Category: Crime

High Court upholds lower court’s ruling to jail MP Jabir

The High Court has today ruled that the Criminal Court’s verdict to sentence Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdulla Jabir was lawful.

During today’s hearing, the court told Jabir that the it could not agree with claims that the Criminal Court had not given enough opportunity for Jabir to defend himself.

The court responded to Jabir’s allegations that among the three police officers summoned to the court as witnesses against Jabir, one officer had tortured the defendant. The court noted that Jabir was not able to clarify to the court who among the three had tortured him.

The High Court ruled that, though there may be one officer among the three that had tortured Jabir, the statements of the other two officers will still be valid, which was enough to rule that Jabir was guilty.

Additionally, the High Court responded to Jabir’s claims that the Criminal Court’s verdict did not have the signature of the presiding judge, noted that although the verdict did not have presiding judge’s signature, the case report did.

On February 20, 2014, the Criminal Court sentenced Jabir to one year after finding him guilty of refusing to provide his urine sample to the police to run a drug test, and sentenced him to twelve months under the Drug Act 17/2011 article 123(a)(b).

The Criminal Court ruling stated that on November 16, 2012, Jabir was arrested as a suspect in a drug related case and that police asked him to produce his urine sample to which he clearly refused according to the witnesses produced by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The verdict stated that, although Jabir had claimed that he was tortured by the witnesses produced by the state and that the police did not follow the correct procedure when asking for a urine sample, Jabir was not able to prove these accusations to the court.

Jabir was taken into police custody on November 16, 2012 along with senior MDP members while they were on Hondaidhoo Island, Haa Dhaalu Atoll – an uninhabited island owned by Jabir.

Police offices raided Hondaidhoo, where they found large amounts of suspected drugs and alcohol upon searching the island.

The prosecutor general pressed three charges against Jabir for refusing to provide a urine sample to run a drug test, possession of cannabis and possession of alcohol.

The Criminal Court on February 27, 2014, ruled that Jabir was not guilty of possessing cannabis and concluded the case, However, the third trial is still going on in the court where the court is to decide if he is guilty for possession of alcohol.

Article 73(c)(2) of the constitution states that a person shall be disqualified from election as a member of the People’s Majlis – or a member of the People’s Majlis immediately becomes disqualified – if he has been convicted of a criminal offence and is serving a sentence of more than twelve months.

Article 73(c)(3) states that if a person has been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a term of more than twelve months, unless a period of three years has elapsed since his release, or he has been pardoned for the offence for which he was sentenced, he will also be disqualified.

Jabir was set to re-contest his Kaashidhoo seat next month after an internal MDP decision to discipline the MP for repeatedly breaking three-line whips was overturned on appeal.

According to the Drug Act, Sections 123(a), 161(a) and 161(b), any person arrested on suspicion of having abused alcohol or narcotics has an obligation to comply with police requests for routine urine examination by promptly providing urine samples, and failure to comply is a criminal offence punishable with a one-year jail sentence.

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Kudahuvadhoo islanders spotted low-flying mystery aircraft in hours after MH370 disappearance

With additional reporting by Ahmed Nazeer and Ahmed Rilwan

Residents of Kudahuvadhoo in Dhaal atoll have reported seeing a low flying aircraft heading in a south-easterly direction in the morning of March 8, prompting speculation that it could have been the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

“It was about 6:30am in the morning, I heard a loud noise and went out to see what it was,” Adam Saeed, a teacher at Kudahuvadhoo school, told Minivan News.

“I saw a flight flying very low and it had a red straight line in the middle of it. The flight was traveling north-west to south-east.”

While Saeed’s sighting has been corroborated by a number of witnesses, others remain skeptical that the aircraft could have been the missing jet, whilst aviation authorities maintain that they have no “credible” evidence to support the claims.

Police have confirmed they are looking into the reports without providing further comment.

Co-author of the original story Ahmed Naif explained that Haveeru had been receiving similar reports since March 9, but had been concerned about the credibility of the sightings.

“Later we were getting so many comments that we contacted the island and they said it was true,” explained Naif.

One islander, who identified himself as Hamzath, told Minivan News that had also seen a low-flying plane heading from north-west to south-east, though he remained wary of jumping to conclusions.

“People started talking about it when they realised that the flight that we saw had the same characteristics as of the missing plane,” he said. ”We are still not saying it is the same plane, we just wanted to report it just in case.”

Another witness – who wished to remain anonymous – confirmed a similar height and direction but did not see the plane’s colours, while another suggested that the reports had been exaggerated.

“A plane did fly near the island,” said the anonymous witness. “It wasn’t that big, as big as people say.”

“These days people will be out fishing every morning. Around thirty people would always be there in the morning – but no one talked about it then. If it was that noticeable, loud and big, people would talk.”

Caution urged

Investigators are currently searching an area spanning 2.24 million nautical miles, with two corridor arcs – one stretching between Thailand and Kazakhstan, the other south between Indonesia and the southern Indian Ocean.

The arcs were determined locational ‘pings’ detected by a satellite revealing the flight’s last known location at 8:11am Malaysian time (5:11am Maldives time). Witness reports received by Minivan News and Haveeru put the time of the sighting between 6:15am and 8am.

While the Maldives appears to have been ruled out of the ever-widening search for the missing Boeing 777 and the 239 people on board, reports this morning brought further mention of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

A simulator featuring five airports in the Indian Ocean region was discovered in the home of flight Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah today, as investigators remain convinced the plane’s disappearance was deliberate. A senior Malaysian police officer told Reuters, however, that such simulators are likely to feature hundreds of runways.

Ibrahim Nasir International Airport was featured on the simulator, as were three runways in Indian and Sri Lanka, as well as the US military base in Diego Garcia.

Although the Maldives receives over one million tourists every year, visitors to isolated islands are normally transported by seaplane from Malé’s airport.

When asked about the possibility of a plane of this size landing on an isolated airstrip in the atolls, Maldives National Defence Force spokesman Major Hussain Ali said this was not possible.

“If you are asking are there any landing strips outside of the main commercial airports, the answer is no,” said Hussain.

Contacted following the emergence of the Kudahuvadhoo sightings, neither Hussain not the President’s Office were responding to calls at the time of press.

Spokesman for the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) Hassan Areef has urged caution regarding the reported sightings in Kudahuvadhoo.

“We have no credible information about the plane in terms of radar or sightings,” said Areef.

“There are so many conspiracy theories – we have no credible information that the plane has come to us.”

One such conspiracy theory has the base at Diego Garcia – which lies around 700 miles south of Kudahuvadhoo – as a potential landing site for the plane, though Malaysian authorities are said to have dismissed this rumour.

Haveeru today quoted a local aviation expert, who considered it unlikely that a commercial carrier would have been flying over the island at that time.

While some witnesses at first assumed that the flight must have come from Maamagili airport, 55 miles to the north, MACL’s published schedule shows no flights from the airport until 7:20am on Saturdays, with all subsequent flights headed to the capital Malé – north-east of Maamigilli.

Maamigili airport is the hub for the domestic carrier Flyme which operates a fleet of 75ft, 50 seater ATR 42-500 aircraft. The Boeing 777 model of the missing Malaysian jet is around 200 feet long with a carrying capacity in excess of three hundred.

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Murrath requests court to summon police officers as appeal continues

Ahmed Murrath – currently appealing his Criminal Court conviction for the murder of lawyer Ahmed Najeeb – has today asked the High Court to summon police officers who investigated the case.

Local media reported that Murrath told the bench he had not seen Najeeb being murdered and that he was not in the room at the time.

Murrath’s lawyer told the court that in murder cases the defendant was permitted under Islamic Shariah to retract a confession. After this was queried by the bench, Murrath’s lawyer was not able to specify where in Quran or Sunnah it was mentioned.

Murrath is said to have told judges today that he confessed to the murder in order to escape punishments he received during the investigation period, claiming that his family members – including his mother – were arrested in connection with the case, and that he was prevented from sleeping.

Prosecutor General’s Office lawyers also spoke in the court, arguing that scholars have said the strongest evidence against a criminal is his own confession and that confessions made in cases concerning the rights of another individual cannot be retracted, reported local media.

The state lawyer said that being under the influence of an illegal drug was not a reason to commit a crime and that the defendant must take full responsibility for his actions if he willfully abused drugs.

Murrath and his girlfriend Fathimath Hanaa, were arrested and charged with Najeeb’s murder after the lawyer’s body was discovered by police at Maafanu Masroora house, (Murrath’s residence) in early evening of July 1.

The body was stuffed inside a dustbin, badly beaten up and with multiple stab wounds.

Sentenced

In July 2012, the Criminal Court sentenced the pair to death before the ruling was appealed at the High Court.

During the trial held in the Criminal Court, Murrath confessed to killing Najeeb out of anger and under the influence of drugs, alleging that the lawyer attempted to sexually assault his 18 year-old girlfriend while he was at Masroora House.

He told the Criminal Court that Najeeb visited Masroora House on June 30 to provide legal counsel on a case related to cash missing from Murrath’s mother’s account, and the issue of dividing the house.

Murrath said that he tied Najeeb to a chair, gagged him and taped his hands, feet and face while threatening him with a four-inch knife he had brought from the kitchen. He said that his girlfriend Hanaa had no role in it and was sleeping while he killed the lawyer between 6:00am and 7:00am during the morning of July 1.

Hanaa confessed in the Criminal Court to “helping” tape and bind the victim to the chair. She did not confess to killing him and said at the time she was sleeping, intoxicated from drinking alcohol.

Last month, Haveeru reported that Murrath’s lawyer Abdul Hakeem Rashadh told the High Court his client’s confession had been coerced, that his client’s responsibility was diminished due to the influence of drugs, and that he had the right to retract his confession as there were no witnesses to the crime.

Murrath is currently facing the death sentence for Najeeb’s murder – a sentence that the current administration has pledged to reintroduce after a 60 year moratorium.

Following orders by Home Minister Umar Naseer to begin preparations for reintroducing executions, the cabinet advised President Abdulla Yameen last month that there were no legal obstructions to carrying out the sentence.

The order closely followed the conclusion of the Dr Afrasheem Ali murder trial, in which Hussein Humam was sentenced to death. Similarly, Humam also claimed that his confession was obtained under duress.

President Yameen last week revealed that the government had formulated regulations for the implementation of the penalty. Calling the decision a “historic day”, Yameen vowed he would not bow to international pressure to reverse the decision.

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Police Commissioner urges customs to stop import of illegal animals

Police Commissioner Hussain Waheed has told customs that police are spending as much time confiscating illegal animals as they are seizing drugs.

Waheed yesterday (16 March) met with Commissioner General of Customs Ahmed Mohamed and a delegation of senior customs official to discuss the increase in illegal animals being discovered during recent drug operations.

Commissioner Waheed told customs officials that in the past two weeks police have discovered illegal animals during special operations conducted to raid drug networks.

An illegal snake was also found on the streets on Male last week.

A police statement reported that Waheed told officials that citizens were now in constant fear, noting that the police do not have any role in the airports and other ports.

He also said that police now needed to conduct as many operations to confiscate illegal and dangerous animals as to curb drug related crimes.

Waheed requested that customs increase monitoring for illegal animals and also to increase people’s awareness on the issue.

He recommended customs issue an announcement calling for the surrender all such animals that anyone has to the customs department.

Customs officials – who have already promised to tighten regulations – told police that customs needed to increase screening and that those types of animals were smuggled in to the country after careful planning.

Customs officials also told police that the department currently has established procedures where bags and luggage of cargo boats crew members can be searched.

Officials noted, however, that not being able to give adequate punishment to people involved in this type of crime was an obstacle in curbing them.

Earlier this month police discovered a royal python – a nonvenomous snake commonly kept as a pet – following a drugs raid in Himmafushi, Kaafu atoll, on March 4.

In a separate raid on March 7 police also confiscated a Kingsnake and a Mexican red-kneed tarantula from a house in Malé.

A slow loris was also discovered by police in a drugs raid in Malé in Januray 21.  The species’ decline in numbers has been closely attributed to their unsustainable trade as exotic pets.

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High Court overturns order to release man arrested for child abuse in Kanduhulhudhoo island

The High Court has overturned a decision made by the Villingili Magistrate Court in Gaafu Alifu Atoll to release a 55 year-old man arrested on charges of molesting an 11 year-old girl.

The incident is said to have taken place in the island of Kanduhulhudhoo in Gaafu Alifu Atoll.

“The man was arrested on February 21 at about 6pm and Villingili Magistrate Court first extended his detention period to three days, and when police took him to the court to further extend the detention period the court decided there was no reason to do so,’’ the police statement said.

Police revealed that this decision was later appealed at the High Court which has ordered that the suspect be held in pretrial detention for 15 days.

Police said Villingili Magistrate Court ordered the man’s release at 10:30am on February 25 but that police had tried to extend his detention period.

The Prosecutor General’s Office appealed the case on March 4, telling the High Court there was a possibility the suspect might influence the evidence against him and that he may constitute a threat to society, police stated.

Local newspaper Haveeru quoted the victim’s sister as saying that the girl had been victimised for a long time, and that her family had found out only after she told them about it.

The paper also reported that the man under suspicion was the imam of the island.

Last month, police arrested seven men from the island of Thinadhoo in Gaaf Dhaalu atoll for allegedly forcing a 16-year-old girl into child prostitution.

Police said the seven men – aged between 18 to 30 years of age – were taken into custody with an arrest warrant, after which the Thinadhoo magistrate court extended their remand detention to 15 days.

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Vandals attack campaign offices of Majlis speaker

Speaker of the People’s Majlis and MP for Keyodhoo constituency Abdulla Shahid has today condemned an attack on his office, following the news that two campaign offices had been vandalised in the early hours of the morning.

“It was more than damage, it was an attempt to intimidate,” Shahid told Minivan News, declaring that he “would not back down” in the face of “intimidation”.

Police have confirmed that two attacks that took place in the early hours of this morning (March 13).

Speaking with Minivan News, Shahid confirmed that he was awoken at around 4am by supporters saying that there had “been some damage to the office”.

“It looked like it had been a big piece of rock damaging the class panel, and caused considerable damage,” explained Shahid.

A police statement reveals that as well as vandalism carried out at Shahid’s campaign hall, the campaign offices of Machchangoalhi Dhekunu constituency candidate Hassan Mamdhooh.

Shahid is campaigning for the 18th Majlis on a Maldivian Democratic Party ticket, while Mamdhooh is running as an independent.

The police said they are investigating the matter, but that no suspects have been arrested.

Shahid suggested that the perpetrators were intending to “intimidate the public. They want to send a message to the people that politics is violent, politics is not safe, a message to the public to lay off politics.”

Earlier this week, Shahid’s name appeared on a letter sent to the chief justice and attorney general, stating that the recent dismissal of the president and vice president of the Elections Commission (EC) was contrary to the constitutional procedures which reserved such powers for the Majlis.

The letter – also signed by Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim – was based on legal advice from the parliament’s consul general after an analysis of the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Currently, the vacant seats in the EC are being filled in an effort to keep the parliamentary elections timely. So far, parliament has approved Ismail Habeeb Abdul Raheem to replace former commission member Ibrahim ‘Ogaru’ Waheed.

When asked about the parliamentary elections, Shahid remarked: “I’m hoping against hope that it will happen,”  adding that any more delays in the elections “will destroy the democratic process of the country”.

He finished by stating that the political system will only work when there is a “peaceful environment” in which it can flourish.


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Police seize 24kg of heroin in largest drug haul to date

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has seized 24kg of heroin with a street value of MVR36 million (US$2.2 million) in the largest drug haul from a police operation in the country’s history.

At a press briefing today, Superintendent Mohamed Rasheed, head of the Drug Enforcement Department (DED), revealed that the drugs were seized in a special operation conducted from March 4 to 10.

“I note at this opportunity that the 24kg of drugs was the largest amount of drugs seized in a police operation conducted in the Maldives so far,” Rasheed said.

The drugs were allegedly transported in a vessel named ‘Hormooz’ registered in Iran, Rasheed said, noting that the boat had visited the Maldives in the past ostensibly to purchase fish.

The boat had been put under police surveillance based on intelligence information suggesting that it was being used to smuggle drugs, he said, adding that a crew member had previously been arrested with drugs in his possession.

Four Maldivians, three Bangladeshis and 11 Pakistanis were taken into custody on March 10, Rasheed revealed, declining to disclose their identities at the current stage of the investigation.

The 11 Pakistani nationals were the crew and captain of the Iranian boat, he added.

The four Maldivians and three Bangladeshis met the boat 30 nautical miles off the coast of Alif Alif Mathiveri in a dhoni (traditional boat) to collect the drugs, he explained.

The drugs were then concealed under fibre boards in a dinghy, Rasheed continued.

Two of the suspects were seized by police after arriving on the dinghy in Hulhumale while their dhoni waited in the harbour.

The Iranian vessel was meanwhile captured at sea with coastguard assistance between Alif Alif and Baa atolls, Rasheed said.

Asked by reporters whether a police sergeant and a Maldivian man – Abdulla Shaffath – arrested in connection with the Artur brothers’ case last year were among the 18 suspects, Rasheed said he could not disclose details at present as it could hamper the investigation.

Rasheed however confirmed that a police officer had been arrested in connection with the drug haul while two of the Maldivian suspects had prior records for drug-related offences.

The Criminal Court has extended the pre-trial detention period  of the 18 suspects by 10 days, he said.

While the street value of the drugs was estimated to be MVR36 million (US$2.2 million), Superintendent Rasheed noted that the drugs would likely be laced with “other powders” to increase its volume “two or threefold” before being sold.

The additional volume could potentially raise its street value to almost MVR100 million (US$6.5 million), he said.

Concluding the press briefing, Rasheed appealed to local fishermen to report sightings of foreign vessels unloading suspicious cargo at sea to the police or the coasstguard.

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Deputy PG calls on authorities to take religious extremism more seriously

Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem has called on authorities to take terrorism issues more seriously, noting the most common source comes from religious extremism.

”We should become more proactive and stop complaining about the missing laws,” he told Minivan News today. ”There are things we can still do to curb crimes although some of the necessary laws are still not passed.”

Shameem noted that the current Terrorism Act was adequate, but the lack of laws such as the Evidence Act was an issue.

Speaking at a ceremony held to commence a police terrorism-training course last night, Shameem told attendees that past incidents of terrorism occurred in the Maldives due to a lack of discussion on the issue of religious extremism.

While the absence of  laws to stop some types of crimes was a problem, Shameem stated that it was not a reason for police to stop work on combating them. He advised authorities to follow international best practice in a manner that respects suspects’ constitutional rights.

He also said that the police must be two steps ahead when laws pertaining to the issue come into existence in the Maldives.

Shameem’s comments echoed those of the Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed,who has also suggested that religious differences in the country could be solved “if we sit down and share religious information”.

The minister’s comments followed Malé City Council’s closure of the Dharumavantha Rasgefaanu mosque after the council received complaints from the Home Ministry that the mosque was being used by an extremist congregation who had been advocating for the destruction of the current government.

The congregation were praying that Allah would give victory against the “irreligious” government which attempts to obstruct the spreading of Allah’s message and to shut down mosques. Requesting victory, they also asked Allah to destroy and send his wrath upon military and police officers implementing the government’s orders.

In August 2013, Sheikh Shaheem had expressed concern that Friday prayers conducted in the mosque were not conducted by state authorised Imams.

Terrorist risk

In May 2013, the then-Chief of Defence Force Major General Ahmed Shiyam warned of a rising risk of terrorist attack in the Maldives, during a joint local and US military inauguration to establish a level of alerts for terrorism in the country.

Shiyam cautioned against assuming the country was completely safe from terrorist attacks simply based on the fact that no major terrorist activities have been uncovered in the country to date, warning there was an increased risk attacks stemming from “religious extremism and political turmoil”.

“Some [Maldivian] youth have already joined up with terrorist organisations. They are now travelling to various war zones and locations and enrolling in a number of terrorist training camps,” said Shiyam.

“Although some of these youth have managed to travel back to this country, the whereabouts of others remain unknown. This is a warning sign of how terrorism is spreading across our country,” Shiyam said at the time.

He also said that it was immensely important for the security forces to be well-trained in counter-terrorism measures and to ensure the forces remain ready to respond should such an incident occur.

In April 2013, an article published by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) entitled ‘The Threat from Rising Extremism in the Maldives‘ stated that in April 2006, a Maldivian national, Ali Jaleel, and a small group of jihadists from the Maldives attempted to travel to Pakistan to train for violent jihad in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The only incident of a terrorist attack on Maldivian soil was the Sultan Park bombing in September 2007.

A bomb exploded in the Malé’s park, wounding 12 foreigners. The three men arrested and later jailed for the bombing confessed that their goal was to “target, attack and injure non-Muslims to fulfill jihad,” noted the CTC report.

After the investigations of security services led to Darul-Khair mosque on Himandhoo Island, police were confronted by 90 islanders, who had armed themselves with batons and knives, vowing to defend the mosque to the last man.

In the ensuing skirmish, a soldier was taken captive and another’s hand was severed. Shortly afterwards a video discovered on an Al Qaeda forum was found to contain footage taken inside the Dhar-al-khuir mosque moments before it was raided by police.

Evidence suggests that three Maldivian jihadists planned to establish a terrorist group in the country around 2007-2008 and send members for military training in Pakistan.

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Police discover kingsnake, tarantula in drug bust

Police arrested a Maldivian couple on Thursday night with drugs, a snake and a Mexican red-kneed tarantula from Henveiru Lucky Shade house in Male’.

Police raided the residence with a search warrant at about 11:15pm and found the drugs and pets in the couple’s room.

The albino banded California kingsnake was kept illegally as a pet, police said.

The couple – a 28-year-old man and 27-year-old woman – were taken into custody with a film canister containing illicit narcotics and a counterfeit US$100 note.

Police also revealed that the male suspect had a criminal record for drug-related offences.

The California kingsnake is not the first exotic animal discovered in a recent drug bust. Last week, police found a 4-feet long snake during a drug operation on the island of Himmafushi in Kaafu atoll.

The snake was reportedly a royal python – a non-venomous African species often kept as pets.

In a drug bust in the capital Male’ last January, police discovered a caged slow loris. The importation and sale of the endangered primate species is illegal in the country.

In November last year, police arrested three men from a residence in Male’ with 15 bottles of Finlandia vodka, 24 cans of beer and three snakes.

A police media official told Minivan News at the time that two of the snakes were of a dangerous species and were listed as contraband.

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