A man in Hulhumale’ has been arrested for allegedly attempting a string of robberies whilst wearing a Niqab – the full face veil worn by some Muslim women.
Local media reported that the 40 year-old man was arrested for robbery and possession of pornography.
No further details of this case have as yet emerged.
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(0)“The political crisis in Maldives over the presidential run-off ends with the surprise victory of a close relative of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and the shock defeat of Mohamed Nasheed,” writes R.K. Radhakrishnan for India’s Frontline magazine.
“Change, sometimes, seems like a closed loop. The more things appear to change, the more they remain the same. This is so very true in respect of Maldives, an archipelago nation with a population of over 300,000 people, which is normally in the news for climate change issues and its idyllic upmarket beaches.
On November 16, Maldivians queued up to elect a new President in a run-off round. The results shocked international observers. Five years after the country held its first multiparty presidential election, Maldivians chose to turn the clock back. They brought back to power a close relative of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the country with an iron hand for about three decades.
Abdullah Yaameen Abdul Gayoom, the presidential candidate of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), a party Gayoom founded after he returned to Maldives a few years ago, was elected to the top post, with an astonishing 51.39 per cent of the vote polled (111,203 votes). He defeated the former President and Amnesty International’s Prisoner of Conscience, Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party. Nasheed got 48.61 per cent of the votes (105,181 votes). The polling percentage, at 91.41 per cent, was unbelievably high. A total of 218,621 of the 239,165 eligible voters exercised their franchise.”
(0)Dislikes(0)The People’s Majlis has approved a loan worth US$11,122.,700 to establish a water and sewerage system on Fuvahmulah Island.
The Kuwait fund provided loan has a grace period of four years and is to be repaid over 24 years.
Fuvahmulah Island located in southern Maldives has a population of 11,140 people.
(0)Dislikes(0)The leader of a nation-wide drug network, Ibrahim Shafaz, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Sun Online reports.
The sentence was handed down to Shafaz and five associates on Tuesday. Shafaz must also pay a fine of MVF 75 000 (US$4860) within one month.
Three accomplices, Ismail Shaheem, Mohamed Meead and Anas Anees, received ten years.
Two men affiliated with the network – Hussain Athif and Abdul Sattar Ali – were also convicted and sentenced to 18 years and MVR 75,000 (US$4860) in fines.
Shafaz was arrested in 2011 as part of the two-year long “Operation Challenge,” combating the drug network.
800 grams of heroin were seized by police from Shafaz’s apartment, and opiates were confiscated from an apartment rented by an affiliate of the network.
The conviction came on the strength of recorded phone calls and financial transactions with a contact in Colombo, believed to be the supplier.
The network had been operating since 2006.
(0)Dislikes(0)The People’s Majlis has narrowly voted to review a series of Penal Code amendments proposed by opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) including the removal of the Penal Code’s Article 81.
Former President Nasheed is currently being charged under Article 81 for the arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed – an incident that precipitated Nasheed’s ouster in February 2012.
“It shall be an offense for any public servant by reason of the authority of office he is in to detain or arrest in a manner contrary to law. Person guilty of this offense shall be subjected to exile or imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding MVR 2,000,” reads the article.
MDP MP Imthiyaz ‘Inthi’ Fahmy’s proposal passed with 27 members voting for and 26 members voting against the proposal. The proposal will be reviewed by a parliamentary committee before it is sent to the Majlis floor for a final vote.
Other amendments also include the removal of Penal Code’s Article 75 and 87.
Article 75 concerns the making of false charges: “Whoever institutes a claim against another person with the intent to cause inconvenience, loss or injury to that person without lawful grounds shall be subjected to a fine not exceeding MVR 2000.”
Article 87 of the code relates to the failure to assist public servant in his duties, with offenders subject to exile, six months imprisonment, or a MVR500 fine.
The current penal code was written in 1968. Work on a new penal code started in 2008, but it is still at committee stage.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Abdulla Yameen has requested the approval of the People’s Majlis for six cabinet ministers.
The request was forwarded to the Parliament Committee on Oversight of the Government today.
The six ministers to be reviewed are:
Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr Mohamed Shaheem
Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr Mohamed Shainee
Minister of Home Affairs, Umar Naseer
Minister of Environment and Energy, Thorig Ibrahim
Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Dr Mohamed Muizzu
Minister of Economic Development, Mohamed Saeed
A request for the approval of five ministers was sought on Sunday, which are still in review.
Approval for the Minister of Education, Dr Aishath Shiham, Minister of Youth and Sports, Maleeh Jamal, Minister of Health and Gender, Dr Mariyam Shakeela, and the most recent appointment, Attorney General Mohamed Anil, has yet to be forwarded.
(0)Dislikes(0)Former Attorney General Husnu Suood has been appointed to a Judicial Services Commission (JSC) committee to investigate Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed’s alleged involvement in a series of leaked sex tapes.
The JSC set up a five member sub committee in July following the circulation of several videos in which an individual believed to be Judge Ali Hameed has sex with several unidentified foreign women in a Colombo Hotel room.
Suood was appointed to the seat previously occupied by Mohamed Anil who resigned from the committee following his appointment as the state’s Attorney General.
The remaining members on the committee are JSC Vice President Abdulla Didi, President’s representative to the JSC Latheefa Gasim and lawyers Ahmed Rasheed and Hussain Siraj.
The committee in July recommended the suspension of Ali Hameed, but the JSC decided against any action citing lack of evidence and asked the committee to conduct further investigations into the case.
Abdull Didi and Latheefa Gasim then tendered their resignation from the committee, but the JSC voted not to accept their resignations.
The Supreme Court suspended Suood in September for alleged contempt of court.
(0)Dislikes(0)The President’s Office has confirmed the appointment of Ahmed Farish Maumoon as the Minister of State for Economic Development.
Farish is the son of former President and leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Gayoom’s daughter Dunya – formerly state minister for foreign affairs under the previous administration – was appointed to the cabinet as foreign minister last week.
The names of the first cabinet ministers proposed by the newly elected President Abdulla Yameen – Gayoom’s half-brother – were forwarded for the approval of the People’s Majlis today.
The proposed appointments include Umar Naseer as Home Minister, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed as Islamic Minister, Dr Mohamed Muiz as Housing and Infrastructure Minister, Dr Mohamed Shainy as Fisheries and Agriculture Minister, Mohamed Saeed as Economic Development Minister and Thoriq Ibrahim as Environment and Energy Minister.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Government has proposed an amendment to the Decentralisation Act in a bid to cut spending on the Civil Service.
The Act, regarding local councils, currently ensures that five council members must be elected for every island with less than 3000 people, while islands with more than 3000 people are entitled to seven councilors.
In cities, one councilor is elected for each constituency.
The proposed amendment amalgamates the island and atoll councils to a limited extent.
Individuals may belong to both councils, and there will no longer be separate elections for the atoll councils.
Ibrahim Muaz, spokesman for the President’s Office, said, “the president’s thinking is not to cut-down on the number of councilors. But to elect councilors based on the population of the islands. This is a move to curb State expenditure.”
The government hopes to implement the amendment before the local council elections in January.
However, Moosa Manik, MP for Hulhu-Henveiru and Chair of the Parliamentary National Security Committee, warned that it may be impossible to implement the changes before January.
The committee has recently passed other local council reforms, including designating any island with more than 10 000 people a city (currently 25 000) and inviting the president of the women’s committee into council.
The Maldivian Democratic Party had proposed similar legislation in 2010, aiming to cut down on administrative costs by establishing seven provinces in place of the twenty-one atoll system.
The bill was shot down by opposition MPs, mostly from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, on the grounds that the proposed changes were unconstitutional.
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