Nine persons – six males and three females – have applied for the vacant post of Judge on the High Court bench.
The applicants are UNDP Resident Representative Aishath Rizna, Family Court Head Judge Hassan Saeed, Hulhumalé Court Marriage Registrar Hassan Ali, Criminal Court Judges Abdulla Didi, Muhuthaz Fahmy, and Civil Court Judges Aishath Sujoon, Mariyam Nihaayath, Hussain Mazeed, Abdulla Jameel Moosa.
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(1)Channel News Maldives (CNM) journalist Abdulla Haseen has denied charges raised against him of working with political figures to obstruct police duties.
At a hearing held at the Criminal Court today, Haseen is reported in local media as having said that he had attended political rallies only as a journalist with the intention of covering them for news pieces.
Haseen is accused of having removed police barricades and of speaking to police officers in obscene language along with Abdulla Idrees of Gulfaamuge in Laamu Maavah and former opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.
The next hearing of the case has been scheduled to be held on September 28.
(2)Dislikes(0)The Maldives Autism Association (MAA) has launched a special programme to train teachers of children with special needs, reports newspaper Haveeru.
MAA Managing Director Ifham Hussan told the local daily that 40 teachers are participating in the four-day course at the social centre. Training is being conducted by two experts from Malaysia and Singapore, she added.
“We are not going to be covering modules on autism only in this programme, we will try and cover all the areas relative to children with all kinds of disabilities. By the time the training draws to a close, the participants will know how to manage such children within classrooms,” she was quoted as saying.
The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives’ ‘National Inquiry on Access to Education for Children with Disabilities’ earlier this year documented systemic failings in the education system.
The autism association is a founding member of the recently established Child Advocacy Network of Disability Organisations (CAN DO), designed to protect and promote the rights and well-being of children with disabilities.
(1)Dislikes(0)Online Jihadist group Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) have claimed two more Maldivians have been killed in the Syrian civil war.
“Martyred brothers in the yesterdays operation include Abu Dujana Maldifi, Abu Ibrahim Maldifi and Abu Ukasha Indonesi,” read a post on the BASM facebook page today.
The latest reports follow similar stories in May when two Maldivians – who had taken the names of Abu Nuh and Abu Turab – were said to have been killed after travelling to Syria for jihad
While the group claims that Abu Dujana was the founder and editor of the BASM page, the group has not provided any information regarding his real identity, stating that this omission was at the request of his mother.
Local media has, however, identified Abu Dujana as Yameen Naeem of Georgia in the Maafannu ward of the capital Malé. It is reported that the man, in his early twenties, travelled to Syria after studying in Egypt.
BASM – which Minivan News has learned has members situated in both Syria and the Maldives – has previously claimed that its members arrive in Syria from numerous points of destinations, and that many were students.
The group has previously criticised incumbent President Abdulla Yameen, describing his presidential win as “a victory for Jahiliyya [ignorance] over Jahiliyya” and has condemned the Maldives National Defence Force as “fighters in the devil’s path”.
While other senior figures in the government refused to take a definitive stance on the issue of Jihad, Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed in July urged Maldivians to refrain from participating in foreign wars.
“Islamic jihad is that waged with sincerity, in the name of Allah, in defense of religion and nation, behind a designated Muslim leader, and against enemies of Islam and nation,” Shaheem said, adding that fighting between two Muslim groups cannot be described as jihad.
Shaheem said Maldivian militants who go abroad must not be punished, but be rehabilitated and informed of religious teachings.
Admitting to growing radicalisation in the Maldives, Shaheem said the media and scholars must help the government in its effort to educate the public.
Radicalisation begins with praying in separate communities, refusing to register marriages at court, and declaring other Muslims infidels, Shaheem said.
The rise of religious radicals within the Maldives has been noted by numerous group both locally and internationally.
While the Maldivian Democratic Party has recently accused security services of fostering radical elements – a claim rejected by authorities, the then acting prosecutor general Hussein Shameem called for the state to take the issue more seriously.
Last week Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon again spoke in support of moderate Islam, condemning the atrocities of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
The US State Department’s 2013 country report on terrorism noted that local laws “severely limit” the prosecution of cases associated with violent extremism. Then acting prosecutor general Hussein Shameem in March called for the state to take the issue more seriously.
The US expressed growing concern since 2010 “about the activities of a small number of local violent extremists involved with transnational terrorist groups”.
“There has been particular concern that young Maldivians, including those within the penal system, may be at risk of becoming radicalized and joining violent Islamist extremist groups. Links have been made between Maldivians and violent extremists throughout the world,” the report stated.
(2)Dislikes(1)Three men have been arrested in Fuvahmulah on suspicion of raping an 18-year-old woman, reports local media.
Police revealed that the three suspects – aged 21, 22 and 26 – were taken into custody on Monday (September 1) with arrest warrants issued after the rape was reported on Friday (August 29).
The incident occurred the night before and police are reportedly searching for two additional men suspected of involvement.
(1)Dislikes(0)An expatriate died Sunday night (August 31) in a collision of a dinghy and a speedboat in the lagoon of Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo.
Police said the accident at sea occurred around 7:10pm. The foreigner was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Thinadhoo regional hospital.
Police did not reveal the nationality of the deceased.
The dinghy collided with the speedboat while both vessels were entering the Thinadhoo harbour, police explained.
Three foreigners and one Maldivian were aboard the dinghy at the time. A second expatriate was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
(1)Dislikes(0)The Civil Court has ordered the Elections Commission (EC) to issue funds from the state budget to the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP).
In a verdict delivered on Sunday (August 31), the Civil Court ordered the EC to hand over funds owed to the party from 2011 to 2013.
Judge Mariyam Nihayath ruled that the EC did not have the legal authority to withhold the money by setting conditions or criteria that were not specified in laws or regulations.
The EC had said at the trial that the funds were not released to the IDP as it had failed to pay fines and was not active as a political party.
In July, the EC reinstated eight small parties – including the IDP – dissolved for not having a minimum of 3,000 registered members.
Following the controversial dismissal of former EC Chair Fuwad Thowfeek and Deputy Chair Ahmed Fayaz for contempt of court, the EC sought the Supreme Court’s advice concerning a ruling that abolished a requirement in the Political Parties Act for a minimum of 10,000 members.
The apex court advised the EC to reinstate the dissolved parties, which are entitled to financial assistance from the state from funds allocated in the annual budget.
(2)Dislikes(0)The Criminal Court on Sunday (August 31) sentenced a man to six months under house arrest for biting his wife’s hand.
According to local media, Ali Mohamed, from Maafanu Season, was found guilty of assaulting his wife in November 2012.
The court noted in its verdict that the accused had previously been sentenced for a similar offence.
(1)Dislikes(0)The High Court has ceased accepting appeals challenging procedural decisions made by lower courts following a circular issued by the Supreme Court on August 24.
The Supreme Court stated in the circular (Dhivehi) that the constitutional right to appeal verdicts or judgments delivered in civil or criminal cases did not extend to rulings on procedural points raised during trials.
The apex court stated that procedural rulings could only be contested by appealing the final judgement.
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