Author: Minivan News

Fourth man sentenced to jail for stealing lotion bottles

The Criminal Court has sentenced a fourth man to a prison sentence for stealing a ‘Bettina Barty’ brand lotion bottles in 2012.

Ibrahim Ali of Noonu Atoll Velidhoo Goabilige was sentenced to two years and six months in jail due to his previous record of theft.

The court had previously sentenced three other men in separate cases for stealing lotion bottles.

On April 7, Hussein Fazeel of Pink Dream in Malé received a two and a half year term for stealing ten ‘Enchanteur’ brand lotion bottle and Mohamed Rasheed of Fuvahmulah Island was sentenced to one year for stealing a ‘Bettina Barty’ lotion bottle on April 28.

In February, Ali Rasheed of Haa Dhaal Hanimadhoo Island was sentenced to four and a half years for stealing three lotion bottles. Rasheed also had been convicted of theft four times previously.

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Reeko Moosa to stand for deputy speaker of the Majlis

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP elect ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik has announced he will contest for the position of parliamentary deputy speaker.

Members of the 18th People’s Majlis are to be sworn in tomorrow.

Moosa said he has held discussions with parties in the ruling coalition Jumhooree Party (JP) and the Progressive Party of the Maldives on the matter.

Meanwhile, MDP’s acting president Mohamed Nasheed has announced the MDP will back Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim for the position of Speaker.

The JP and PPM are at loggerheads over the speakership issue. The PPM has said the coalition will fall apart should Gasim decide to contest, though Gasim said he will not withdraw his name.

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South Asians for Human Rights criticises death penalty policy

The South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) group has added its voice to the international concern over the government’s moves to reintroduce the death penalty.

“SAHR is deeply concerned with the adoption of this new regulation and calls upon the Government of the Maldives to respect international human rights law and to retain the moratorium on the use of the death penalty, especially in cases that involve minors, and to abolish the practice altogether,” read the group’s statement.

Recalling reasons cited by the Home Minister Umar Naseer for the decision, SAHR said that it did not believe there could be any justification for the use of the death penalty, particularly against children.

According to the recently published regulations, implementation of death penalty can be delayed if the convict is underage till he or she is 18-years-old and if the convict is pregnant, until she gives birth and the child is two-years-old.

SAHR, which describes itself as a network of human rights defenders, was established in 2000 by civil society leaders from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

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Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed presides over second hearing in Shiyam trial

Chief Judge Abdula Mohamed has today presided over the hearing of Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) leader MP Ahmed ‘Sun’ Shiyam, after taking over the case last week.

Abdula Mohamed responded to the points taken by MP Shiyam’s attorneys, who said they had no witnesses that they would like to call after the prosecution had produced five witnesses, including the officer who detected the bottle and other customs officials, reported Haveeru.

Abdulla took over Shiyam’s alcohol-smuggling trial after the defendant had requested the change – suggesting that Judge Aziz’s “hand gestures and facial expressions” had indicated a personal grudge against him in the first hearing.

Shiyam was charged with smuggling and possession of alcohol in March 2012 after customs officers at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) discovered a bottle of alcohol in his luggage.

Prior to the recent change, the trial has experienced multiple delays, with today’s hearing only the second to be completed.

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Mariyam Shakeela appointed chairperson of WHO executive board

The Minister of Health and Gender Dr Mariyam Shakeela has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Executive Board of World Health Organisation (WHO).

This appointment took place at a meeting of the WHO Executive Board following the World Health Assembly in Geneva today (May 26), and will be the first time the Maldives has received this title, local media Sun Online reported.

The WHO Executive Board is composed of 34 persons who are technically qualified in the field of health, each designated by a member state who has been elected to serve by the World Health Assembly.

Member states are elected for three-year terms, and Maldives was elected in 2012.

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Humam appeals death sentence at High Court

Hussain Humam – found guilty for murdering parliament member Dr Afrasheem Ali – has appealed his death sentence at the High Court.

While local media has confirmed the appeal, it is still unclear if the the case was accepted by the High Court.

The Criminal Court sentenced Human to death on January 16, 2014 , having found him guilty for the crime of intentional murder, stating that it was proven beyond doubt that Humam assaulted Dr Afrasheem with a sharp object and intentionally killed him.

The appeal has come just before the 90 day appeal period for lower court rulings – excluding public holidays – was about to end.

Dr Afrasheem – then MP for Ungoofaaru Constituency and a moderate Islamic Scholar – was found brutally murdered at the his apartment building on the night of October 1, 2012.

Shortly after Human’s sentencing, Home Minister Umar Naseer announced plans to reintroduce the death sentence after an unofficial sixty year moratorium on the practice.

The regulation, published late last month, are set to apply retroactively to all pending death sentences.

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Facebook donations help 9 month-old baby get lifesaving surgery

A nine-month-old baby boy was able to have a life saving heart surgery after his family created a Facebook appeal for donations to fly him to India for treatment.

Akiyal’s father Farhan, an engineer from the Maldives, decided to make a Facebook page after the family was unable to able to get any funding in Maldives for the operation, reported the Deccan Chronicle.

After launching the Facebook campaign back in July 2013, and undergoing three open heart operations, Farhan has announced that Akiyal has now recovered and they will be returning to the Maldives in a few days.

Akiyal was born with a rare heart condition known as double outlet right ventricle (DORV), a condition in which the blood vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart, is located in the wrong place.

“It was a complex surgery in the sense that the child was born with one side of the heart not developed, undeveloped left pumping chamber and a large hole in the heart along with a blockage of the artery going to the lung. He required a complex repair job, which wasn’t being done in the Maldives,” says the child’s doctor, Adil Sadiq, Head Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Sakra World Hospital in Karnataka.

Farhan told the Deccan Chronicle, “It was not possible to get funds in the Maldives, so my family and I decided to go online and ask for help from the social media. We went ahead with creating a Facebook page for our son.”

“We promoted the page by paying five dollars, which implied that 20,000 Facebook users would see the page,” says Farhan.

“The money that we used to promote the page time and again was less than 100 dollars, but we were able to raise Rs 8 lakh over the course of the year,” adds Farhan.

According to the article, the Facebook page received donations from anonymous altruists in Sri Lanka, Belgium, Maldives and Bangalore.

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Criminal Court schedules, then cancels MP Jabir’s alcohol possession hearing

The Criminal Court has today scheduled and canceled MP Abdulla Jabir’s alcohol possession hearing.

Jabir, currently serving a one year sentence for a failure to provide urine to police for testing, was given permission by the court to leave the country for three months for medical treatment. He is currently in Malaysia and is due back on July 25.

A hearing in the case was scheduled and canceled previously on April 19, because he was receiving treatment at the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

CNM has reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs Umar Naseer has said Jabir will be brought to Maldives under police custody if he fails to return in the authorized time period.

Jabir was was arrested from a private picnic island Hondaidhoo in November 2012 on suspicion of alcohol and drug use.

He was acquitted of cannabis posession charges in February 2014.

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Orientation for new MPs session held today

An orientation session to familiarise the new intake of MPs set to be sworn in later this week was held at Traders hotel today.

Organised by the Majlis Secretariat and the UNDP, the event is to introduce newly elected MPs to the parliament’s work and procedures, reported Haveeru.

Only a third of those who won seats for the 18th Majlis are incumbents.

The Progressive Coalition – made up of the Progressive Party of Maldives, Jumhooree Party, and the Maldives Development Alliance – secured 53 out of 85 seats in the March 22 parliamentary polls.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won 26 seats while independent candidates won five seats and the religious conservative Adhaalath Party won one seat.

Three independent candidates along with MDP MP-elect for the Thimarafushi constituency, Mohamed Musthafa, have since signed for the PPM, bringing the ruling party’s numbers up to 37 and securing a two-thirds majority for the coalition.

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