Category: Crime

Items confiscated by police do not belong to Nazim or his family, say lawyers

Former Defense Minister Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim’s legal team says that items confiscated by police at his apartment last weekend do not belong to him or his family.

Nazim’s lawyers released a press statement today saying that the former minister wanted to to make it clear to the public that he does not know who the “items” belong to.

Former Attorney General – and former cabinet colleague of Nazim – Azima Shukoor will head the legal team who today said that their client did not commit any act in violation of the law and that “he would like to assure everyone that he would not do anything in violation of the law in the future.”

Nazim – who was also acting health minister – was dismissed from his post on Tuesday (January 20), three days after police raided his apartment in the Galolhu ward under a court warrant.

President’s Office spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz tweeted at the time that Nazim had been “expelled from his post due to an ongoing investigation”.

On the same day, Muaz announced that Major General (retired) Moosa Ali Jaleel had been appointed as the new minister of defense and national security.

Police subsequently told the press on Tuesday that they had found dangerous weapons at Nazim’s house during the search, though they denied knowing it was Nazim’s home before the raid.

“We found dangerous weapons at his house,” said Spokesman for Commissioner of Police Ahmed Shifan. “Nazim and some of his family members were questioned regarding the weapons but they failed to adequately respond to the questions.”

Speaking to the media the same day, Nazim said that recent events had shown that no Maldivian was assured of safety and security.

“This gives an alarming signal that entering any house, at any time and to do anything is possible. The defence minister is the most senior official standing beside the president,” he said during a press conference held at the studios of DhiTV.

“It is how things are in all parts of the world. If the situation is so that the minister’s house can be raided at any time, no Maldivian citizen will have safety and security”.


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Dangerous weapons found in Nazim’s house during raid, say Police

Police have revealed that dangerous weapons were found at the house of former defence minister Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim on Sunday morning (January 18).

“We found dangerous weapons at his house,” said Spokesman for Commissioner of Police Ahmed Shifan at a press conference held this afternoon. “Nazim and some of his family members were questioned regarding the weapons but they failed to adequately respond to the questions.”

The details of the raid – previously withheld – came just hours after Nazim’s dismissal and subsequent replacement by Major General (retired) Moosa Ali Jaleel.

Following President Abdulla Yameen’s decision to remove him from the cabinet, Nazim said the raid showed that no Maldivian could be considered safe or secure based on recent events.

“This gives an alarming signal that entering any house, at any time and to do anything is possible. The defence minister is the most senior official standing beside the president,” he said during a press conference held at the studios of DhiTV.

Nazim went on to say that he intended to cooperate fully with police and had already provided statements, fingerprints, and DNA samples.

Superintendent Shifan told the media that the police had obtained a warrant from the Criminal Court after receiving reports that dangerous weapons were being kept in a Malé home.

“A police tactical team was sent to the house at around 3.15am on January 18, whereupon they went up to the eighth floor and searched 2 apartments.”

Media speculation as to the specific weapons found in the apartment have varied considerably, with no such details revealed by police officials today.

Shifan once again assured the press that officers had been unaware that the apartment belonged to the defence minister until they had forcefully entered the property, adding that best practices were maintained throughout the search.

“The team did not know Nazim was present at or living at that apartment until after they arrived on the scene,” said Shifan.

“We would like to reiterate the fact that the police would not hesitate to search any house under a court warrant in order to ensure the safety of the general public.”

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has earlier this week suggested that the raid had been conducted to retrieve documents which might incriminate tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb, though Adeeb had rejected these claims.

Commenting on Nazim’s dismissal via twitter today, Adeeb said it was a “sad day” when former colleagues “changed their direction”.


Nazim also suggested this afternoon that such a raid could not have happened without the president’s knowledge, although President’s Office Spokesman Ibrahim Muaz told Minivan News earlier that presidential approval was not required to investigate a cabinet minister.


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High Court frees drug kingpin Shafaz citing insufficient evidence

The High Court has freed ‘drug kingpin’ Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak today, stating that evidence submitted by the state for trafficking charges was insufficient.

Reversing the Criminal Court’s 18 year jail term and fine of MVR75,000, the High Court questioned the authenticity of documents submitted by the state claiming to prove Shafaz had transferred large amounts of money gained through drug trafficking.

Shafaz was arrested in June 2011 with 896 grams of heroin after the two year long ‘Operation Challenge’. At the time, the Maldives Police Services labeled Shafaz a high profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

The police claimed Shafaz’s network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

In today’s ruling, the High Court noted that the state had failed to provide transaction records to substantiate claims that Shafaz transferred large sums of money to a Sri Lankan national through Western Union and A.G.E Emporium, and that  records from Western Union did not display any official seals or marks.

The court also said the state had failed to provide proof that evidence gathered regarding Shafaz’s money transactions was obtained legally, i.e. through court orders.

Additionally, the court noted that records of money transactions were dated from 2006, but phone call recordings and transcripts between Shafaz and the Sri Lankan national were from 2011, with the result that the relationship between the two pieces of evidence was weak.

Citing Article 24, Article 51, and Article 52 of the Constitution which guarantee the right to privacy including private communications and the rights of the accused, the High Court said any evidence obtained by unlawful means is inadmissible in a court of law.

Corruption charges

The Criminal Court had sentenced Shafaz in November 2013. He was released temporarily for medical treatment in Sri Lanka in February 2014, but failed to return to the Maldives after the allocated three month period. The Sri Lankan police caught Shafaz in Colombo and extradited him to Maldives in May 2014.

Last month, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) revealed that six senior government officials conspired to allow Shafaz to leave the country despite no evidence that he required urgent medical care that was not available in the Maldives.

The ACC investigation found that former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Mohamed Hanim personally paid a visit to a doctor’s home to obtain a signature confirming that Shafaz required urgent medical care abroad. However, the ACC said Shafaz had not consulted a doctor in the week before his release.

Hanim, who is now the deputy minister of environment, also oversaw the illegal preparation of Shafaz’s travel documents and allowed him to leave the country without obtaining formal approval from the Maldives Correctional Service’s (MCS) medical board.

The investigations also revealed former Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim had lobbied the medical board to approve Shafaz’s release despite knowing his paperwork was incomplete.

In addition to Hanim and Azim, the ACC has recommended corruption charges be filed against two members of the medical board, a technical officer at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), and a staff member at the MCS.


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Charlie Hebdo massacre demonstrates “profound need to counter radicalism,” says President Yameen

In a message of sympathy towards the victims of the France attacks, President Abdulla Yameen has said the massacre of 12 cartoonists demonstrates “yet again the profound need to counter radicalism, and to promote tolerance and moderation, which are the true values of Islam”.

On January 9, two masked gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles forced themselves into the Paris offices of French publication Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 cartoonists including the editor before escaping by car.

The message addressed to the French President, H.E Mr. Francois Hollande, condemned the “massacre at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, and other barbaric acts of terrorism unleashed on France in the last few days by a radical group of terrorists”.

Charlie Hebdo has a history of controversy due to its publication of satirical cartoons depicting Prophet Mohamed, which is strictly forbidden in Islam as it is believed to be akin to idolatry.

Audio from CCTV footage captured during the attack revealed that the attackers shouted: “We have avenged the Prophet Mohamed. We have killed Charlie Hebdo,” before departing from the scene.

Both the attackers were since killed at a later confrontation by French Security Forces, while a woman believed to be an accomplice to the attacks have been reported to have travelled to Syria.

In a tweet, Former President Mohamed Nasheed also strongly condemned the attack, while extending his co‎ndoleces to the families and friends of the victims.

Meanwhile, Bristish tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror reported that a Maldivian born man – believed to be an Islamic State Jihadist fighter in Syria – hinted that France would suffer a tragedy the day before the attacks in a tweet. Minivan News has not been able to independently verify these reports.

Speaking to the media last week, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed revealed that there are over 50 Maldivians fighting in foreign wars.

“These people leave the country under normal procedures. So it is not easy to identify if they are traveling to go fight with foreign rebel groups,” Waheed told the press on Thursday.

In the last two weeks, two immigration officers and a suspect in the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali were reported to be among a group of twelve Maldivians to travel to Syria for Jihad via Turkey. The group also consists of two women and a one-year-old infant.

Maldivians are not barred from international travel, Waheed said, and so “it is not easy to figure out what motive they are traveling for”.

In November, Sri Lankan police detained three Maldivians who were allegedly preparing to travel to Syria through Turkey.

The incident followed reports of a couple from Fuvahmulah and a family of four from Meedhoo in Raa Atoll travelling to militant organisation Islamic State-held (IS) territories.

In November, a jihadist group called Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) – which describes itself as ‘Maldivians in Syria’ – revealed that a fifth Maldivian had died in Syria.

A protest march took place in the capital, Malé, in September, with around 200 participants bearing the IS flag and calling for the implementation of Islamic Shariah in the Maldives.

In late August, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon issued a press statementcondemning “the crimes committed against innocent civilians by the organisation which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”


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Supreme Court to hear corruption charges against MP Ahmed Nazim

The Supreme Court has accepted an appeal into corruption charges against MP Ahmed Nazim.

The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives MP was charged with four counts of corruption in late 2009 for allegedly conspiring to defraud the former Ministry of Atolls Development.

According to the prosecutor general, an appeal was filed after new Prosecutor General Muhuthaz Muhsin took office in July.

The Maldives Police Services in October withheld the MP’s passport on charges of blackmail, while Nazim was linked with alleged attempts to link tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb with the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan last August.

Shortly after the controversial transfer of presidential power in February 2012, the Criminal Court had ruled that there was insufficient evidence implicating the MP in the atolls ministry scam.

The Prosecutor General’s Office appealed the decisions later that year at the High Court on the grounds that the Criminal Court had refused to accept state witnesses.

In February 2013, the court of appeal ruled that the prosecution was unable to prove that Nazim’s employees signed bogus bid proposals on his instructions.

Moreover, the High Court referred to a Supreme Court precedent which established that accomplices to a crime could not testify for or against an alleged partner to the crime.

The scam – first flagged in an audit report released in early 2009 – involved paper companies allegedly set up by Nazim to win bids for projects worth several hundred thousands dollars, including the fraudulent purchase of harbour lights, national flags, and mosque sound systems.

At a press conference in August 2009, police exhibited numerous quotations, agreements, tender documents, receipts, bank statements, and forged cheques showing that Nazim received over US$400,000 in the scam.

A hard disk seized during a raid of Nazim’s office in May 2009 allegedly contained copies of forged documents and bogus letterheads.

Police alleged that money was channelled through the scam to Nazim who laundered cash through Namira Engineering – of which Nazim was the managing director – and unregistered companies.

Paper companies were allegedly formed using Namira’s equipment and staff to bid for public tenders announced by the now-defunct ministry.

According to the audit report,  evidence was uncovered linking those companies to Nazim with phone and fax numbers stated on the bidding documents registered under his address while the company shareholders were either working at Namira or relatives of Nazim.

Then-employees of Namira testified under oath that they were instructed by Nazim to bid for the projects – however, the Criminal Court judge concluded from their testimonies that they were responsible for the procurement fraud and dismissed their testimonies.

The Criminal Court in 2012 also acquitted MP ‘Red Wave’ Saleem and President Abdulla Yameen’s half-brother Abdulla Algeen Abdul Gayoom of corruption charges.


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Over 50 Maldivian militants fighting in foreign wars, reveals Commissioner of Police

There are over 50 Maldivians fighting in foreign wars, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed has revealed.

“These people leave the country under normal procedures. So it is not easy to identify if they are traveling to go fight with foreign rebel groups,” Waheed told the press today.

“However, within a few days we hear that they have joined these groups. Our statistics estimate there are 50 Maldivians working with foreign rebel groups.”

The commissioner’s estimate dwarfs the figure suggested by Home Minister Umar Naseer to  the People’s Majlis in December. Naseer at the time said that over seven Maldivians were fighting abroad.

In the past fortnight, at least twelve Maldivians have traveled to Syria via turkey for jihad.

Responding to a question from Minivan News on mechanisms to prevent radicalisation, Waheed said police might reveal plans at a later late.

“We are working on it. Even now, we are doing a lot of work with the Islamic ministry and other relevant government institutions.”

The police do not yet know who the most vulnerable groups to radicalisation are in the Maldives, Waheed continued, pointing out recent jihadis included both genders, urban and rural areas, and people of all ages.

When asked if radicalised groups posed a domestic terrorist threat, Waheed said the police are tracking individuals associated with foreign militant groups.

“We know who the foreign militants are. We are monitoring their activities. My hope is, I believe we will be able to monitor them to the extent they are unable to [present a threat] in the Maldives.”

He appealed to the public to share any reports of individuals who may leave the Maldives for jihad.

Exodus

According to reliable sources, a group of six that left the country on December 27 included two immigration officers. Others in the group include two women who are spouses of two of the men and a one year old infant.

The second group of seven all belonged to Malé’s Kuda Henveiru gang. They include a suspect in the brutal murder of Dr Afrasheem Ali, Azlif Rauf.

Azlif’s group also included an individual arrested over the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan, one man arrested for issuing a death threat, one man classified by the police as a dangerous criminal, and three men with criminal records, local media have reported.

Waheed refused to comment on Azlif’s whereabouts.

In 2013, the former Maldivian National Defense Force officer was put under house arrest over pending terrorism charges, but the Prosecutor General’s Office withdrew charges last September.

Waheed said the police can only prevent such people from leaving the country if the force receives prior information that they may be traveling for jihad.

Maldivians are not barred from international travel, Waheed said, and so “it is not easy to figure out what motive they are traveling for”.

In November, Sri Lankan police detained three Maldivians who were allegedly preparing to travel to Syria through Turkey.

The incident followed reports of a couple from Fuvahmulah and a family of four from Meedhoo in Raa Atoll travelling to militant organisation Islamic State-held (IS) territories.

In November, a jihadist group called Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) – which describes itself as ‘Maldivians in Syria’ – revealed that a fifth Maldivian had died in Syria.

A protest march took place in the capital, Malé, in September, with around 200 participants bearing the IS flag and calling for the implementation of Islamic Shariah in the Maldives.

In late August, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon issued a press statement condemning “the crimes committed against innocent civilians by the organisation which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”


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Two immigration officers and Afrasheem murder suspect among group of twelve jihadis

Two immigration officers and a suspect in the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali are among a group of twelve Maldivians to travel to Syria for jihad, reliable sources have told Minivan News.

Afrasheem murder suspect, Azlif Rauf of Henveiru Hilton, left to Turkey with six members of Malé’s Kuda Henveiru gang four days ago, sources have said. They have now crossed the border into Syria.

The two immigration officers were among a group of six individuals who traveled to Syria on December 27. The five included two women and a one year old infant.

Azlif’s group also included an individual arrested over the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan, one man arrested for issuing a death threat, one man classified by the police as a dangerous criminal, and three men with criminal records, local media have reported.

The Maldives Police Services declined to comment on the report.

According to Haveeru, Azlif had attempted to take his pregnant wife, one-year-old son and four-year-old daughter with him, but his wife’s family had prevented them from accompanying him.

Hussain Humam Ahmed, now serving a life sentence over the Afrasheem murder, named Azlif and five others in the organising of the killing in October 2012. Humam later retracted the confession claiming it had come under duress.

The police have forwarded accomplice to murder charges against Azlif to the Prosecutor General’s Office, but charges have not yet been filed at the Criminal Court.

The Criminal Court in December fined Azlif and ordered him to pay back a MVR50,000 loan to the Bank of Maldives.

An investigative report published by Maldivian Democratic Network (MDN) identified Azlif’s brother Arlif Rauf as the owner of a red car which may have been used in an abduction reported on the night Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan disappeared.

Eyewitnesses told Minivan News they saw a man being forced into a red car at knifepoint in front of Rilwan’s apartment building around the time he would have reached home on August 8.

According to MDN’s report, police were investigating Arlif’s car for having been illegally imported to Hulhumalé on August 4, and returned to Malé sometime between August 13 – 15.

It also suggested gang leaders had been exposed to radical Islam during incarceration in prison, saying that they openly supported the actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and recruited jihadists for the war in Syria and Iraq.

Last month, Home Minister Umar Naseer reported that there are more than seven Maldivians fighting in foreign civil wars.

In November, a jihadist media group called Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) – which describes itself as ‘Maldivians in Syria’ – revealed that a fifth Maldivian had died in Syria.

BASM had made a threat to Rilwan shortly before his disappearance in which they stated ‘his days were short’.

Earlier in November, Sri Lankan police detained three Maldivians who were allegedly preparing to travel to Syria through Turkey.

The incident followed reports of a couple from Fuvahmulah and a family of four from Meedhoo in Raa Atoll travelling to militant organisation Islamic State-held (IS) territories.

This article previously incorrectly stated two immigration officers were among the group of seven Maldivians to travel to jihad in January. The officers were in fact among a group of six who traveled to Syria in December.


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Indian national Rubeena held for four and a half years without charge

Indian national Rubeena Buruhanudeen has been held in Dhoonidhoo detention centre for four and a half years on charges of murdering her ten-month-old child.

The 30-year-old is also facing charges related to attempted suicide – a criminal offence in the Maldives – but has been awaiting sentencing since late August 2010, explained a source close to the case.

Minivan News has been told that Rubeena confessed to the killing before having received any legal assistance, and has since said she was heavily medicated at the time of her child’s death, with only a vague recollection of events.

“She is very distressed and depressed,” explained the source. “When the prospect of receiving the death penalty was raised with her, she said she would prefer it to her current situation.”

“Four years waiting for a trial is unacceptable,” they continued, noting that the case had been passed to the Human Rights Commission of Maldives.

Rubeena’s legal team has requested a new hearing before sentencing in order to make the case for diminished responsibility.

Her case has been raised in the Indian media this week, with the New Indian Express reporting that the issue had been brought to the attention of Kerala’s Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

Last month Chandy pledged to offer assistance in the case of Indian teacher K.K. Jayachandran who was imprisoned for 8 months on child abuse charges before being released on December 25.

Events

Minivan News’ source confirmed details published in the Indian media, explaining that Rubeena was married to Hassan Jabir, from Thaa Kinbidhoo – 16 years her senior – in 2008.

The case has also sparked debate in India over the practice of poor girls from Kerala being sold off to foreign nationals in return for money, with Rubeena’s mother telling the Express that Jabir had paid off the family’s debts.

After moving to the Maldives with her husband – who is a clerk in the local court, the marriage became troubled, with Rubeena reported to have been living in a disused tea-shop with her child by 2010.

Rubeena has alleged that she was having trouble obtaining money to feed her child when she attempted suicide by consuming a large volume of drugs, later being informed of her child’s death by staff at the island’s health centre.

After being held in Dhoonidhoo detention centre since June 2010, Rubeena was taken to Malé to appear in court in May, 2013, only to discover upon arrival that she was being taken to the Family Court for the conclusion of divorce proceedings.

Her case was brought to the attention of Maldivian NGO Voice of Women after a chance encounter between Rubeena and political activists detained in Dhoonidhoo following unrest surrounding the transfer of presidential power in February 2012.

Her case has since been taken up on a pro bono basis by local law firm Hisaan, Riffath & Co, with Fareesha Abdulla O’Shea now representing Rubeena.

Case

Minivan News’ source has explained that the Criminal Court has heard from neither the husband nor the doctor who examined the child’s body, with a request to see the latter delaying a scheduled hearing last month.

The court is said to have been receptive to requests for an additional hearing in the case, though officials from the court and the Prosecutor General’s Office were unable to provide details at the time of publication.

Kerala minister Chandy is reported to have met with Rubeena’s parents, as well as making assurances that steps will be taken to ensure prospective job-seekers to the Maldives were aware of the legal complications they may face.

“The cases of people getting trapped in fake cases often do not reach the mainstream due to the restrictions on the media and the hindrance before other Indian associations in contacting the victims in prisons,” read the article in the Express.

The paper reported that it was the release of Jayachandran that brought Rubeena’s case to the public’s attention, with the 51-year-old teacher explaining the difficulties he had in accessing support while incarcerated in the Maldives.

“Even the Indian Club officials in the Maldives were not able to contact me, though they tried through different sources,” Jayachandran told the Express.

“The only agency that can contact them is the Indian Embassy. But they are often indifferent to the unfortunate inmates. Once I was even asked, why do you people choose to work in the Maldives,” he said.

Officials from the Indian High Commission have confirmed that they are aware of Rubeena’s case.

Minivan’s source explained that extradition to India would be considered once Rubeena is sentenced.

The Extradition Act was ratified by President Abdulla Yameen yesterday (December 5), with 15 Sri Lankan prisoners being sent home today (December 6)


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Six Maldivians reported as latest to travel for jihad, taking one-year-old infant

A group of six Maldivians have travelled to Turkey to join the Syrian civil war, local media have reported.

The six Maldivians include three men, two women and a one-year-old infant, Haveeru, Sun, Vaguthu and CNM have reported. The six reportedly left the Maldives in December.

A police spokesperson said the case is under investigation.

Last month, Home Minister Umar Naseer reported that there are more than seven Maldivians fighting in foreign civil wars.

In November, a jihadist media group called Bilad Al Sham Media – which describes itself as ‘Maldivians in Syria’ – revealed that a fifth Maldivian had died in Syria.

Earlier that month, Sri Lankan police detained three Maldivians who were allegedly preparing to travel to Syria through Turkey.

The three – two men aged 23 and 25, and a woman aged 18 – were from the island of Madduvari in Raa Atoll and were released from custody upon being brought back to the Maldives.

The incident followed reports of a couple from Fuvahmulah and a family of four from Meedhoo in Raa Atoll travelling to militant organisation Islamic State-held (IS) territories.

Naseer told the People’s Majlis that police were monitoring persons with extremist religious views and were constantly watching alleged recruitment efforts. He insisted that foreign terrorist organisations or religious extremists would not be able to interfere in domestic affairs.

“The number of Maldivians participating in foreign wars would be proportionately much lower than large European nations,” he said.

The police have stopped individuals attempting to leave the Maldives with the intention of joining civil wars through court orders.

“And the passports of some people have been withheld for a period determined by the court,” he continued, adding that Maldivian jihadis have also been brought back to the country with help from foreign law enforcement agencies.

However, police faced difficulties in proving guilt at court of persons intending to join foreign civil wars, he continued, suggesting that the evidentiary standard should be lowered for terrorism cases.

Police were also working with the Islamic ministry to provide religious counselling and advice to discourage Maldivians from flying overseas to fight in civil wars, Naseer said.

Efforts were meanwhile underway to establish an efficient mechanism for taking action based on intelligence information, said the minister.

While neighbouring countries provide assistance in returning Maldivians intending to travel for jihad, Naseer said the government was unable to bring back Maldivians who have made their way into Syria.

The government is studying a recently-approved UN security council resolution on foreign terrorist fighters, he said, while a strategic action plan is also being implemented to combat religious extremism, which involves prevention of radical views in public schools.

Asked about efforts to prevent recruitment in the country, Naseer said the government has banned independent prayer congregations.

In late August, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon issued a press statement condemning “the crimes committed against innocent civilians by the organisation which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”


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