Category: Crime

Convicted drug kingpin Shafa caught in Colombo

Convicted drug kingpin Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak has been caught in Sri Lanka’s capital city Colombo in a joint operation by the Maldivian and Sri Lankan security services.

Shafaz, commonly known as Shafa, was temporarily released in February for three months to seek medical treatment said to be unavailable in the Maldives.

However, he failed to return during the allocated time period and did not ask for an extension.

“He will be brought back to the Maldives on the next flight. His failure to return in the designated time period is an offense,” Home Ministry’s media coordinator Thazmeel Abdul Samad told Minivan News.

The Criminal Court in November 2013 sentenced the 30-year-old to 18 years in prison and levied a fine of MVR75,000 (US$4,860) for drug trafficking.

Shafaz’s temporary release has garnered controversy, with news agency Haveeru claiming the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) violated procedures in authorising his release.

The newspaper said it has documents suggesting widespread corruption and negligence by the medical board at the MCS and doctors at state owned Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Shafaz’s release.

Regulations require inmates to obtain signatures from two specialists to leave the country for medical treatment abroad, but only one doctor had signed the forms, Haveeru said.

The other individual who signed the document was not a doctor, but a prosthetist and orthotist – an individual who provides care for people requiring artificial limbs.

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) issued a warrant in April prohibiting the doctor from leaving the country. Haveeru has identified the doctor to be Indian national Dr Ganga Raju.

Although doctors at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) are required to hold discussions on cases where inmates need to seek medical care abroad, no such discussions took place, the newspaper alleged.

Further, although the MCS medical board noted the lack of two doctors’ signatures on the form, the board still authorised the release.

Moreover, the documents presented to the board did not contain details of why Shafaz required “urgent” medical care abroad for pain in his neck, and did not say that treatment was unavailable in the Maldives, the newspaper added.

Only two of the four members on the board authorised the release. They were representatives of the Maldives Police Services Dr Mohamed Fazneen and the Home Ministry’s Ishaq Mohamed. IGMH’s Dr Moosa Murad and MCS’ Deputy Commissioner of Prisons Hassan Zilal were on leave at the time.

Dr Mohamed Fazneen resigned from the board in mid March.

Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim has previously told Minivan News all due procedures were followed in the case.

When inmates are released for medical treatment abroad they are not accompanied by MCS employees and are not subject to any restrictions, the MCS has said.

“A medical officer does not have to accompany the inmate. He was allowed to leave under an agreement with his family. Family members will be held accountable for his actions, including failure to return,” Azim told Minivan News at the time.

Shortly after his departure to Sri Lanka, local media revealed that Shafaz had appealed his sentence at the High Court.

Shafaz was arrested on June 24, 2011, with 896 grams of heroin from a rented apartment in a building owned by ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem.

Former head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told the press at the time that police had raided Henveiru Fashan based on intelligence information gathered in the two-year long ‘Operation Challenge’.

Jinah labeled Shafaz a high-profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

He claimed that the network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

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MP Nihan slams police over dismantling of youth huts on Villimalé

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP for Villimalé Ahmed Nihan has criticised the Maldives Police Services decision to dismantle huts built by young people on public land.

Speaking to Minivan News, Nihan said Villimalé’s youth population had used the huts as social spaces for over 20 years. Destroying the huts – which the youth call home – without showing them alternatives will only cause more social problems, claimed the MP.

The police dismantled the structures on the suburban island on May 18, claiming the huts were built illegally and encouraged gang activity though no unlawful substance or tools were discovered during the operation.

Nihan’s criticism of adequate youth facilities has been echoed by the Maldivian Democratic Party.

“Young people often do not have space in their houses to bring friends over as their houses are congested, that’s why they use these huts to meet up with their friends,’’ said Nihan.

“They believe that the places belong to them and gives the place some identity.’’

Encroaching on public land is an offense, acknowledged the MP, although he took issue with the police’s approach to dismantling huts.

“My concern is that the police did not discuss the issue with any of the youth before destroying the huts and have not even tried to advise them or try to make them understand that what they were doing was wrong and illegal,’’ he said.

“Destroying the huts is not the solution – there are many other things that have to be sorted out if the government wants the youth to be more productive and to stop them from getting involved in illegal activities.’’

For one thing, a youth center with modern facilities was needed to stop young people from encroaching on public space or engaging in illegal activities, he said.

“The youth center here is not functional at all because the staff handling the youth centre are not permanent, and does not have much interest in  his work. The centre is not opened regularly and there is no space for modern sports or entertainment.”

“I have MVR181,000 (US$11,715) worth of music instruments with me but I don’t have a place where the youth can access them. I don’t want to bring them into the PPM office here because not all the youth are PPM supporters – they will shout ‘Golhaabo’ [an offensive term used to refer to Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom] and run away,’’ he said.

Nihan also said that he had tried to take up this issue with Youth Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal but that the minister was too busy building stadiums for the ongoing Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge cup.

He called on the government to provide more job opportunities for the youth and to direct them to useful work.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Youth Wing Leader Mohamed Azmeel has also condemned the police’s actions saying: “I don’t think it is always drug dealers and gang members that hangs out in these spots. Besides, there are no other places to hangout.”

He noted that the new government had banned opening shops after 11pm to decrease crimes but that the crime rate has not dropped.

“We noticed that when police dismantled the huts, they targeted mostly places where MDP supporters hangout,” he said.

Youths construct structures on public spaces because there was no job opportunities for them and they have nothing to do, he added.

‘’If they don’t have anything to do they will gather to places like that to hangout,’’ he said. “The government pledged that 94,000 job opportunities will be created but they have not started implementing it,’’ he said.

While police claim the operation was carried out “after discussion with the city council”, Malé City Council – under whose jurisdiction the land currently is – has denied authorising the move, or being officially informed of it.

Despite recent assurances that the government’s youth policy was addressing the concerns of young people, youth leaders from all sides of the political divide have suggested a lack of youth participation in the administration’s planning.

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High Court upholds jail sentence of man found guilty of forcing women into prostitution

The High Court has upheld a four-year jail sentence passed by the Criminal Court against a Maldivian man found guilty of forcing three Thai women into prostitution.

In August last year, Abdul Latheef Ali, 64, of Henveiru Philadelphi, was found guilty of running a brothel in the capital Malé and of forcing three female expatriates into prostitution after bringing them to the Maldives ostensibly to work as massage therapists.

Police raided the Sondobon Beauty Care Salon in Latheef’s residence and discovered a naked Maldivian man with a topless Thai woman.

Police found that Latheef had brought the three Thai women through the sponsorship of a company called Asparagus Private Limited, which was also owned by him.

The three women – aged 21, 24, and 36 – testified at the Criminal Court trial that they were hired as massage therapists but were told by Latheef upon arrival in the Maldives that their job description included providing sexual services to customers.

The women told the court that Latheef threatened to fire them and send back to Thailand if they refused to comply.

According to the women’s testimony, customers paid at the reception counter, which was handled by Latheef and a Bangladeshi man, and also paid the women when they were alone.

The women said they were required to give a certain amount of cash to Latheef every day, after which he paid them US$300 (MVR 4,600) a month.

The police officers involved in the raid also testified against Latheef and corroborated the testimony of the three women.

The police officers said Latheef was at the counter when they raided the salon and that he was watching footage from CCTV cameras set up outside, which showed the stairway leading to the salon.

The officers said they found a large stash of condoms, cash, and birth control pills when they searched the premises and noted the absence of cosmetic or beauty care items.

The three-judge High Court panel presiding over Latheef’s appeal ruled (Dhivehi) unanimously yesterday that there were no grounds to overturn the Criminal Court verdict as the evidence presented at the trial was sufficient to establish guilt.

The Maldives ratified its first Anti-Trafficking Act in December 2013, although local NGO Transparency Maldives noted that implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of laws and regulations are still crucial to prevent human trafficking.

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Three minors charged in gang murder

Three minors have been charged over the death of 21-year-old Hussein Waheed, who died from stab injuries to his chest on December 24, 2013.

A 16-year-old is also being charged with murder, while a second 16-year-old is being charged as an accomplice to murder. A 14-year-old is also being charged with attacking another individual at the scene.

Although the Juvenile Court reduces sentences for juvenile offenders, judges have no opportunity to offer leniency in murder-related offenses, a juvenile court spokesperson told Minivan News.

New death penalty regulations publicised in March allow children as young as seven to be executed for murder. The regulations came partly in response to a spate of gang-related killings in the capital in recent years.

Home Minister Umar Naseer said the regulations were a first step to “keeping peace and creating a safe environment for our citizens.”

According to the police, Waheed was murdered in a dispute over drugs between rival gangs in Malé. He was attacked at 10:30pm on December 24, and died shortly afterwards at 11:10pm at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

Malé’s prominent gang culture has been well documented in recent years as using young people to carry out illegal acts, with persistent suggestions that the groups are linked with powerful business and political factions.

The 16-year-old murder suspect is accused of stabbing Waheed in the chest with a six inch blade, while the second 16-year-old is accused of helping the suspect flee the scene.

The 14-year-old is being charged with attempting to attack another person at the scene with a 7-inch blade.

All three are currently under police custody.

The police also arrested two additional men over the murder and have previously noted that all four individuals initially arrested in this case – except the 14-year-old – have criminal records.

The murder suspect had previously been sentenced for three counts of theft but was released on completing a rehabilitation program by the Juvenile Court.

Hearings are scheduled for May 27 and June 3.

The victim Waheed also has a criminal record, being taken into police custody in April 2011 as part of a special operation to reduce crime in the capital, in connection to a stockpile of weapons and drugs found in a Malé house.

On December 29, Naseer said the police had prevented a second revenge attack for Waheed’s murder in late December.

In May 2013, Amnesty International issued a statement condemning the sentencing of two 18-year-olds to death for a murder committed while they were minors.

The Juvenile Court issued the death sentence to two 18 year-olds found guilty of the February 18, 2012 murder of Abdul Muheeth. Muheeth was stabbed at 1:45am near the Finance Ministry building in the capital Malé and later died during treatment.

“The Maldives is entering new and dangerous territory – imposing death sentences for crimes allegedly committed by children is alarming,” said Polly Truscott, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia-Pacific Director.

“The Maldives authorities are flouting international law – anyone convicted of a crime committed when they were under 18 is exempt from the death penalty,” she said.

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HRCM urges state to refrain from prosecuting children coerced into crime

With additional reporting by Daniel Bosley

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has noted the increase of child participation in serious crimes, stating that children coerced or forced into committing such crimes should not be prosecuted.

“It has come to our notice that children are taking part in serious crimes of late. As children are persons who are sometimes unable to reflect on their situations and judge wrong from right, the number of children who realise they are committing a crime will be few,” the commission said.

The HRCM described it as “unacceptable that some adults are coercing children to commit crimes so that they can remain safely in the background and free of legal repercussions while it is the children who are prosecuted for these crimes.”

“Crimes involving children must be fairly investigated, and those who coerce the children to commit those crimes must be duly prosecuted and brought to justice,” the statement continued.

The participation of young people in Malé’s prominent gang culture has been well documented, as have the links between organised crime and powerful local politicians and businessmen.

Police Commissioner Hussain Waheed also noted the increase in child offenders, stating that theft, assault, drug abuse, and mugging were the most common crimes into which children are coerced.

Waheed spoke of the importance of organising a national level movement to bring an end to children being forced to participate in criminal activity.

The HRCM called upon parents to be mindful and for the relevant state authorities to raise the rights of the child as their highest priority.

The commission’s statement – released on the occasion of Children’s Day – followed the government’s introduction of regulation enabling the reintroduction of the death penalty last month, which allows for the sentencing of juvenile offenders once they turn 18.

Urging repeal of the new regulations, the spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, has said that such “deeply regrettable” practices contravened international law.

“We urge the Government to retain its moratorium on the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, particularly in cases that involve juvenile offenders and to work towards abolishing the practice altogether,” said Shamdasani.

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Ayyube murder suspect denies charges

Fauzan Mohamed, a suspect arrested in connection to the murder of 76 year-old Ali Hassan ‘Ayyube’ has denied the charges levied against him in the Criminal Court and has said he did not want the state to appoint him a lawyer.

According to online newspaper ‘Haveeru’, a hearing in to the case was yesterday held at the Criminal Court where the Judge repeatedly asked Fauzan if he wanted the state to appoint him a lawyer. But, he replied that he will continue the trial without a lawyer and said he will not need a lawyer at any point of the trial.

During yesterday’s hearing, the state presented four witnesses, a DNA report, Ayyube’s death certificate and a crime scene report.

Fauzan also presented two witnesses for his defense but he did not have the full name and permanent address of the two witnesses. The judge asked him to provide a written document including the full names and the permanent address of the witnesses.

Ayyube’s body was discovered with multiple stab wounds in an abandoned house on Kudahuvadhoo on January 8, 2013. Police arrested six individuals in connection to the case.

The victim had previously been accused of using sorcery on Fauzan’s 37 year-old mother. She was reported missing at 2:00am on December 4, 2011 and her body was found floating in Kudahuvadhoo lagoon later that morning.

Island Council President of Kudahuvadhoo Ibrahim Fikry at the time told Minivan News that the islanders were all frightened after Ayyube’s death.

“After the death of the woman the islanders were scared, and then this incident occurred and now the islanders are worse,” he said adding that no one walked the streets after the sun went down.

“The injuries sustained were horrific,” Fikry told Minivan News at the time. He said that the victim’s forehead was slashed and that his neck was slit. “There were deep stab wounds to the chest and back, revealing the bones. The intestines were visible from a slash to the stomach,” he recalled.

In March, 2013, two minors charged with Ayyube’s murder pleaded guilty to aiding the murder in court. The two minors were charged with spying on Ayyube before the murder, and assisting the assailants to hide the weapons they used to murder him.

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

He told the court that he believed Fauzan murdered Ayyube because he was rumored to have killed Fauzan’s mother.

If found guilty, Fauzan will be sentenced to death. The death penalty will be implemented if the Supreme Court upholds the sentence and if all of Ayyube’s heirs desire the death sentence.

Before the trial ends, the court will take statements from all heirs of the victim to determine if they had any objection to passing death sentence on Fauzan.

On April 27, 2014, Home Minister Umar Naseer has said that death penalty will be implemented in the Maldives from that day onwards with the publication of procedural regulations concerning death penalty and its implementation in the government gazette.

Maldives has been maintaining an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty since 1953. After 1953, the heads of state have always commuted death sentences to life imprisonment through powers vested in him in the Clemency Act.

The last person to be judicially executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, who was executed by firing squad in 1953 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.

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Maldives a target of regional terrorists, says Sri Lanka analyst

A Sri Lankan national arrested in Chennai on April 29 on terrorism charges was also targeting locations in the Maldives, terrorism expert Dr Rohan Gunaratna has told the New Indian Express (NIE).

The Tamil Nadu Police arrested Zakir Hussein, 37 years, in Chennai on suspicion of acting as an operative for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and planning attacks on diplomatic missions including the US consulate in Chennai. The police are now investigating if Hussein was involved in bomb blasts at the Chennai Central Railway Station on May 2. The twin blasts killed one woman and injured 14 people.

Gunaratna, who heads the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said Zakir Hussein was planning to launch attacks on locations in the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.

Further, terror cells similar to Hussein’s are active in all three countries and pose a “severe threat” to the South Asia region, Rohan said. He declined to reveal further details, but told the NIE terror groups in the region are harder to track now as they are “becoming autonomous and developing a life of their own.”

According to NIE, Gunaratna predicts terrorists and extremists organisations will expand rapidly and become more active across South Asia due to the reduced US military presence in Afghanistan.

“It is, therefore, of critical importance for India, Lanka, and the Maldives to have a joint approach towards terrorism,” Gunaratna was quoted as saying. Considering the connections, Hussain’s arrest is “very significant” for the region, he added.

Home-made weapons

Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office has confirmed receiving a case involving a Maldivian man who produced home-made weapons.

According to Haveeru, the weapons were discovered in a police raid in September 2013 in connection to reports of a person preparing to join the Syrian civil war.

Hand guns, sniper rifles and mines were discovered during the raid, but the man accused of producing these weapons has no connections to religious extremists, Haveeru said. The PG  office declined to comment on the matter.

Social media groups have cropped up to recruit Maldivians for the civil war in Syria, while pamphlets against Alawites and Shiah Muslims have been found at local mosques. Local NGOs  led a humanitarian fund-raising campaign dubbed ‘Help Syria Through Winter’ in January and raised US$39,294 in three weeks.

Links to global terrorism

In 2007, Maldives witnessed its first terror attack when a home-made IED was detonated remotely at the Sultan Park, a popular tourist attraction in Malé. Twelve tourists were injured in the attack.

Prior to the attack, the Indian State police in 2005 arrested a Maldivian named Ibrahim Asif who tried to procure arms from Kerala to use it in the Maldives. He was suspected to be member of a UK-based Islamist group with a “dormant unit” in the Maldives.

In May 2009, Ali Jaleel, who is suspected of links with Sultan Park attack suspects, died in a suicide attack at the ISI headquarters in Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistani government suspect the Taliban to be behind the attack which left 30 people dead and 300 injured. It was later revealed that Jaleel also had connections with the Al Qaida.

Just a month before Jaleel’s attack, nine Maldivians were arrested by Pakistani security forces in the Wazaristan region for suspected involvement with militants. One of the nine was a suspect in the Sultan Park case. All nine of them were later repatriated and released by the Maldivian government.

The same year, former President Mohamed Nasheed told the CNN IBN in an interview that local religious extremists were being recruited by foreign groups particularly in Pakistan, where Ali Jaleel was also recruited.

Nasheed’s VP Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan also expressed similar concerns, but on assuming power in February 2012, Waheed’s administration denied existence of religious extremism in the country.

In late 2010, a leaked diplomatic cable revealed US diplomats were concerned of activities of “al-Qaida associates” in the Maldives in 2008 and alleged that Maldivians participate in online recruitment forums to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US State Department’s 2013 “Country Report on Terrorism” stated that Maldivian authorities believed that funds are being raised locally to support terrorism abroad.

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Police officer caught smuggling drugs into Male’ custodial jail

A police officer has been arrested on Wednesday night while attempting to smuggle drugs into Malé custodial detention center.

Police have confirmed that the officer has been taken into custody, but declined to reveal further details.

According to newspaper Haveeru, the suspect in custody is a police lance corporal and he was arrested from the detention center with drugs in his possession.

In March, a police officer was arrested in connection to the largest drug haul from a police operation in the country’s history.

The police seized 24 kg of heroin with a street value of MVR36 million (US$2.2 million) and arrested four Maldivians, three Bangladeshis and 11 Pakistanis.

The heroin had been offloaded on to a local dhoni from an Iranian vessel “Hormooz” off the coast of Alif Alif Mathiveri Island and were seized on a dinghy in the Hulhumalé harbor.

The government has previously alleged security officials at prisons and remand centers are responsible for smuggling drugs to inmates.

In January, police seized mobile phones and drugs from the main prison in Maafushi island while a 20-year-old and a minor were arrested in February for attempting to smuggle drugs into the jail.

Home Minister Umar Naseer has said his main focus during his five-year term will be “the fight against drugs.” He pledged to seal all ports through which drugs enter the country and apprehend all major wholesale drug dealers.

However, the rate of drugs confiscation at ports have been very low. In 2013, the Maldives Customs Service only seized 6.98 kg of heroin and 10.73 kg of hashish oil, and 4.12 kg of heroin along and 8.39 kg of hashish oil in 2012.

Meanwhile, the police dealt with 38 cases of buying and selling of drugs and 130 cases of trafficking drugs, 2,139 drug use cases and 833 possession cases in 2013.

There are 7,496 drug users aged between 15 and 64 years in the Maldives, the Natioal Drug Use Survey of 2011 – 2012 has found. Over 70 percent of the users are under 24 years of age.

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Transparency Maldives highlights plight of migrant workers on May Day

Advocacy NGO Transparency Maldives (TM) has assisted 560 migrant workers with cases of non-payment of wages, poor working and housing conditions, withholding of identification documents and forced labor.

“People need to be more outraged. Migrant workers are not of our nationality, but they are human beings. Maldivians need to consider their plight, especially on May Day,” TM’s Advocacy and Communications Manager Aiman Rasheed told Minivan News.

The NGO estimates there are an estimated 200,000 migrant workers in the country – a figure that amounts to two thirds of the Maldives population.

“But migrant workers have few rights and do not have access to justice. They often face threats or violence even for speaking out about injustices,” Aiman said.

“The 560 cases we were able to assist are really the tip of the ice-berg. We need to do more. Civil society needs to do more, the government needs to do more,” he added.

In 2013, the U.S. State Department ranked Maldives on tier two of its watch list for human trafficking for the fourth consecutive year. Countries are ranked on tier two if the absolute numbers of trafficking victims are increasing and if their governments fail to take substantive measures to address the problem.

A downgrade to tier three could leave the country open to non- humanitarian and non trade international sanctions.

The State Department noted fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of identity and travel documents, withholding or non-payment of wages or debt bondages as some of the forced labor situations faced by migrant workers in the Maldives.

A government report in 2011 revealed human trafficking to be the Maldives’ second most lucrative industry after tourism – worth an estimated US$ 123 million a year

The Maldives ratified an Anti-Trafficking Act in December 2013, but TM noted implementation, monitoring and enforcement of laws and regulations are crucial to prevent human trafficking.

In addition to the Anti- Trafficking Act, the Maldives has two regulations on migrant workers – the Regulations on Expatriates Working in the Maldives and the Regulation on Bringing Expatriates for the Purpose of Employment.

“Human trafficking often happens due to systematic governance failures, often caused by corruption. Corruption and human trafficking need to be addressed as a matter or urgency to prevent abuses,” Aiman said.

The NGO has called on migrant workers to call its toll free number (800) 300 3567 or visit its free legal advice center between 9 am and 5 pm on working days. The center is located on the 7th floor of MF Building on Chaandhanee Magu in Malé.

TM has helped a group of Indian workers obtain eight months’ worth of unpaid wages and assisted a Bangladeshi group restore electricity in their living quarters.

Employers had cut off electricity when the group asked for the Labor Relations Authority’s assistance in obtaining six months’ wages. The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) is now monitoring the case.

In January, the Maldives Police Services made its first arrest on charges of human trafficking. A 48 year old Maldivian and six expatriates were arrested from Baa Atoll Goidhoo island.

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