Category: News in Brief

Police bust Maldivian drug network in Sri Lanka

Police have busted an international drug network operated by a group of Maldivians in Sri Lanka following a two-year long operation.

Police superintendent Ahmed Shifan said three Maldivians were arrested with 165 grams of heroin and a large amount of cash in a joint operation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Department (DED) and the Sri Lankan Narcotics Bureau.

Shifan, head of the DED, said the three were suspected of carrying out large-scale drug trafficking through several countries, including Pakistan, Thailand, China, and India.

The first suspect arrested in the case – a 25-year-old – had travelled to these countries with fake passports numerous times since 2012, Shifan said.

Shifan also said that a Maldivian woman was recently arrested in Sri Lanka with 100 grams of cannabis.

However, the woman has since been released because cannabis is considered a soft drug in Sri Lanka.

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Gasim’s company requests delay to $100m fine

Politician Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa Group has asked to delay payment of a $100million payment for fines and rent levied by the government on a series of island and lagoon leases, Haveeru reports.

The government has been seeking to end agreements with Villa over the leases, and said in February the group of companies owed them USD 100 million (MVR 1.5 billion) to be paid within 30 days.

Villa has also requested a suspension of the Tourism Ministry’s order to terminate the lease agreements, and has filed ten lawsuits over the termination of deals related to six uninhabited islands.

The civil court had earlier granted a hold on the termination notices, but this was rescinded after an appeal.

Villa last week said that it still had four years left to develop the islands under the original contracts, and therefore it  did not believe it should have to pay the fines before that time.

The fine was levied after Gasim and his Jumhooree Party left the ruling coalition and allied with the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, taking part in a series of protests which began on February 10th.

“Even though Gasim has not been put behind prison bars, the government has economically paralysed him,” Ameen Ibrahim, deputy leader of the Jumhooree Party, said earlier this month.

Speaking at the same press conference, Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla accused the government of planning to seize all of Gasim’s assets and making sure he was “unable to move his hands or legs” in his defence.

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Parliament to consider mandatory Shariah punishments

Anara Naeem MP; Haa Dhaal Makunudhoo; Adhaalath1

An amendment to make Islamic Shariah punishments mandatory in the new penal code was accepted for consideration at today’s sitting of the People’s Majlis.

Proposed by Adhaalath Party MP Anara Naeem, the amendment to article 1,205(a) (Dhivehi) reads: “If a person is found guilty of a crime with qisas [retaliation in kind] or hadd [a punishment fixed in the Quran or teachings of the Prophet], the sentence must be the penalty prescribed in Islamic Shariah.”

Introducing the amendment, the MP for Haa Dhaal Makunudhoo referred to Article 10(b) of the Constitution, which states, “No law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.”

The new penal code is due to come into force on April 13. Anara noted that the law currently states that Islamic Shariah punishments must be meted out only for crimes with a punishment fixed in the Quran.

The purpose of her amendment is to “further improve” the provision in line with the constitution, Anara said.

The six crimes with punishments fixed in the Quran are theft (amputation of the hand), illicit sexual relations (death by stoning or one hundred lashes), making unproven accusations of illicit sex (eighty lashes), drinking intoxicants (eighty lashes), apostasy (death or banishment), and highway robbery (death).

The only one of these punishments that is currently implemented is the flogging punishment for illicit sexual relations, normally enforced on women. However, the home minister last year established a death chamber at Maafushi jail, ending a six-decade moratorium on the death penalty.

The amendment bill was unanimously accepted for consideration with 44 votes in favour and sent to the National Security Committee for further review.

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ibrahim Riza also proposed several amendments to the penal code on behalf of the government to correct minor errors and problems noted during the preparations for implementing the new law.

The government-sponsored legislation proposes amending issues of conflicting interpretations and confusing provisions as well as reordering sections.

Riza’s bill was accepted with 40 votes in favour and two abstentions.

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Five-year-old ‘almost poisoned by mother’

A five-year-old boy in Laamu atoll Maabaidhoo has been saved from his mother’s attempt to poison him, media reports said.

The Indian woman had tried to poison her son by barricading herself inside her home and pouring pesticide in to the boy’s mouth on Monday night, said Ibrahim Shareef, the Island Council President, according to local media.

The woman had already been arrested and released over a family dispute on Sunday evening in which she threatened to kill the child, Haveeru reported.

The council went to the woman’s home, concerned for the family’s welfare, but found all the doors closed. They broke down the door to find the child being fed pesticide, but were able to intervene and save him.

The woman had made previous attempts on her children’s lives, the report said.

Shareef said the boy had been treated at Maabaidhoo Health Centre.

In a separate case in 2010, the Indian wife of a Maldivian man was arrested after being accused of infanticide. The state was unable to provide her with an attorney, so the case stalled and she was confined in Dhoonidhoo detention center for four years before being released without charge.

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Adhaalath condemns Maldives abstention on UN gay vote

The religious conservative Adhaalath Party has condemned the government for abstaining from a United Nations vote on a resolution against providing gay marital benefits to all UN employees.

The secretary general of the Adhaalath Party, which condemns homosexuality, told Vnews the abstention indicated that the Maldives did not oppose providing the marital benefits for gay couples.

In a tweet yesterday, Adhaalath said that it was “shameful” that the Maldives abstained from voting on the resolution, which was voted down last week.

Secretary general Iaadh Hameed added that the government’s foreign policy should be built upon Islamic principles and values, and that those policies should not encourage irreligious acts.

The vote on the resolution was held on March 24, after Russia challenged UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s decision to provide marital benefits to legally wed gay and lesbian couples similar to those provided to heterosexual couples.

However, the UN General Assembly rejected the resolution, with 80 countries voting against it, 43 countries voted in favour and 37 countries abstaining.

While China, Belarus and Muslim-majority Malaysia voted in favour of the resolution, Muslim-majority Indonesia also abstained.

Previously, the Maldives government had strongly criticised the European Union, saying that EU asked the Maldives to legalise same sex marriage and freedom of religion in exchange for extending duty-free status on Maldivian fish.

Economic development minister Mohamed Saeed claimed at the time that the EU declined to extend the duty exemption after Maldives refused the condition of “allowing homosexual relations and the opportunity for people to follow any religion they want”.

“The Maldives is an Islamic state and will remain so. We will uphold Islam. We will not compromise on anything that conflicts with Islam,” he said.

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Anti Corruption watchdog suspends government’s flagship loan scheme

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) today suspended President Abdulla Yameen’s flagship loan scheme, Get Set, after receiving a complaint alleging corruption.

The ACC declined to reveal additional details.

Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Maleeh Jamal insisted the youth entrepreneurial loan scheme was transparent and pledged to cooperate with the investigation.

“We do not have anything to hide. It is being carried out much more transparently than that. We have given all the information ACC wants, including copies of files of the mark sheets,” Maleeh told local media.

Get set program was originally launched by president Yameen’s government to help young businessmen with establishing and starting up of their businesses.

The Get Set Program offers loans between MVR 300,000 ($19,506) to MVR 800,000 ($52015.61), to Maldivian entrepreneurs between 18-35 years of age. The deadline for submission was February 28.

The Ministry of Youth previously reported it had received 570 applications and had shortlisted 107. These will be sent to the Get Set programme board, who will determine the final recipients.

“The forms have not been forwarded to the Get Set board yet. They are still with a preliminary technical committee. The members of the committee are very knowledgeable and carrying out their task very well and very transparently. The committee also includes an observer from the UNDP. We the guarantee you there is no space for corruption,” Maleeh said.

The ACC has said it will complete the investigation as soon as possible.

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Bangladeshi High Commission sets up 24 hour helpline for migrant workers

The Bangladeshi High Commission in Malé has opened a 24-hour help line for Bangladeshi migrant workers in the Maldives.

The helpline (number: +960 332 0859) was established after migrant workers in Malé called for a protest on Friday following a spate of violence against migrant workers. Two Bangladeshi nationals were killed and at least four were stabbed in Malé.

Shaheen Mia, 25, was stabbed to death in a café in Maafannu ward on March 22, while another, identified as Bilal, was found dead, possibly strangled to death on Alif Alif Thoddoo Island the next day.

The protest was called off after the Department of Immigration threatened to cancel visas.

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Sheikh Mohamed Didi resigns from Ministry of Islamic Affairs

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Didi resigned from the government on Saturday.

Didi, a member of religious Adhaalath Party’s (AP) consultative council, said he resigned to respect the party’s March 17 decision to withdraw support for President Abdulla Yameen’s administration.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Didi said the religious conservative party had unconditionally backed Yameen during the 2013 presidential polls with immense hope, but the president had only shown “brutality” towards citizens.

Didi accused the government of jailing opposition politicians, claiming the illegal weapons charge against former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim was fabricated. He said his attempts at resolving issues within the government were unsuccessful, and said he would now join the opposition’s activities.

The Adhaalath Party has allied with its former rival, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), under the banner “Alliance Against Brutality” and called on President Yameen to free imprisoned former President Mohamed Nasheed and former Defence Minister Nazim.

AP member and Deputy Minister for Law and Gender Shidhatha Shareef also resigned from the government on March 22.

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Nazim unfairly sentenced after an investigation and trial “rigged with irregularities,” says MDP

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has condemned in the “strongest terms” the sentencing of former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim to 11 years in jail.

The Criminal Court on March 26 found Nazim guilty of smuggling weapons. Denying the accusation, Nazim had said the weapons were planted at his home by rogue officers on the orders of Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb.

Both the police and the Tourism Minister have dismissed Nazim’s claims as baseless and untrue.

The MDP said Nazim was sentenced in an investigation and a trial “rigged with irregularities.”

“Despite the state not being able to disprove the contradictions in testimony given by state witnesses and the irregularities in the Police investigation raised by the defence, the court sentenced Col. (Rtd) Nazim to 11 years in jail,” the party said in a statement today.

The MDP noted the Criminal Court did allow Nazim’s legal team to call the majority of defence witnesses on the claim they would “not negate” the prosecution’s evidence.

The opposition party also said the court had refused to address the “blatant irregularities” evident in the Maldives Police Service’s investigation of the case, ranging from the initial warrant to search the former Defence Minister’s residence, to the chain of custody process in relation to the weapons that were supposedly found in his apartment.

The statement also noted the “unlawful” trial was presided over by the same three judges who sentenced former President Mohamed Nasheed to 13 years in jail on terrorism charges on March 13.

“The sentences against President Mohamed Nasheed and Col. (Rtd) Nazim, arrests of over 120 people, including MPs and media, and the sending of 90 cases for prosecution against people detained from peaceful protests highlight the politicisation of the entire criminal justice system,” the MDP said.

‘There is no separation between the Government and the Judiciary in the pursuit of their political objectives. Their attempts to eliminate their political opponents through politically motivated charges and sham trials do not contain even a veneer of due process,” said MDP Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.

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