Category: Politics

Gasim’s Villa group bankruptcy imminent

Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa Group is facing bankruptcy with the courts refusing to issue stay orders on a US$90 million payment to the state ahead of an April 18 deadline.

The civil court yesterday denied Villa’s requests for stay orders, stating the company does not face “irrevocable losses” if a notice by the tax authority to collect US$90 million in allegedly unpaid rent and fines is enforced.

The rulings pave the way for the state to freeze Villa’s bank accounts after April 18.

Gasim has said unfairly freezing Villa’s accounts would “impoverish thousands of citizens” and that the public does not want one of the largest companies in the country to “head towards bankruptcy.”

However, the court said the state could reimburse and compensate the company if the ongoing cases are decided in Villa’s favour.

The JP launched daily anti-government demonstrations in alliance with the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in early February.

However, since the notice was issued, Gasim has not been seen in opposition protests or made any comments on a deepening political crisis.

Gasim made an appearance on Villa TV on Saturday for the first time in weeks and appealed for discussions with the government to resolve the dispute, insisting that Villa does not owe the “imaginary” amount.

He noted the JP had not condemned the sentencing of former president Mohamed Nasheed to 13-years in jail on terrorism charges last month

“When the judiciary made a judgement I don’t want to comment on it,” he said.

The JP is remaining “silent” and presently does not have a “stand” of supporting any party, Gasim said.

The party is not officially a part of the ‘Maldivians against brutality’ campaign launched by the MDP and religious conservative Adhaalath Party, he added.

Two European banks have cancelled loans worth US$80 million due to media reports of the notice, Gasim said.

Gasim’s interview followed strong criticism from tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb at a ruling coalition rally last week. He accused the tycoon of hoarding islands and lagoons and refusing to pay money owed to the state.

Adeeb also said the JP leader was “in hiding” after unsuccessfully seeking the presidency through his opposition alliance.

In response, Gasim said he is following his best judgment and suggested Adeeb’s anger might stem from insecurity or “lack of self-confidence”.

However, Gasim said he does not bear “animosity towards anyone” and repeatedly said he is ready to meet president Abdulla Yameen or Adeeb at any time.

Senior members of the JP are active in street protests in their individual capacity, Gasim said.

Bankruptcy

The government denies the opposition’s accusations of unfairly targeting Gasim’s business following the JP’s split from the ruling coalition.

The tourism ministry terminated agreements for several properties leased to Villa and subsidiary companies on February 5, shortly after the JP formed the alliance with the MDP.

On February 26, a day before an MDP-JP anti-government mass rally, the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) gave a 30-notice for Villa to pay US$90 million allegedly owed as unpaid rent and fines for the seized properties.

Gasim did not attend the February 27 protest march after failing to return from a trip to Sri Lanka

After the 30-day notice expired, MIRA issued a 20-day notice warning Villa that its accounts will be frozen under the authority’s enforcement policy against defaulting taxpayers.

After the tourism ministry terminated the agreements, Villa filed five cases against the ministry in February, contending that the move was unlawful.

Five additional cases were filed against MIRA over the US$90 million notice.

In rulings during the past two weeks, the civil court refused to grant stay orders in any of the cases. Villa is currently in the process of appealing the rulings at the High Court.

While the court initially granted a stay order in one case in early February, the High Court overturned the ruling.

A Villa official told Minivan New today that the judge who granted the stay order was transferred to the drug court.

The official explained that the properties at stake were leased as part of a settlement agreement signed with the government on December 12, 2013, less than a month after president Yameen took office.

The settlement agreement was reached after the Supreme Court ordered the state to pay over US$9 million to Villa. As part of the settlement, the government signed ‘reinstated and amended lease agreements’ with Villa for several islands and lagoons.

Gasim noted that Villa paid the state about US$15.8 million eight years ago as advance payment for the leased properties.

However, MIRA issued the 30-day notice claiming Villa owed US$75 million as fines and more than US$14 million as unpaid rent dating back to the original lease agreements signed in 2006 and 2007.

Under the settlement agreement, the government had agreed to forgo rents for the leased islands and lagoons for five years and seven years, respectively.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the tax authority is seeking US$100 million from the Villa Group, based on statements by Gasim Ibrahim. The company has since explained that the accurate figure is US$90 million. 

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Religious scholars warn of God’s wrath over corruption and injustice

A group of religious scholars have warned of God’s wrath on the Maldives due to rampant corruption, brutality, and injustice.

Prominent scholars including former Islamic minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari and former member of the judicial watchdog Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman described the Maldives as a country “drowning in a sea of atrocities” and pleaded with president Abdulla Yameen to heed the opposition’s calls for dialogue.

“The Maldives is on the verge of an imminent God’s wrath. The executive and the judiciary have lost its powers and trust while the nation has forgotten that God has handed down justice,” read the joint statement by 15 scholars.

President’s office spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali welcomed the statement, but said there were no specific allegations to respond to.

“Everybody including the religious scholars has the right to voice their opinions and I welcome it. But if they are accusing the government of something there has to be specifics,” he told Minivan News today.

Religious scholars have not spoken out as a group against corruption in the judiciary and independent institutions so far despite low public confidence and a sex scandal in mid-2013 involving a Supreme Court justice.

The religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) has meanwhile come under fire for its use of religious rhetoric for political campaigning.

The opposition-aligned scholars in Tuesday’s statement also criticised the trials of former president Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim.

The accused are required to prove their innocence in some cases while in others defendants are cleared of charges because the state fails to establish guilt with sufficient evidence, they noted.

“This is not accepted even in human laws let alone the Islamic sharia,” the scholars said.

While the executive power boasts of its focus on youth development, the scholars said the government is paving the “path to ruin” for young people. Institutions that should serve the people are “rotting with corruption”, they contended.

Corruption in all ranks of the government has become commonplace, accepted, and even necessary for advancement, the scholars said.

The ministry of Islamic affairs last month issued an incendiary sermon warning corrupt judges of hellfire.

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Government to stop flow of Maldivians joining jihad

The government is working on a new law to deter a growing number of Maldivians seeking to join radical Islamic movements in Iraq and Syria.

Home minister Umar Naseer told Haveeru the attorney general’s office had drafted legislation that would criminalize the act of leaving the Maldives to participate in foreign wars.

However, the attorney general’s office said only “discussions had been held on drafting a law.” Naseer was unavailable for comment as he is currently in Qatar for a UN congress on crime prevention and criminal justice.

The police chief in January said there are over 50 Maldivians fighting in foreign wars, but the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party estimates the number to be as high as 200.

At least seven have reportedly died while fighting in Syria in the past year.

Another seven Maldivians were arrested in Srilanka and Malaysia on the suspicion of attempting to travel to Syria for jihad, but were released in Malé as the law does not recognise the act as an offence.

Prosecutor general Muhthaz Muhsin welcomed the move, but said Maldivians going abroad to fight in foreign wars could be prosecuted in provisions in the new penal code.

The penal code was due to come into force on Monday, but the ruling party delayed it by three months claiming more time was needed to raise awareness on its provisions.

“I believe putting a stop Maldivians going abroad to fight is very important. The new penal code would be helpful in these kinds of cases,” Muhsin told Minivan News.

The new penal code criminalizes participation in a criminal organization and contributing money to such an organization.

A counter-terrorism expert, who wished to remain anonymous, welcomed the government’s plans, but cautioned: “As we have seen so many times, legislation alone does not always solve the problem. The government also needs to put together a cross-governmental plan of action to tackle the wider issue incorporating the aspect of prevention.”

The law must criminalize financing and membership of terrorist organizations, and recruiting members and training in such organizations, they said.

The Police Commissioner Hussain Waheed earlier this year said that 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 not able to [present a threat] in the Maldives.”

Maldivians who have reportedly left the country for Syria include immigration officers, hospital workers, members of Malé’s criminal gangs, and entire families including infants.

Suspects in the murder of an MP and the disappearance of Minivan News journalist are also reported to have left for jihad.

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Father and daughter injured in hit-and-run accident in Addu City

A father and daughter were injured in Addu City last night in the second accident in the southernmost atoll this week.

Meanwhile, two young men have died in two separate accidents on April 10 and March 30.

According to local media, Mohamed Faiz, 43, was driving on a motorcycle with his daughter, Fazana Mohamed, 23, when it collided with a jeep on the link road around 8:50pm.

Fazana was treated at the operation theatre for internal bleeding at the Hithadhoo regional hospital. Her father’s injuries were not severe.

Police declared a search for the driver of the jeep who “fled the scene.” Police located the jeep, hidden in a garage, this evening and arrested the 40-year-old driver.

Hussein Hilmy, an Addu City councillor, told Minivan News today that work is currently underway to implement recommendations made by a team from the transport ministry on improving road safety.

Hilmy said more police officers are needed to effectively control traffic.

However, police said most accidents in Addu City were caused by speeding rather than traffic congestion.

“With the help of the Addu council secretariat we are trying to raise public awareness on the issue of going past the speed limit and the rule of the use of helmets by both the driver and the passenger on the specified area of the road,” a police media official said.

All motorcycle riders are now required to wear helmets on the Addu City link road, which connects three interlinked islands.

A 22-year-old young man died from injuries sustained in an accident that occurred on the Feydhoo main road after midnight on April 10.

The victim was identified as Mamdhoon Ahmed Ali Didi ‘Mandey.’ He was on the back seat of a motorcycle driven by his 20-year-old friend, Ahmed Sammah.

Police said the accident occurred around 1:20am when the motorcycle attempted to overtake a car at a relatively high speed, lost control, and crashed into a wall.

Mamdhoon was thrown into the air and hit the wall. He suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead at the regional hospital around 5:00am.

The second victim is still in critical condition with head injuries and has been transferred to the capital for further treatment.

Mamdhoon was completing a course at Professor Hassan Ugail’s scientific research lab on the island of Vaavaru in Lhaviyani atoll.

He was reportedly planning to leave for Indonesia next month for a dive-master course.

A 16-year-old victim of an accident in Addu City meanwhile died of injuries on March 30 while undergoing treatment at the regional hospital.

An 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl also sustained injuries after the two motorcycles collided in the Hithadhoo link road.

In November, a 33-year-old man died following a motorcycle accident whilst two men died in September after their motorcycle collided with a pickup.

Some 71 accidents have occurred throughout the country in April with 651 accidents so far this year.

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New penal code will ‘bury’ Islamic sharia

A religious NGO has said the new penal code will “bury” the principles of Islamic sharia in the Maldives, as it does not criminalise apostasy or include punishments of stoning for adultery and amputation for theft.

“We note with regret that this law has been formulated on a secular, liberal basis that is alien to the purposes of Islamic sharia, after changing the whole shape of the Islamic sharia that should be enforced upon Muslims in an Islamic country,” the conservative Jamiyyathul Salaf said in a statement on Sunday.

Salaf’s statement was released shortly before the pro-government majority in parliament delayed implementation of the penal code by three months, a day before it was due to come into force.

Ruling party MP Ahmed Nihan said more time is needed to raise awareness among the public and address concerns of religious scholars.

The law was ratified on April 13 last year, nine years after it was first submitted to parliament.

The current penal code was adopted in 1968 and has been widely criticised as outdated, draconian and unsuited to the 2008 constitution. The new law has meanwhile been touted as the first time Islamic sharia has been codified while upholding minimum international human rights standards.

However, Salaf claimed attempts to portray the law as sharia-compliant were intended to “deceive the citizens of a 100 percent Islamic nation”.

As the law currently states that shariah punishments must be meted out only for crimes with a punishment fixed in the Quran, Salaf argued that it “completely does away with” the Sunnah (Prophetic traditions) under a “secular philosophy”.

The Sunnah is one of the “fundamental sources” of sharia law and specifies how punishments prescribed in the Quran must be enforced, Salaf said.

The law will also make it easier for criminals to escape punishment and encourage youth to offend, Salaf contended, claiming it was drafted by lawyers with a view to increasing their income.

The language of the law and criteria for constituting a crime are “alien to the principles of Islamic criminal jurisprudence,” Salaf argued.

The mandatory punishment for wrongfully accusing a chaste Muslim of adultery or homosexuality in the law is a jail term of no more than four years, Salaf noted, while meting out the sharia punishment of 80 lashes is left to the discretion of judges.

The offences of ‘murder and reckless manslaughter,’ ‘involuntary manslaughter,’ and ‘negligent manslaughter’ are based on English common law and is contrary to the degrees of murder in sharia, Salaf said.

Several punishments fixed in the Quran and Sunnah such as amputation of the hand for theft, death by stoning for adultery, death for highway robbery, and death or banishment for apostasy are not enforced in the Maldives.

However, flogging for pre-marital sex is implemented while the current administration has ended a six-decade moratorium on the death penalty.

Codifying sharia

In an op-ed published on newspaper Haveeru on April 7, former deputy prosecutor general Hussain Shameem stated that the Maldives is the first Islamic country to pass a criminal law in accordance with sharia and international standards.

While sharia punishments are specified in laws of other Islamic nations, Shameem said the Maldives’ penal code was drafted on the basis of codifying sharia.

“Therefore, the law will not include parts of principles contrary to Islam,” he wrote.

The law criminalises fornication, eating during daylight hours in Ramadan, consumption of alcohol and pork, and anti-Islamic activities, he added.

All crimes with punishments prescribed in the Quran are included, he continued, including the death penalty for murder.

“Therefore, the new penal code of the Maldives is in line with Islamic sharia and a victory for Islamic sharia,” Shameem asserted.

As a senior legal consultant at the Legal Sector Resource Centre established by the attorney general’s office with assistance from the UNDP, Shameem has been involved in training more than 1,100 individuals, including state prosecutors, lawyers, staff and members of independent commissions, customs officers, and 98 percent of police investigators.

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Aminiya principal sacked to ‘avoid further damages’ to school

Aminiya School principal Aishath Athiya Naseer has been fired on orders from the education ministry.

According to local media, the civil service commission told Athiya yesterday that the education ministry believed her continued presence will cause “further damages” to the school.

The education ministry confirmed the sacking, but declined to provide further information.

A senior teacher who wished to remain anonymous told Minivan News today that teachers and students were “shocked and deeply saddened” by Athiya’s dismissal, which most faculty members believe to be politically motivated.

Athiya was appointed principal in 2011 and is the wife of former opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP Ahmed Abdulla.

Most teachers have signed a petition asking the ministry to explain why Athiya has been considered a threat to the school.

The senior teacher said Athiya is very professional, diplomatic, and had always followed the education ministry’s instructions.

The ministry’s actions have left teachers unsure of their job security, the teacher added: “Who knows who will get dismissed tomorrow saying they are a threat?”

Ali Sulaiman, treasurer of the school’s parent teacher association, suggested that Athiya’s sacking followed the PTA raising concerns with the ministry over students at the adjacent Centre for Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) using Aminiya’s science laboratories.

The parents were concerned about older boys from CHSE interacting with younger girls at Aminiya, Sulaiman said.

“We never denied CHSE students of use of our lab. They should also be given the chance to learn. However, our concern was how to manage all of the students as we also have a similar problems with capacity due to the falling of concrete structures in old buildings,” he explained.

The PTA requested a visit from education minister Dr Aishath Shiham to inspect the state of disrepair of the school’s building.

However, the minister did not say whether or not she would visit the school. The following day, the school received a letter from the ministry with instructions to fire Athiya, he continued.

“It is very difficult to understand the reason the ministry is giving. Our concern is to solve the problems in the school. It does not seem to us that sacking Athiya is the solution,”said Sulaiman.

Last month, at least five employees at state-owned companies were fired and several more were suspended after they attended opposition protests, which have now entered its tenth week. The opposition is campaigning for the release of former President Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim from jail.

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Opposition allege corruption in Thilafushi port deal

The opposition has alleged corruption in a new government deal with a Dubai-based marine terminal operator to establish a commercial port and free trade zone near Malé.

Opposition members have criticised the deal over an apparent lack of transparency, noting the government had signed an MoU with Dubai Ports (DP) World last month without an open bidding process.

DP World, among the world’s largest ports operators, is expected to invest up to US$300 million in a deep-water complex on the industrial island of Thilafushi, and create hundreds of jobs for Maldivians according to the government.

Tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb said the government will sign an agreement for a joint-venture company with DP World this month.

Former MP and MDP member Visam Ali said DP World was only interested in the Maldives to protect its multi-billion dollar port in India’s Cochin.

“Dubai World has already made a huge investment in the Maldives region. There are three main ports in this region, Colombo, Tutticorin and Cochin. Dubai World has made a US$2billion investment in the Cochin port, to handle a million containers at the same time,” she said at a rally in Kulhudhuffushi this weekend.

“Their only reason to invest in the Maldives is to protect that investment, because if there is a major port in the Maldives their investment in the Cochin port will fail. Maldives’ strategic location will make a port here more beneficial to traders. So Dubai World knows if there is a major port in the Maldives, their Cochin port will not be economically viable. So they are attempting to take control of the Maldives port. There is black money in this.”

Adeeb and DP World were unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

Meanwhile, London-based maritime analysts Drewry Equity have characterised DP World’s interest in the Maldives as an attempt to take on Colombo’s position in the Indian Ocean, as the Maldives is “more strategically ideal as a cross-road between Far East-Europe and Far East-Africa trade lanes than the Colombo port.”

However, a Maldives port may “cannibalise” transshipment volume at DP World’s main port at Jebel Ali, Drewry said, adding that the best strategy for the company would be to operate the Maldives port as a low margin facility, possibly in partnership with a shipping line.

The maritime research organisation also said Maldives as a transshipment hub “is a digression from DP World’s core strategy of handling higher gateway cargoes, which allows for higher margins.”

Ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed Nihan last week said the port was a first step in transforming the country into Singapore.

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Convict alleges president’s involvement in MP Afrasheem’s murder

Hussain Humam has alleged president Abdulla Yameen and tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb’s involvement in the murder of MP Afrasheem Ali while contesting his conviction for the killing.

At the first hearing of his appeal at the High Court today, Humam, who was sentenced to death in January 2014, reportedly said the pair “will know best” the details of the crime.

The late moderate religious scholar and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP was brutally stabbed to death on October 1, 2013 in a murder that shocked the nation.

Suspicion has since been cast upon the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), religious extremists and president  Yameen. Humam is the only person convicted so far despite police saying the murder was planned and politically motivated.

Adeeb has meanwhile accused the MDP and Humam’s lawyer, Abdulla Haseen, of orchestrating Humam’s remarks at court in a “character assassination” attempt.

“He has confessed to killing Afrasheem at the lower court. Because he knows he will get a death sentence after the appeal at the High Court, this is part of political plans to save himself,” Adeeb was quoted as saying by newspaper Haveeru.

The MDP was “feeding” Humam the allegations, he added.

Humam’s allegations today follow a leaked letter linking Yameen to the murder allegedly written by home minister Umar Naseer in mid-2013.

The letter addressed to ex-president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom surfaced on social media earlier this month. However, Naseer said the letter was forged.

At a 2013 rally, Naseer said he had witnessed a visit to Yameen at the PPM’s office by a suspect who was arrested and questioned by police over Afrasheem’s murder.

In an exclusive interview with Minivan News in January 2014, Naseer described his allegations against Yameen as merely “political rhetoric” and repetition of the “MDP’s lines”.

According to local media, Humam told judges today that he has suffered psychological harm as a result of being jailed for almost three years for a crime he did not commit.

The judge reportedly cut short Humam’s remarks.

Concluding the hearing, the five-judge panel granted a request for 10 days to prepare the appeal.

Humam was arrested within hours after Afrasheem’s body was found and charged with murder in January 2013. After pleading not guilty, Humam confessed to the killing at a hearing in May 2013 and gave a detailed account of the murder.

However, a month later, Humam retracted the confession, claiming police obtained it through coercion.

A second suspect charged with murder, Ali Shan, was acquitted of murder in September last year with the court citing insufficient evidence.

Shan was implicated in Humam’s confession, but the judge said several witnesses had testified that the accused was at a restaurant at the time the murder took place.

A third suspect, Azlif Rauf, who Humam said planned the murder, meanwhile left to Turkey with six members of Malé’s Kuda Henveiru gang in January.

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Sniffer dog locates 300 grams of heroin in first raid

A sniffer dog has located 300 grams of heroin in the Maldives’ first drug raid involving dogs.

The police, with the dog’s help, managed to recover two packets of what they say was a major stash of drugs at a private residence in Malé on Saturday night, after suspects flushed an unknown quantity of illegal drugs down the toilet.

Superintendent of police Ahmed Shifan said the drug bust was “a major green light that sniffer dogs can help resolve the Maldives’ drug problem.”

Police estimate the street value of confiscated heroin at MVR600,000 (US$39,063). A 26-year-old from Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo was arrested from Carnation Lodge.

Dogs are illegal in the Maldives for religious reasons, but home minister Umar Naseer last month brought in 16 puppies from the Netherlands to tackle the Maldives’ entrenched drug abuse and trafficking problem.

Local media reported a woman at the scene fainted on seeing the dog, but police say they believe the woman had fainted after seeing the narcotics at her home.

“These are false reports, we believe she fainted after the drugs were discovered, not because she saw the dogs,” Shifan said.

He said the police will not use the dogs to incite fear among the public.

The dog squad reportedly cost the government US$40,000. Custom-made kennels have been established at the airport, and the government has brought in British and Dutch trainers to train police officers on working with the dogs.

Naseer has meanwhile tasked the language academy with naming the 16 puppies. The academy last month invented a new Dhivehi word for the dog squad, ‘faaregema.’

Police were only authorised to use sniffer dogs in operations on Thursday. Shifan said the dogs will also be used to detect counterfeit money.

Last year, the police confiscated 44 kilograms of drugs in 31 nation-wide operations.

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