Category: News in Brief

Supreme Court declares current president will remain past November 11

The Supreme Court has ruled that their verdict annulling the September 7 elections remains in effect, and declared that the current President Mohamed Waheed and his government will remain in power if a new government is not elected by November 11.

The verdict – signed by four of the seven judges sitting on the Supreme Court bench – contradicts the parliamentary motion to appoint Speaker Abdulla Shahid as an interim President in the event that a new elected President cannot be sworn in by November 11.

According to local media, the order was signed by Judge Ali Hameed, Judge Ahmed Abdulla Didi, Abdulla Saeed and Abdulla Areef – the same four who annulled the September 7 polls based on a secret police report discredited by an expert UN review.

The verdict was issued in a case submitted by Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) lawyer Ibrahim ‘Wadde’ Waheed, seeking the court to declare illegal parliament’s motion to appoint the Speaker as the interim president.

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officers have meanwhile circulated an appeal calling on their fellow soldiers not to obey “unlawful” orders issued by President Waheed or his political appointees, following the expiry of his presidential term at midnight on November 10.

The five-page document, signed by 73 officers including many mid-ranking officers, is titled “An appeal to soldiers to maintain their oath to be professional and apolitical.”

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General Manager of Robinson Club Maldives found dead

Police have reported that the general manager of the Robinson Club Maldives resort has been found dead in a bathroom on the property.

Local media reported police as confirming that the German national was found in the bathroom of his room.

“The incident was reported to the police this morning. A police investigation team is currently in the resort,” said a police spokesperson, according to local media.

Local media reported that the cause of death was unclear.

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Eligible voters listed as underage in secret police report

The list of alleged underage voters in the secret police report used by the Supreme Court to annul the September 7 presidential election included a 58 year-old woman and several voters over 18 years of age, newspaper Haveeru has found.

The police report claimed that there were 32 underage citizens on the voters registry.

However, it has since emerged that the list included a 58 year-old woman, a 42 year-old, a 27 year-old, a pair of 24 year-olds as well as a number of others over 18 years of age.

Citing the police forensic report, the four Supreme Court Justices that formed the majority opinion claimed that seven minors had voted in the annulled polls.

Moreover, Elections Commission (EC) Chair Fuwad Thowfeek revealed on state media last month that the commission had discovered that at least four of the eighteen people deemed to be dead in the Supreme Court verdict were in fact alive.

Following the revelation, the magistrate court in the Maradhoo ward of Addu City declared living a voter considered deceased by the Supreme Court.

The wife of a 48 year-old Male’ resident taken off the voter registry after being deemed deceased by the apex court meanwhile wrote to the Chief Justice asking for her widowhood to be reversed.

The EC and the Human Rights Commission have criticised the evidence used by the Supreme Court to annul the vote.

In an interview on October 19, Fuwad suggested the Supreme Court was disenfranchising individuals by invalidating votes of those who had address or name mismatches between their identity cards and the voter registry.

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Criminal Court cancels trials of MP ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam and senior MDP member

The Criminal Court has cancelled Thursday’s hearings in the trials of Maldives Development Alliance Leader and MP Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam and Maldivian Democratic Party member Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, after the court could not hand over summon chits to them.

Zaki is facing trial after he was arrested from the island of Hondaidhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll while he was allegedly in possession of cannabis and alcohol.

MP Shiyam is facing trial in a case where an alcohol bottle was allegedly discovered inside his luggage when he arrived from a trip abroad country.

The Criminal Court has recently sentenced MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor to six months after he failed to show up to the court for the hearings of a case in which he was charged for possessing cannabis and refusing to provide police a sample of his urine for drug testing.

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Maldives protestors hijack Twitter hashtag: Telegraph

“More than 50 Maldivian companies are attending this week’s event at London’s ExCel convention centre, where they hope to promote the Indian Ocean archipelago as an idyllic holiday destination,” writes Oliver Smith for the UK’s Telegraph.

Instead they may be asked to explain to visitors why the event’s official Twitter hashtag has been inundated with photos of the victims of alleged police brutality and tweets claiming democracy has been destroyed in the country.

Many of the messages are aimed at Qasim Ibrahim, one of the country’s richest businessmen and the owner of several luxury holiday resorts. Mr Ibrahim came third in the first round of voting for September’s presidential election, behind former president Mohamed Nasheed, the country’s first democratically-elected leader who was overthrown in an alleged coup last year, and a third candidate, Abdulla Yameen of the Progressive Party of Maldives. But Mr Ibrahim was able to convince the country’s Supreme Court to annul the vote, alleging electoral fraud, despite both the EU and the Commonwealth declaring the poll free and fair.

Others Twitter users utilised the hashtag to repeat claims made by Mr Nasheed that he was overthrown at the behest of resort owners. Others urge a tourist boycott of the country – something Mr Nasheed has also called for in the past. Tourism accounts for around a third of the country’s GDP.”

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Addu City Council member’s detention period extended to 10 days

A magistrate court has extended the detention period of Addu City Council member Ahmed Mirzadh, who was arrested with two other persons last night whilst allegedly drinking alcohol in the Equator Village resort in Addu City.

Police said that the three were arrested during a special operation conducted last night after police received information that three persons were drinking alcohol in Equator Village.

According to police, their remand detention was extended to further investigate the case.

The local media reported that the urine of the three persons tested positive for alcohol.

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Committee approves no-confidence motion against Prosecutor General

Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee has approved a no-confidence motion against Prosecutor General Ahmed Muiz with four votes in favour and three against.

Following today’s committee decision, the motion will be put to a vote at the People’s Majlis floor.

At the committee’s previous meeting on Monday (November 4), Muiz was asked to submit a response in writing after the meeting was disrupted by MPs of the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives, Jumhooree Party, and Dhivehi Qaumee Party.

The no-confidence motion against Muiz was filed by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party last month claiming that the PG had failed to prosecute police officers who mutinied against the former government and assaulted protesters. The party has accused the PG of “selectively” pursuing cases against its members while ignoring “human rights abuses” committed by police in the wake of the controversial transfer of presidential power on February 7, 2012.

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MP Hussain Waheed’s wife and daughter stabbed

Maldivian Democratic Party MP Hussain Waheed’s 29 year-old wife and four year-old daughter were stabbed in their apartment last night (November 5).

According to police, the assault is believed to have been the result of a family dispute. A 30 year-old man has since been taken into police custody.

Local media reported that the suspect, Mohamed Najah, was the brother of the Shaviyani Komandoo MPs’ wife. Najah had a criminal record for drug abuse and assault.

Following treatment at the ADK hospital, the condition of the mother and child is reportedly stable. The girl is however being monitored at the intensive care unit as a precaution.

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Elections Commission decides to verify all re-registration forms

The Elections Commission (EC) has decided to verify fingerprints on all re-registration forms submitted by citizens wishing to vote outside their home island after the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Jumhooree Party (JP) disputed the accuracy of the re-registration process.

EC Chair Fuwad Thowfeek told newspaper Haveeru this morning that 41,000 forms were sent to the Department of National Registration last night (November 5) and more would be sent once they were processed. The DNR forwards the forms to the police for fingerprint verification.

More than 71,000 people re-registered to vote elsewhere in the presidential election scheduled for Saturday, November 9.

While the PPM and JP threatened not to sign the lists yesterday, the candidates from both parties agreed to approve the registry following a meeting with President Dr Mohamed Waheed this morning.

The JP had asked the commission last night to verify all 71,000 voter re-registration forms, while the PPM asked for the verification of 6,000 forms in which the party had identified issues.

The Supreme Court, in its verdict annulling the September 7 vote, asked the EC to obtain fingerprints of all voters who wished to register to vote in a location other than their permanent address.

The JP claimed yesterday that they had received information from the DNR that the department had not been able to verify 12,000 fingerprints because the prints were unclear. An additional 3,000 forms had fingerprints that did not belong to the voter, JP alleged.

Thowfeek however told Minivan News yesterday that the DNR had noted problems with only 294 forms.

“But the DNR has not said even these forms are fraudulent. They told us the mismatch might be because the quality of database of fingerprints in their database is low. It may also be possible that the voter had given prints of two different fingers to the DNR and on the reregistration form,” he said.

The EC had called all 294 voters, and all voters have testified to the accuracy of the forms, Fuwad noted. There have been no complaints on reregistered location, he added.

“So I do not understand why the PPM wants us to verify another 6,000 forms. Two of the forms they have asked us to verify are that of two senior EC staff. And these staff have said they have no problems with their forms. So why should the PPM ask for verification? Even if they could point out a problem with 100 forms, they have grounds to complain. But there are no complaints,” Fuwad said.

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