Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Inviligilator assisted students with Cambridge Maths Exam answer, alleges Police

The head of the police’s Property Crime Unit, Chief Inspector Mohamed Jamsheed, has claimed that an investigation into the conduct of a Cambridge Mathematics examination taken last year at a Shaviyani Atoll school concluded that an invigilator had assisted students with their papers.

The examination process at Milandhoo school was subjected to a police investigation after the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) awarding body annulled the grades of mathematics students in the island.

”Most of the students have confessed that they copied with the help of this invigilator, who told them the answer for the last question in the paper,” said Jamsheed.

The answer given to the question by all students in the Milandhoo School Hall was consistent but wrong, which made the  CIE markers raise concern.

One person from the island whose name cannot be yet disclosed was arrested and is still in pre-trial detention, said Jamsheed adding that some of the students in the island had denied the allegations of copying.

Three exam monitors at Milandhoo School were suspended after the issue was handed over to police.

A student who sat for the examinations told local newspaper Haveeru that the students “were tricked as someone changed the contents of the papers [after completion].”

Milandhoo school was ranked second in the Maldives last year in terms of the strength of its O’Level exam results.

Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer said earlier this week that the affected students were expected to be able to resit “the next available exam”.  “I don’t think there are any restrictions,” he said.

Nazeer added that the Education Ministry had pledged to investigate the matter “as thoroughly as possible”, and take action if malpractice was identified.

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MP Muthalib reissues death sentence amendment to parliament

Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Ibrahim Muthalib has resubmitted an amendment to the Clemency Act that if passed would require any death sentence then upheld by the Supreme Court to be carried out.

Muthalib is the second MP to table a motion to change the Clemency Act after the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) Ahmed Rasheed last month forwarded similar amendments.  Rasheed later withdrew these amendments from parliament though over concerns about the need for new regulations like the Penal Code to be passed.

Currently, death penalties imposed within the Maldives are able to be reduced to a 25 years prison sentence by the president under the Clemency Act. In November 2010, the Criminal Court of the Maldives issued a death sentence to a person found guilty of murder. However the last person to actually be judicially executed was Hakim Didi in 1953, who was executed by firing squad after being found guilty of consipiracy to murder using black magic.

MP Muthalib told Minivan News that the purpose of the latest amendment was to uphold Islamic Shariah in the Maldives.

”[The amendment aims] to avoid human beings from changing the verdict determined by Islamic Shariah,” said Muthalib. ”Its the same bill as presented last time.”

If the amendment gets passed, the president would not then have the authority to grant clemency on persons found guilty of murder, according to the parliamentarian.

The amended bill has been introduced in the parliament and now awaits a preliminary debate by members.

Early last month, MDP MP Ahmed Rasheed presented an amendment to the Clemency Act during a parliamentary session that required the death penalty to be administered without fail in cases where the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.

According to MP Rasheed’s proposed amendment, if the Supreme Court upholds a death penalty ruled by any court in the land,  a sentence of execution will be required to be conducted.

The MP said he felt he had to present the amendment because of the increase in assaults and murder cases, which had “forced the living to live amid fear and threats.

In 2010, Rasheed said that 423 cases of assault were sent to Prosecutor General, with 454 cases in 2009 and 104 reported during 2008.

After the preliminary debate was concluded and he was given the opportunity to say the last word on the amendment, Rasheed withdrew the changes he had originally submitted to parliament.

The MDP MP said he withdrew the amendment because other necessary bills related to gang violence such as the Penal Code and Criminal Justice Procedure Bill had yet to be passed.

According to Rasheed, after these bills were passed, he will then re-submit the amendment.

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Criminal Court imprisons murdered child’s mother for six months over negligence

A woman arrested in connection with the alleged sexual abuse and murder of her eight-month old child has been sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Criminal Court after being found guilty of  negligence.

The woman, who was identified as Noorzaadha Ali, of Addu Atoll Hithadhoo, was not herself charged with murdering or sexually abusing the child, although the court ruled that she was in violation of elements of the Penal Code.

According to local media, the presiding judge said that the suspect had not vaccinated the baby or taken proper care to clean the child and failed to explain internal and external injuries to the victim.

On the basis of these findings, the judge declared that Nooruzaadha had neglected her duties as a mother.

Her boyfriend, Mohamed Waheed, stands accused of murdering the child, though the outcome of that trial has not yet been concluded.

The eight-month-old baby boy died in the intensive care unit of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) back in June 2009.

Three suspects were arrested in connection with allegations that he had been physically and sexuallly abused.  These suspects included the victim’s mother, Nooruzaadha, 28[then], from Addu atoll Hithadhoo, her boyfriend Mohamed Waheed, 46[then], from Male’, and a third man whose identity has not yet been revealed.

Addressing media at the time, Inspector Hamdhoon Rasheed, head of the police investigation unit, said initial test results revealed the baby had extensive injuries, as well as showing signs of having been sexually abused.

Rasheed said that the boy had suffered head and neck injuries, and was covered in scratches. The hospital reported the case to police after Waheed took the baby in for medical care.

Nooruzaadha had a long history of criminal activity, according to both police and the prosecutor general’s office.

She was arrested twice in 2002, once for sexual misconduct and the second time for prostitution, said Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem.

She was sentenced to eight months house arrest for the first offence, which she breached, and six months imprisonment for the second.

The same year, she was put under house arrest for disobedience of order, which she violated and was fined Rf150 (US$12). In 2006, she was arrested on the same charge and was ordered to spend two months in jail.

In 2004, Nooruzaadha was handed a six-year sentence for possession of drugs and in 2005 and 2007, she was given two 12-year sentences on each occasion for drug possession.

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Proposal to lower legal age of juveniles to 16 may contradict UN convention, warns HRCM

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has met with opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf after he presented an amendment to the law on protection of the rights of children redefining all persons above the age of 16 to adults.

Currently the legal age of children is all persons above the age of 18.

”In yesterday’s meeting the commission discussed the challenges that we may face in protecting and upholding the rights of children,” the HRCM said in a statement. ”The commission highlighted the importance of providing many of the rights mentioned in the law on protection of the rights of children to all persons below the age of 18.”

HRCM also requested that all persons below the ago of 18 should have all the rights mentioned in the UNICEF’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Mahlouf presented an amendment to parliament to designate only persons under the age of 16 years as juveniles last week, lowering the age limit by two years.

”The purpose of changing the age is due to the significant increase in involvement of minors in crimes sinister in nature, and they cannot be sentenced to the full extent as they are considered minors,” said Mahlouf. ”Although they are considered as minors, they are sometimes very dangerous.”

Mahlouf said he has noted that children of the age 16-18 are more likely to be engaged in criminal activities because many finished their ordinary level education at the age of 16, and most of them did not prefer further studies which was leading them to the wrong path.

Speaking at a DRP rally Mahlouf said according to information he gathered to draft the bill, more than 600 young people have committed or have assisted committing assaults.

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MDP MPs refusing to accept committee allowance

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs are coming forward to declare they would not accept a Rf20,000 committee allowance on top of their salaries, if approved by parliament in the controversial MP Privileges Bill.

The MPs came forward in support of the party’s Chairperson MP Mariya Ahmed Didi, who yesterday withdrew her resolution to cut the allowance after the MDP Parliamentary Group voted in its favour.

“I was not at that meeting but I bowed to the party’s rules and took it out,” Mariya told Minivan News yesterday, adding that she had informed parliament that she did not wish to receive the allowance herself.

MDP’s internal branches were today criticising their parliamentary group following the decision.

Official website of MDP today carried a statement that MDP MPs Eva Abdulla, Hamid Abdul Gafoor, Ilyas Labeeb, Mohamed Gasam, Mohamed Nazim and Ibrahim Rasheed had also announced that they did not support the committee allowance and would not accept it.

Following Mariya’s withdrawal of the resolution opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf resubmitted it.

“I was the first one to raise it before Mariya, but the Speaker [DRP MP] Abdulla Shahid went with Mariya’s changes, perhaps because of the factional fight [the opposition] is having. When Mariya withdrew it I resubmitted it.” Mahlouf said yesterday.

Increasing MP salaries by Rf 20,000 would be a huge blow to parliament’s credibility, Mahlouf said, “as the public do not believe we are working to their expectations.” he said.

MDP MP Ahmed Easa also said he did not support the committee allowance, but he said the MPs who did support the committee allowance “have reasonable points.”

”It’s true what they say, MPs have so much to do with their salary each month. People can’t even imagine how many calls a MP receives each day asking for help,” Easa explained. ”Anyone in trouble from a area will run to their MP first, MPs have to lend money for people in need of medication, even for reasons such as people coming to get money to pay the school fees of their children.”

Easa also explained that most of the MPs were not from Male’, which forces them to live in rented apartments.

”As everyone knows, a standard apartment’s rent in Male’ will be Rf10000-20000 (US$750-US$1500), and what about all the phone calls that MPs have to make, that costs an additional Rf5000 (US$375) each month, and what about their family, wife and kids?” he asked, claiming that MPs “have to spend most of their salary on society.”

”As for me, there has never been a month that I have saved any amount of money in my bank account. I am ready to provide any document necessary to prove it,” he said.

However, Easa said due to the economic condition of the Maldives it was not wise to increase the salaries of MPs or any other institution of the government.

”The government’s recurrent expenditure may rise over 80 percent next year which means there will be only 20 percent of the budget to spend on development,” Easa said.

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Criminal Court extends detention of MP Adil to 15 days

The Criminal Court last night extended the detention of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Maradhoo Area Hassan Adhil to 15 days, following his arrest yesterday on charges of child molestation.

The Criminal Court asked police to hold Adhil in detention at a location determined by the Home Ministry, after a closed hearing to which journalists were denied access.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that Adhil’s detention was extended and that the MP was in police custody.

Yesterday morning an arrest warrant was issued by the Criminal Court for the arrest of the former opposition-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP, who jumped to the ruling MDP in September last year.

Following the signing, Adhil claimed he had switched parties “not by anyone, I took this step because of the pulse of the people.”

”I believe that the government is conducting many development projects at a high speed, and I signed with MDP for the development of my area at the request of [my constituents].”

Leader of the DQP Hassan Saeed declined to comment on Adhil’s decision at the time.

Report of the investigation of the MP appeared in newspaper Haveeru last month, which based the story on a source within the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM). However HCRM President Maryam Azra denied knowledge of the investigation and the story was removed from Haveeru’s website.

MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi told Minivan News yesterday that if Adhil was found guilty “then of course the party should [take action]. The party does not condone such acts. But we should only speculate after the court has come to a verdict.”

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Court warrant issued for arrest of MDP MP Adil on child molestation charges

The Criminal Court has today issued a court warrant for the arrest of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hassan Adil.

A police spokesperson confirmed that court warrant was issued and for charges of child molestation, but declined to provide further information.

When asked about Adil’s future in the party should he be found guilty, MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi told Minivan News that if Adil was found guilty “then of course the party should [take action]. The party does not condone such acts. But we should only speculate after the court has come to a verdict.”

She referred Minivan News to Parliamentary Group Leader ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, however his phone was switched off at time of press. MDP Parliamentary group’s former spokesperson MP Ahmed Shifaz said that he had heard about the incident but declined to comment on the matter.

Last month local newspaper Haveeru published an article reporting that police and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) were conducting a joint investigation regarding child molestation allegations against a MP, which was later removed from the newspaper’s website.

HRCM President Maryam Azra told Minivan News at the time that she did not know whether the commission was investigating the case.

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

Azra did not respond to Minivan News today at time of press.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan said he had no information on the issue.

Over the past year there has been an increase in reports of child abuse, including by high-profile individuals in the Maldives. Prominent Quran reciter Hussein Thaufeeq, who appears every day on TV and teaches Quran to children, was recently arrested on numerous child molestation charges.

Adil, a former member of the opposition-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), did not appear in parliament today.

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Four Maldivians questioned for allegedly committing bestiality with a goat

Police have questioned four men from the island of Makunudhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll following allegations the men had sex with a goat.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed police had questioned the men, but said no arrests had been made.

President of Makunudhoo Island Council Mohamed Rilwan said that all four of the men were aged between 19 and 21.

Two of the men were from Makunudhoo while the other two were originally from the neighboring island of Neykurendhu, he said.

‘’Lately the owner of the goat had been suspicious that something was wrong because he was finding things such as condoms on his farm where he keeps 50 goats,’’ said Rilwan.

‘’Early one morning when he went to the farm he saw two goats outside the fence and thought it was odd because there was no way a goat could have climbed over the fence.”

Rilwan said the owner then counted the goats and realised one goat was missing, and started searching for it.

‘’He found the goat near the beach, it was laid down on a cardboard paper. He observed that it could not walk properly and that its sexual organs were injured,’’ he said. ‘’He then reported the matter to the concerned authorities.’’

Rilwan said  more than five goats on the farm had been subjected to similar assaults.

‘’The owner has noted that he has frequently seen this group of four men near the farm. They have been selecting healthy muscular goats to do this,’’ he said.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the goat found on the beach had now died.

Haveeru also reported that the deceased animal was a billy-goat, however Rilwan told Minivan News that it was a nanny goat.

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Authorities investigate arrival of self-proclaimed ‘Messenger of Allah’

The arrival of a Canadian man in the Maldives claiming to be a messenger of Allah was “a false alarm”, said Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam.

”According to information we have received we have been unable to confirm that it is true,” Shiyam said.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said the President’s Office was also informed of the man’s arrival.

”The Islamic Ministry requested police investigate the matter,” he said earlier today.

Local media reported that Hussein Iqbal, a Pakistani national who lives in Canada and claims to be a messenger of God, arrived in the Maldives on the invitation of Maldivians who follow him. A group was reportedly scheduled to leave for Sri Lanka on a pilgrimage.

Ibrahim Fauzy, President of local religious NGO the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM), told Minivan News that there were “hundreds” of Maldivians who followed Iqbal.

”I met last night with some of his followers in Male’,” Fauzy told Minivan News. “I learned that his call first reached the Maldives seven years ago and since then people have been joining him.”

Fauzy said that he also understood that Iqbal preached against the Sunnah and Hadith and encouraged his followers to believe solely in the Quran.

”Their original call comes from a person called Khaleefa Rashad who dismissed the Hadith and Sunnah,” Fauzy said.

He said Iqbal and his followers used verse 30 and 31 of the Surah Mudhassir to support their argument and try to convince others they were right.

”They use a mathematical formula and subtract some numbers from 19, and claim that the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) was the last Prophet but not last messenger,” he said.

Verse 30 of the Surah Mudhassir reads ”over it are nineteen” and 31 reads ”And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers, in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith, and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, “What symbol doth Allah intend by this ?” Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.”

Fauzy said that those following Iqbal were only praying three times a day. He also said that one of Iqbal’s followers  had a divorce case pending in the Family Court, contesting that his wife was a disbeliever, “which raises many complicated legal issues.”

Khalifa Rashad was an Egyptian-born, US-educated biochemist who claimed that the Archangel Gabriel had “most assertively” told him that chapter 36, verse 3, of the Quran referred specifically to him. He was stabbed to death in 1990 at an Islamic school in Arizona and his body drenched in xylol, a flammable printing solvent.

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