made any such decision.

‘’I am sure that the council has not decided anything like that,’’ Falah said. ‘’Media reports are incorrect.’’

Speaking to Minivan News earlier this year, Secretary General of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), ‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim acknowledged that such occurrences would be a challenge for the mid-market tourism ambitions of the Maldives.

“The way it is currently structured is that alcohol is banned and there is a dress code for inhabited islands. Unless the regulations are changed – and I’m not saying they should be relaxed – tourist areas will need to be separated from local areas. In Male’ people cannot drink alcohol openly and nobody wears bikinis – it isn’t a problem.”

Ibrahim suggested that unless there were demarcated tourist areas, “there will always be these kinds of issues. It’s not an Adhaalath party issue or necessarily a religious issue – Western tourist dress is very different from traditional Maldivian dress.”

In April this year The Criminal Court sentenced a man to six months imprisonment after he was found guilty of ‘skinny dipping’ (swimming naked) in the Artificial Beach in Male’.

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MDP MP Musthafa to sue MMA for alleged US$500,000 in legal debt

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Musthafa has sent a letter to the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) threatening legal action if it does will not pay US$500,000 that the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) owed Musthafa’s Seafood Company.

Mustafa said the money was to be paid according to a ruling issued by the London Commercial Court in 1991.

‘’This money was the money we paid to Generalmeat Limited in Manchester to import flour, sugar and tin during the days we imported items from Generalmeat Limited,’’ Musthafa said in the letter. ‘’We waited for the goods for months. They said they had loaded 74 containers in the name of our company and later when we checked to Hanjin Shipping Line and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation we found out that Generalmeat had not loaded any containers in the name of our company.’’

Musthafa said when he realized that Generalmeat Limited had deceived his company, the company then appointed Birkett Westhorp and Loan law firm and filed a suit in the London Commercial Court.

‘’The London Commercial Court issued a court order to freeze all the accounts of Generalmeat Limited, but BCCI pretended that they did not receive the court warrant and transferred Generalmeat’s money in BCCI to shareholders’ wives accounts in Scotland,’’ he alleged in the letter.

‘’The London Commercial Court then ruled that BCCI and Generalmeat have deceived Seafood and ordered they pay Seafood US$500,000 in 14 days, and that the money should be paid to Seafood in the duration by withdrawing money from any account of BCCI anywhere in the world.’’

Musthafa said his Seafood Company then filed the case in the Singapore High Court citing Commonwealth Law Enforcement Declaration, and requested the court seize a BCCI boat loaded with flour at Singapore port.

‘’The Singapore High Court then detained the boat, but while this case was going on in the court, nine other international companies that BCCI had deceived came to know about this case and entered into it,’’ Musthafa said. ‘’But then we realized that it would take years to reach to a conclusion while  the flour would expire in three months, so we got out of the suit.’’

Since the ruling came originally from London’s Commercial Court and the Maldives is a member state of the Commonwealth, the Maldives must implement the verdict, claimed Musthafa.

‘’BCCI is dead now and MMA is the live branch of BCCI in the Maldives,” he said. “The debt of a dead person has to be paid by a living legal parent. If the MMA does not pay us within seven days we will sue the MMA in court and when we sue, we will ask the court to take the amount of money for the loss we have had for the past 20 years as a cause of not having this money.’’

Speaking to Minivan News today, Musthafa said that if the MMA did not respond to the letter by the end of this week, he will have no other choice but to file the case in the court.

‘’It was a ruling that all the countries followed and implemented, so the MMA should implement the verdict too,’’ he said.

Governor of the MMA Fazeel Najeeb was not responding at time of press.

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Islamic Ministry condemns MPs for allowing UN Human Rights Commissioner to address parliament

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has issued a statement proclaiming that nobody is allowed to talk against Islam in the Maldives, “even in parliament”, as Islam is “the source of all laws made in the Maldives.”

The Ministry’s statement follows a call from UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay in parliament last week that the Maldives put a moratorium on the practice of flogging as punishment for extra-marital sex,  while it holds a debate on the matter.

Pillay told parliament that flogging was a form of punishment “that is cruel and demeaning to women, and should have no place in the legal framework of a democratic country.”

The Islamic Ministry condemned the parliament’s decision to let Pillay speak, noting that MPs were handed a Dhivehi translation of her speech and should have been aware of what she was about to say.

‘’No Muslim has the right to advocate against flogging for fornication,” the Islamic Ministry stated.

“According to the Quran 100 lashes should be given for the woman and man involved in fornication,’’ the Ministry said, citing 33:36 of Quran which reads: ‘’It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path.’’

The Ministry said that no international organisation, foreign country or individual had the “right to obstruct Maldivians from upholding Islamic principles.”

‘’To preserve this nation’s sovereignty, all Maldivian citizens are obliged to respect the articles in the constitution and uphold the constitution,’’ the statement read. ‘’No law against any tenet of Islam can be enacted in the Maldives, according to the constitution.’’

The Islamic Ministry said any calls or action against this would be condemned by the ministry “in strongest possible terms.”

Religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf has yesterday sent a letter to the UN Resident Coordinator in the Maldives, alleging that a call from UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay for a moratorium on flogging was “inhumane and disrespectful.”

In a press conference last week, Pillay also described the 100 percent Muslim provision in the Maldivian constitution as “discriminatory, and does not comply with international standards” which led to protests outside the UN head office in Male’.

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Prison officers must not be banned from growing beards, rules Maafushi Court

Maafushi Court has ruled that growing a beard for men in Islam is more than a Sunnah and almost ‘waajib’ (obligatory), after a group of prison officers working for the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) filed a case against a requirement that male officers shave off their beards.

Delivering the verdict, Maafushi Court Judge Ibrahim Hussain said that men should not be told to shave their beards ‘’to make them look like women’’. All Prophets, from Adam to Mohamed (PBUH), grew beards, reported Raajjeislam.

‘’While the beard is more than a Sunnah and almost an obligatory thing in Islam, and while some scholars say it is obligatory, no employee in this 100 percent Muslim nation should be forced to shave their beard,’’ the website quoted the judge as saying.

‘’The court hereby orders the DPRS to ensure that no employee is asked to shave their beard.’’

The judge also added that as the Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim nation, no law against the tenets of Islam can be enacted in the Maldives.

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Salaf sends letter to UN, calls for action against Pillay

Religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf has sent a letter to the UN Resident Coordinator in the Maldives, alleging that a call from UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay for a moratorium on flogging was “inhumane and disrespectful.”

In the open letter written in Dhivehi, sent to media today, Salaf claimed that Pillay had challenged the constitution and Islamic Sharia.

Salaf claimed the UN Resident Coordinator was obliged to write an incident report to the concerned person at the UN, “to take action against Pillay and seek a binding agreement that nothing like this will repeated by the UN in the future.”

‘’As the UN is a protected organisation in this muslim nation, it is something you should do to be sincere to the official religion of this nation and to respect the Muslims that serve in the UN,’’ Salaf said in the letter. ‘’If not, Maldivians will be forced to believe that the UN is conducting activities in this country with a hidden agenda to disrupt the peace, disrupt the religion of Islam and to influence civil unrest.’’

Salaf said Pillay’s comments “might change citizens’ perspective of the UN and its services to the Maldives”. The Maldives had a right to inform other Muslim nations of how ‘’dangerous’’ and ‘’scary’’ Pillay is, Salaf said.

‘’Let it be known, be it UN or an international organisation or a powerful country, if anyone acted as Pillay acted and criticised the religion of Islam, we cannot wait without denying it,’’ Salaf’s letter said.

Salaf further accused Pillay of denying the existence of the Maldivian constitution, although a recording of her relevant comment in Thursday’s press conference indicates that this was widely misreported in the Maldivian media. Pillay was responding to the phrasing of a question by Miadhu Editor Gabbe Latheef, and said “I don’t believe you have a constitution, you have a constitution”.

In parliament, Pillay called for a moratorium and debate on flogging as a punishment for fornication, describing it as a form of punishment “that is cruel and demeaning to women, and should have no place in the legal framework of a democratic country.”

She also described the 100 percent Muslim provision in the Maldivian constitution as “discriminatory, and does not comply with international standards.”

In its letter, Salaf claimed that if Pillay was allowed to get away with her statements, this would be “torture of Maldivians”, and warned that the NGO “would be watching” the UN.

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Criminal Court issues Interpol red notice to arrest three suspects in Rf18 million fraud

The Criminal Court has issued an Interpol red notice for the arrest of three suspects involved in a Rf18 million (US$1.1 million) fraud case.

The three men are accused of transferring money to the Bank of Maldives from the State Bank of India joint saving account of the three owners of the motorcycle business ‘Sheesha’.

In a statement, police identified the three suspects as Ibrahim Shahid of Thulhadhoo in Baa Atoll, Mohamed Mustafa of Lhaimagu in Shaviyani Atoll and Mohamed Muthausim of the same island.

Following the incident, the three owners of Sheesha: Ahmed Hassan Manik, Hussain Husham and Ibrahim Husham, met with the press and said that the State Bank of India should take full responsibility for the fraud.

Hussain Husham told the media that the total amount of Rf 18 million was taken in two transactions and that the first transaction was made on November 9 and with the withdrawal of Rf 8.5 Million.

Later on December 20, the culprits withdrew a further Rf 9.5 Million from their account.

Hussain told the press that SBI transferred the money to an account with Bank of Maldives, using a forged document faxed to SBI.

He said the document had the name and signature of Ahmed Hassan Manik, and that the money transferred to Bank of Maldives account had already been withdrawn when they came to know about it.

He also said police arrested one person in connection with the case, but that the court had released him after determining that he was arrested unlawfully.

Husaain said the company had decided to sue the State Bank of India and that they should take full responsibility.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police arrested the head of the group with some documents.

‘’But the court released him and he immediately left the country,’’ Shiyam said. ‘’We have another person held in detention, and we are looking for other three suspects including the person we arrested before.’’

Shiyam said yesterday an Interpol red notice was issued and that police were trying to locate the individuals through Interpol system.

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High Court invalidates Criminal Court verdict against police officer

The High Court has invalidated the Criminal Court’s ruling on a Police Drug Enforcement Department (DED) Officer.

The officer was accused of asking an inmate to find him two girls between the ages of 16 to 25 to have sex with him three nights from 8:00pm to 1:00am, and that in exchange the inmate was to be freed and the case dropped.

The High Court identified the inmate as Mabaah Waheed of Maafannu Jaina and the police officer as Police Constable Ahmed Ismail.

The Criminal Court had ruled that according to Mabaah’s statements, documents presented to the court and text messages sent to Mabah’s mobile phone warranted enough evidence to suggest claims made by Mabah against Ismail were true.

The High Court however noted that Mabaah was arrested by the police on a drug related matter in a case Ismail investigated, raising the possibility that Mabaah might have a grudge against Ismail and so his statements would be weak.

The High Court said in the ruling that Ismail had argued that evidences and statements given by Mabaah should be invalid because Mabaah was inclined to give false statements as Ismail had not commuted the investigation.

The texts allegedly sent to Mabaah by Ismail requesting for the girls were not tested by any digital analysis system, the High Court said, adding that there was not enough evidence to suggest the texts were really sent by Ismail.

The Court also said that there was no evidence other than the words of Mabaah that the documents, written in English, were given to him by Ismail asking for the two girls.

Delivering the verdict, the High Court said it was hard to believe that a person would give a document making such a request, and that the only evidence that the Prosecutor General has presented to the court was the document  and the text messages on the mobile phone, not enough to prove that the officer was guilty.

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Civil Court orders JSC to halt misconduct case against Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed

The Civil Court yesterday ordered Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to take no action against Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, until the court reached a verdict in the case filed against him.

Abdulla Mohamed filed the suit against the JSC after it complete a report into misconduct allegations against the cheif judge. According to the report, which the JSC has not yet publicly released, Abdulla Mohamed violated the Judge’s Code of Conduct by making a politically biased statement in an interview he gave to private broadcaster DhiTV.

Following the JSC’s decision to take action against Abdulla Mohamed, he filed a case against the JSC in the Civil Court requesting that it invalidate JSC’s report, claiming that DhiTV took his statement out of context.

In the Civil Court’s order, Judge Maryam Nihayath said that if the JSC took any further action against Abdulla Mohamed while the case was in court, it might disrupt the case and Abdulla Mohamed would suffer irreparable damages.

Last week the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) completed its investigation into the alleged misconduct of Abdulla Mohamed.

The case against  was presented to the JSC in January 2010 by former President’s member of the JSC, Aishath Velezinee.

According to local media, during the first hearing of the suit filed by Abdulla was conducted yesterday Abdulla Mohamed’s lawyer MP Ibrahim Riza claimed that DhiTV editor Midhath Adam and journalist Hidhayathulla’s statement had been taken by the JSC as testimonials to prove Abdulla’s misconduct.

Riza claimed that both Midhath and Hidhayathullah had since told JSC that broadcasted Abdulla’s statement out of context.

He said that at the time the alleged incident occurred the Judges Act was not passed, and thus the JSC could not take any action against Abdulla Mohamed.

In 2005, then Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed forwarded to the President’s Office concerns about the conduct of Abdulla Mohamed after he requested that an underage victim of sexual abuse reenact her abuse for the court.

In 2009 following the election of the current government, those documents were sent to the JSC.

Velezinee told Minivan News last week that this was the first time the JSC had ever completed an investigation into a judge’s misconduct.

“There are many allegations against Abdulla Mohamed, but one is enough,” she said.

“If the JSC decides, all investigation reports, documents and oral statements will be submitted to parliament, which can then decide to remove him with a simple two-thirds majority.”

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Salaf asks PIC to take action against police for protecting ‘idols’

Religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf has sent a letter to the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) demanding it investigate and take action against police for protecting the ‘idolatrous’ SAARC monuments in Addu.

In its letter, Jamiyyathul Salaf noted that Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari had declared that the SAARC monuments kept in Addu were un-Islamic and unconstitutional.

Salaf said that after the Islamic Minister publicly revealed his stand on the issue, police had worked to protect the monuments and said that it showed that police “have no respect for the laws.”

Salaf claimed that some police officers had refused to go out and protect the monuments, and that those police officers were threatened and forced to protect the monuments.

In the letter Salaf also said that the police were aware that the idolatrous monuments were banned in the Maldives by more than one article of the law.

A police spokesperson today told Minivan News that police were not protecting any “idols” but was active in some parts of Addu to control possible unrest.

‘’Those were properties of other nations and police are legally obliged to protect people’s property,’’ he said.

When the SAARC Summit was held in Addu, each member state left a symbol of their nation in Addu City. Some of the monuments were determined by religious groups and the Islamic Minister as un-Islamic.

The monument from Pakistan representing the Indus Valley Civilization and Sri Lankan monument representing its nation’s lion were attacked. Some parts of the Pakistan monument were stolen and later replaced.

Opposition Adhaalath Party and Progressive Party of the Maldives [PPM] heavily criticized the government for keeping the monuments in Addu and claimed that the monuments cannot be kept in the Maldives according to the laws.

PPM Council members recently reported the Maldives Customs Department to police for allowing the monuments to be imported to the country.

The Islamic Minister recently asked the President’s Office and other institutions to remove the monuments.

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