Category: Society & Culture

Criminal Court extends detention of two suspects in Dr Afrasheem’s murder case

The Criminal Court has extended the pre-trial detention period of two suspects arrested in connection with the murder of MP and religious scholar Dr Afrasheem Ali.

Local press identified the two suspects as Ali Hashim ‘Smith’ from the island of Dhidhoo in Haa Alifu Atoll, and Hassan Humam from Male’.

The Criminal Court and the police did not give any information to the public on the case and did not revealed what evidence was obtained and produced to the court.

However, Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel held a press conference on Sunday where he said that police had found enough evidence to bring the culprits to justice. He declined to provide further details but said police would soon provide more information.

Little is known about the investigation as the police and the government have not divulged any information relating to the investigation.

At a recent Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally, former President Mohamed Nasheed alleged that Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz would by now know the person behind the murder and called on the government to bring them before justice.

Nasheed also recalled that police had not been providing any information on the case and claimed that the government was not doing enough to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Several days later, President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik responded to these comments by saying the investigation was underway and that the police would update the public on the investigation.

Minivan News understands that another suspect was arrested in connection with the case, after the police noticed that on the night of Afrasheem’s murder he wore the same colored shirt as caught on the CCTV footage near the area where Afrasheem was murdered.

According to a family member of the suspect arrested, he has not been released yet and his pre-trial detention period has been continuously extended along with the other suspects.

Afrasheem was killed on October 1. His wife discovered the body lying on the staircase of their home.

Immediately prior to his murder Afrasheem had made his last public appearanceon a live talkshow on TVM titled “Islamee Dhiriulhun” (Islamic Living).

In his last words, Afrasheem said that he was deeply saddened and asked for forgiveness from citizens if he had created a misconception in their minds due to his inability to express himself in the right manner.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed was quoted in local media as saying that the Islamic Ministry had not forced Afrasheem to offer a public apology for anything during his last television appearance and disputed that there was any religious motivation in the death of the moderate scholar.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has sought assistance from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Singaporean police to analyse 200 items collected as evidence during the ongoing investigation.

Evidence gathered so far includes recordings of phone conversations, forensic samples and over 300 hours of CCTV footage, which were being analysed at the police forensic laboratory with the help of foreign experts.

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Court scheduling practices enabling judicial corruption: senior legal official

A senior legal official who served under the current and former administrations has claimed the country’s legal system is wide open to corruption, by allowing individual judges to schedule court hearings at their whim.

The legal figure, who has been involved in some of the country’s highest profile cases in recent years, told Minivan News that it was “quite evident” that the lack of a centralised system for scheduling legal hearings was not only resulting in massive inefficiency, but also allowing for corruption within the country’s court system.

Both the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office and the country’s judicial watchdog body have maintained they have limited involvement at present in deciding when hearings should be scheduled – with almost all decisions being taken by individual courts.

However, a PG’s Office spokesperson claimed that the Criminal Procedure Code presently sitting within the People’s Majlis was, if passed, anticipated to allow pre-trial hearings to give the prosecution and other parties a greater say in agreeing general timeliness for trials.

The senior legal source, who asked to remain anonymous, concurred that the responsibility for scheduling trial and sentencing hearings was presently the responsibility of individual courts and the judges overhearing them. The source alleged the system had created a situation where the judiciary, in certain cases, set hearings either as soon as possible, or instead delay them for up to several years depending on their own preferences and political motivations.

Such inconsistencies within the scheduling of several cases involving senior parliament and political figures – or their close associates – had left courts open to allegations of corruption and political motivation, the senior legal official claimed.

In one case submitted by the PG’s Office that involved a staff member working for former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom facing allegations of child abuse, the source claimed there had been a delay of several years between the trial’s last last hearing and sentencing – despite all evidence having been submitted to the court.

“The judge presiding over the trail announced that the next hearing would be to deliver sentencing, but there had been delays of several years before this was scheduled,” the source claimed. “I understand letters were written by the PG’s Office asking to expedite the case, yet the situation [of delayed hearings] is quite common.”

The legal source claimed that this was just one example of a number of cases that had undergone significant delays – sometimes over the space of years – awaiting their next hearing within the nation’s courts without any specified reason.

“There must be hundreds of cases like this,” he said. “There is no central system for scheduling hearings, just six or seven judges all acting independently of each other.”

In outlining alleged inconsistencies within the scheduling of court hearings, the source pointed to the decision of the Criminal Court on February 23 this year to dismiss three long-standing counts of fraud against Parliament Deputy Speaker and ruling-coalition aligned MP Ahmed Nazim all at once.

The decision was taken by the court 16 days after the controversial transfer of power on February 7, with the presiding judge stating that Nazim’s “acts were not enough to criminalise him”.

“The Criminal Court dropped all of Mr Nazim’s cases,” the anonymous source claimed. I had never seen a criminal case where so much evidence failed to lead to a conviction.”

In an interview to the local media outlet Sun following the rulings, Nazim claimed that a total of four cases against him over alleged fraud were baseless and had been leveled by former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, using false evidence.

Nasheed is currently being tried over the detention of a Criminal Court chief Judge, who he alleges took the country’s legal system into his own hands and posed a threat to “national security”.

Aside from allegations of potential corruption, the source also raised fears that the present lack of a centralised scheduling system was failing to promote accountability or efficiency in the nation’s judiciary.

“If for instance the PG’s Office files two different cases about the same suspect, the courts might schedule one hearing for today and another next week, with the judge unaware that there are pending cases against the suspect.

Mandate

Responding to Minivan News over the allegations of potential judicial corruption, court watchdog the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) referred the matter to the Department of Judicial Administration, saying the scheduling of hearings and any such concerns were not within its mandate.

“The scheduling of court hearings are administrative procedures undertaken by individual courts,” the JSC said.

The Department of Judical Services meanwhile said that when hearing criminal cases there presently existed no time limits by which time court hearings should be scheduled.

“In Criminal cases, there are no regulations stipulating requirements about such time limits. However, the court works on a guideline administratively adopted” said department spokesperson Ahmed Maajid.

Minivan News was still waiting for a response from the Department of Judical Services about these administrative guidelines at time of press.

Questioned as to whether the legal sources were shared by the prosecutor general, a spokesperson for the PG’s Office told Minivan News that it was for the courts to determine the schedule of court hearings.

“Generally we are not involved, unless, for example, a hearing involves travel to some of the country’s outer islands, then we might discuss a schedule with the courts,” he said.

The PG’s Office said it did not “usually” write to the courts regarding the issue of court scheduling , unless it had itself received complaints over the matter.

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Audit report flags irregularities in Elections Commission finances

The audit report of the Elections Commission (EC) for 2011 has flagged several expenses in violation of public finance law and regulations.

The report (Dhivehi) made public on Wednesday listed 20 cases of expenditure made by the EC ostensibly in violation of the Public Finance Act and regulations under the law.

Of MVR 19.2 million (US$123,216) sent by the commission to atoll offices for the local council elections in February 2011, the audit found that MVR 1.4 million (US$90,791) was entered into the EC’s financial statement despite not receiving either confirmation or details of the how the funds were spent.

Moreover, while a contract was awarded to a local company for MVR 4.9 million (US$317,769) to print ballot papers following a public announcement by the EC, the audit noted that the commission did not propose it to the tender evaluation board as required for projects exceeding MVR 1.5 million (US$97,276).

The audit also uncovered that the commission paid MVR334,700 (US$21,705) to a company contracted to provide sea transportation during the council elections, for trips not included in the agreement.

While MVR 536,803 (US$34,812) was agreed upon in the contract for 56 trips, the EC ended up paying the company MVR871,503 (US$56,517) due to a number of additional trips.

Agreements made with private parties to hire temporary staff as well as vehicles for use during the council elections could not be found among the EC’s documents, the audit report noted.

A total of MVR 183,238 (US11,883) was however paid for vehicles and short-term staff for the elections in February 2011.

The audit meanwhile could not verify whether deposits from 91 candidates for the council elections, who either received less than 10 percent of the vote or whose candidacies were invalidated, were entered into the state income account.

Based on documentation at the EC, the audit was also unable to verify whether deposits for 1,254 candidates were ever returned.

Phone expenses

Among the other cases highlighted in the report, the audit discovered that commission members spent extra days overseas during official trips to attend seminars and workshops.

The cost of the extended stays during such trips between January 2010 and April 2012 amounted to MVR50,438 (US$3,270) for food, incidentals and pocket money.

The audit also found that commission members transferred phone credit worth MVR5,585 (US$362) from their mobile phones, the bills for which are paid out of the EC budget.

An examination of international calls by commission members showed that a number of such calls were not related to official business.

The audit further revealed that from April 2010 to April 2012, MVR 92,009 (US$5,967) was spent out of the EC budget to pay mobile phone bills of commission members.

A total of MVR 116,954 (US$7,584) was meanwhile paid to EC employees as phone allowances in 2011.

The audit discovered that between December 2007 and August 2011, the commission spent MVR 248,790 (US$16,134) to buy 30 mobile phones for senior staff.

Based on a decision by the former Elections Commissioner in December 2007, 13 phones were to become personal property of the chosen senior staff after one year, the audit revealed.

“We note however that no law or regulation authorises giving away state property,” the report stated.

Moreover, most of the mobile phones were “the most expensive phones on the market at the time [of the purchases],” the audit report noted.

“In addition to the 13 mobile phones that were given to employees according to documentation at the commission, the records showed that five mobile phones worth MVR 49,135 (US$3,186) were lost,” the report stated, adding that no employees were held responsible and “compensation in any form was not sought” for the losses.

Some of the phones were discovered missing when “commission employees who were given the phones informed auditors that they were lost.”

A senior staff given a mobile phone worth MVR 14,195 (US$920) bought in 2008 did not return it when he or she left the commission, the audit noted, adding that corrective measures had not been taken on the issue despite recommendations in the EC’s 2010 audit report.

Other cases

The audit found that the EC did not sign agreements for work valued under MVR25,000 (US$1,621), despite public finance regulations stating that agreements must be signed for all government projects.

A total of MVR 249,494 (US$16,179) was paid out in 2011 without formal agreements.

The EC also hired a local company to service four photocopy machines for MVR40,000 (US$2,594) a year without a public bidding process and made an advance payment in violation of public finance regulations.

The audit noted that documentation did not show that the EC was receiving the company’s services each month as stipulated in the agreement.

Moreover, the commission did not seek quotations or estimates from three parties as required by regulations for procurements amounting to MVR 251,148 (US$16,287) in 2011, the audit discovered.

A number of expenses were meanwhile made out of the wrong budget code or item, the audit noted.

The audit report also noted that the EC made unnecessary purchases, such as a coffee maker for MVR 67,000 (US$4,345) in 2007, a Nikon D200 camera for MVR 233,298 (US$15,129) in 2008, six TV decoders, 16 TVs, 16 shredders, two washing machines, irons, a deep freezer, a mixer, a blender and a gas cooker.

Of 60 fax machines bought by the commission, 50 were kept unused in storage.

Moreover, items worth MVR 231,193 (US$14,993) were not entered into the registry of the EC’s stock inventory, the audit report noted.

The EC meanwhile failed to collect MVR 469,500 (US$30,447) owed as fines and deposits in 2011 and did not file cases at court as required by regulations.

As of December 2011, the audit revealed that the commission was owed MVR 260,000 (US$16,861) from seven political parties for failing to submit annual audit reports during the past five years.

Lastly, as of the report’s publication, the EC had not recovered MVR 12,999 (US$843) paid to staff in excess of their salaries and allowances.

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Comment: The price of an expat life in the Maldives

As a Bangladeshi colleague was wheeled into the operating theatre of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital for emergency life-saving treatment, I knew where my thoughts should have been.

We seek to assure ourselves that even in a cynical commercial world, you cannot put a price on life. Is such a phrase anything more than sound logic for those in the privileged position to afford the finest Singaporean inpatient treatment, or the insurance to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars of emergency medical evacuation to tax-payer funded Western healthcare?

Life after all is precious. Yet all too often, the true value of precious things is rarely understood until it, or in this case they, are threatened or lost.

The introduction of the complex and troublesome Aasandha universal health insurance program this year by the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed, so far retained by President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, has started a new era in Maldives healthcare.

Maldivians can now obtain treatment and surgery in their own country without relying on the vastness of their own wealth or savings, the kindness of friends, or the mercy of elected politicians and wealthy resort tycoons.

While the execution of such a system should always be open to scrutiny, there is much to be admired in the concept of ensuring every person in the country will be cared for when at their weakest.

But what of the country’s immigrant population? How are an ever-growing group of people in the Maldives – mainly in the form of unskilled workers from Bangladesh trafficked into the country – to be cared for?

For many of the foreign workers who make up a third of the country’s population, and are expected in coming years to equal the number of indigenous employees, the price of life can be counted down to the very last laari.

This is no more apparent when insurance companies can only reimburse treatments for foreign workers that have already been paid for – no matter the level of upfront expense.

What happens when companies or employers, whether out of negligence or limited finances, are unable to bare the initial costs needed for a life saving operation?

Who is there to purchase and provide these patients with the medicines and saline drips from for hospital staff to administer? In the absence of close friends and family, where is the assistance in journeying to a hospital toilet and what alternate options does a low-income expatriate have? In short, who is there to care?

The concern was born – not altogether altruistically – whilst spending Tuesday night sleeping on the floor of a post-operation ward at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’, in case a signature or saline drip was required.

Thankfully, he is well.

Barring “unexpected complications”, he will recover, as will the company’s finances once it is reimbursed from the employee’s insurance policy – only a recent mandatory requirement for obtaining a visa for foreign workers.

As a company representative, the initial costs for vital surgery, though not insignificant, can be reclaimed and more importantly, have to be met.

As an individual and friend, without the financial capabilities and resources of a company, the alternatives would otherwise be unthinkable.

A friend and room-mate of my colleague later explained that over half of his month’s wages were spent Tuesday morning on emergency medicines, scans and x-rays alone – all just to identify the scale of the problem – even before an operation. The price of life, I realise, is appallingly low for the wrong person.

In the wards, visiting hours are 24/7. Family members must maintain constant vigil over their bedridden loved-ones, taking full responsibility for everything from toilet assistance to buying and supplying hospital staff with needed medicines.

It is anyone’s guess how foreign workers – many of them far from home and family and unable to even afford the upfront deposit for treatment – are able to survive the system.

Ultimately my friend appears lucky. As the days pass, colleagues and acquaintances have, in either desperation or adversity, been transformed into an unusual though much appreciated surrogate family of makeshift nursing staff in the ward.

They have become well acquainted with pharmacies and their respective costs, and learned to recognise when saline solutions for drips are urgently in need of replacement. Some have even had to contemplate how best to preserve a friend’s dignity in toilet situations, that are not “always ideal” in maintaining a professional relationship.

Small blessings indeed.

Contemplating such a situation after days spent outside the operating theatres and waiting rooms of IGMH, perhaps there is much to be said for the hospital prayer room.

We are only human after all, but surely there are few times of feeling as completely powerless than when watching another person’s suffering.

Is it right then, that a person – regardless of skills or social standing – should amidst moments of extreme fear and anxiety have to pray for their economic, as well as physical well-being?

Surely some great deeds are not beyond human intervention.

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Parliament accepts bill potentially banning pork and alcohol from resorts

Parliament has narrowly voted to accept a bill that would potentially ban pork and alcohol completely from the Maldives, requiring resorts to cease serving haram (prohibited) products to foreign tourists.

The proposed amendment to the Contraband Act was initially submitted by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Nazim Rashad, who after the vote praised MPs’ “willingness to serve Islam”.

When presenting the bill, Nazim argued that the import of these products violated article 10(b) of the constitution which states that “no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.”

“We often hear rumours that people have alcohol at home in their fridge, available any time. We’ve heard that kids take alcohol to school to drink during their break. The issue is more serious than we think, it should not be ignored,” Nazim told the media, presenting the bill last week.

The vote was level with 24 MPs voting to accept the bill, and 24 to reject it, while 11 MPs abstained. Speaker Abdulla Shahid cast the deciding vote, in favour of accepting the bill.

The bill will now be sent to Parliament’s National Security Committee, which will assess it and potentially forward the proposal to parliament for a final vote on the matter.

Regulation permitting the sale of pork and alcohol in tourism establishments was passed by the Ministry of Economic Development in 1975. Parliament did not reject the regulation on the sale of pork and alcohol in 2009 following the introduction of the new constitution, thus allowing it to stand by default.

However the 2008 constitution explicitly states that no regulations against a tenet of Islam may be passed in the Maldives, in apparent contradiction of those laws allowing the import and sale of haram commodities.

After being asked in January for a consultative opinion over whether the Maldives could import pork and alcohol without violating the nation’s Shariah-based constitution, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the case on the grounds that the matter did not need to be addressed at the Supreme Court level.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mariya Ahmed Didi this week told Minivan News that the issue of alcohol needed to be “clarified” and “addressed”.

“If this is a religious issue, that is if Islam bans sale of alcohol, it should not be sold in the Maldives as we are a 100 percent Islamic nation. If the sale is allowed, then the question to ask is whether alcohol is needed for the tourist trade to flourish,” she said.

She added that if alcohol proved to be a vital element in the tourism sector, then the sale of alcohol should be allowed for “registered places” to which a permit is given to accommodate tourists including resorts, safari boats and guest houses.

“If the objection to the sale of alcohol is on [religious] grounds, it should not be sold in places where Maldivians reside. But Maldivians do reside on resorts as employees. If we deny Maldivians the employment opportunities in the resorts, then the income from resorts will be restricted to those who own resorts, that would give way to increase in expatriate workers and foreign currency drainage,” she explained.

Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem – who voted in favour of accepting the bill – was reported by Sun as stating that as alcohol was banned under Islam, it was illegal in the Maldives to create laws and regulations concerning it.

The JP is headed by local resort tycoon, Gasim Ibrahim, who owns the Villa Hotels chain. According to customs records for 2011, those properties – including the Royal, Paradise, Sun, and Holiday Island resorts, in 2011 imported approximately 121,234.51 litres of beer, 2048 litres of whiskey, 3684 litres of vodka and 219.96 kilograms of pork sausages.

Gasim abstained on the vote, as did fellow resort owners Abdulla Jabir and Ahmed Hamza. Resort owner ‘Sun’ Shiyam voted in favour of accepting the bill.

Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali voted against accepting the bill, as did Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed and Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Parliamentary Group Leader, Abdulla Yameen.

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Two minors sentenced to 16 years for smuggling illegal drugs

The Juvenile Court has sentenced a 16 year-old Maldivian boy and 16 year-old girl to 16 years imprisonment for smuggling 1.5 kilograms of cannabis into the Maldives.

November 30, 2009, customs officials at Male’ International Airport searched the luggage of a girl who just arrived to Male’ from Trivandrum with another woman.

The officials discovered the illegal substances wrapped in a new bed sheet inside her luggage. The girl surrendered the drugs to customs and told the officials that she had more hidden inside her body.

A total of 1.5 kilograms of cannabis were found with her according to the Juvenile Court.

The girl was then handed over to police who conducted a special operation to determine the intended recipient of the drugs, leaving the girl and the woman inside a guest house.

Police determined that the 16 year-old boy was the recipient when he came in to the guest house to receive the drugs from the girl, and arrested him.

The boy was charged in the Juvenile Court with assisting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country and possessing illegal drugs with the intention to distribute.

The substances obtained from the girl’s luggage and her body tested positive to THC – the active ingredient in cannabis – when police tested them. Three police officers told the court that the result of the test was valid.

Both the girl and the boy were prosecuted under the old Drug Act because the constitution states that the penalty of a crime should be determined by the law in existence at the time when the crime was committed.

According to the Juvenile Court, the woman was also arrested in connection with the case. Her trial is continuing in the Criminal Court.

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President decides to issue special passport, ID card, to National Award of Honour recipients

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan has announced that the government will issue a special passport and identity card to persons who received the National Award of Honour at the Republic Day ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, Waheed said that although the government has not to date provided any special privileges to the winners of the award in past years, it was highly important to start doing so as these persons had contributed significant services to the nation.

He detailed that plans were now being made to introduce a special identity card, local media reports. These card holders will be be given priority over the general public when obtaining services from any government office. They would also be issued special passports upon request.

This year, the National Award of Honour was received by three persons: Sheikh Usman Abdulla Umree for his services in the area of religious education, Adam Ali for his services in the area of traditional medicine and Abdulla Mohamed for his services in the areas of architecture and construction.

Thirteen individuals were recognised for achieving the highest academic qualification in the Maldives National Qualifications Framework.

These included members of Waheed’s cabinet: Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed for Doctorate of Philosophy in Criminal Justice System from the University of London in 2008, Education Minister Dr Asim Ahmed for Doctorate of Philosophy in Social Policy from Victoria University of Wellington in 2011, as well as Supreme Court Judge Dr Ahmed Abdulla Didi for Doctorate in Political Sharia from Al Azhar University, Misr, in 2008.

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Economic dependency threatens Maldives’ independence, warns President Waheed

The Maldives has become financially and economically dependent on foreign parties to an extent that threatens the nation’s independence and sovereignty, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik warned in his address (Dhivehi) to the nation on Republic Day.

Speaking at a function at Dharubaaruge last night, President Waheed said the country has still not recovered from the devastation wrought by the tsunami in December 2004.

“The national debt has soared to levels it has never reached before. In the past four or five years, the country has become financially and economically dependent on foreign parties to an extent that undermines our domestic and economic independence,” he said.

The Maldives “faced challenges to domestic stability” with the post-2004 constitutional changes and democratic reforms, he added.

“During this time, the country’s constitutional framework was destroyed and the state started to function outside of legal bounds,” Dr Waheed said. “And in addition to this, after the events of February 7 this year, some people have created further challenges to the country’s economic development and diplomatic relations.”

Then-Vice President Waheed assumed office on February 7 following the resignation of former President Mohamed Nasheed in the wake of civil unrest and a police mutiny at Republic Square.

The Republic Day marks the abolishment of an 853-year-old monarchy and its replacement by a second republic under President Ibrahim Nasir on November 11, 1968.

President Waheed meanwhile said in his speech that the country was facing a trial “during hard economic times” to increase government revenue, improve services to the public, maintain diplomatic ties and “establish financial and economic freedom.”

These objectives had to be achieved in a “world without domestic walls, within a social fabric where protecting Islamic values and the nation’s independence has weakened,” Dr Waheed said.

In his speech at a ceremony to mark ‘Victory Day’ on November 3, President Waheed claimed that foreign parties were attempting to exert undue influence over the Maldives “in different ways, under different names and capacities, to exercise power over us.”

These foreign parties were “saying that we must turn to their ideologies and sending over waves of secularism [or secular ideologies]  to the country,” Dr Waheed had said.

Meanwhile, in his address on Sunday night, President Waheed said sacrifices “such as those of our ancestors” were needed for peace and security and to ensure that “the economy is not destroyed through differences of opinion” and that “the social fabric is not unwoven through political antagonism.”

Important decisions needed to be made for next year’s budget to reduce expenditure and increase government revenue, he added.

President Waheed also announced his intention to convene a “National Conference” as a forum to discuss development strategies.

Ideas and opinions would be sought at the forum to chart a roadmap for development, he said.

Politicians, entrepreneurs, tradesmen, scholars, students, women, youth, judges, lawyers and private parties would be invited to participate in the conference, Waheed said.

In late October, Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad told local media that the Maldives would be unable to pay salaries and meet recurrent expenditure for the rest of the year without a further US$25 million loan from the Indian government.

The US$25 million was agreed upon in September as part of the $US100 million standby credit facility signed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2011.

Jihad told local media that he believed the loan was being delayed due to the ongoing controversy over Indian infrastructure company GMR’s development of the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), which is opposed by all parties in the ruling coalition.

Since coming to power, Waheed’s government has committed to reimbursing civil servants for wage reductions made during the austerity measures of the previous government, amounting to MVR443.7 million (US$28.8 million), to be disbursed in monthly instalments over 12 months from July 2012.

As of November 4, the overall fiscal deficit has already reached over MVR 2 billion (US$129 million). Jihad told the Majlis’ Finance Committee that he expected this figure to rise to MVR 6 billion (US$387million) by year’s end – 28 percent of GDP – alleging that the previous government left unpaid bills equal to over one third of this anticipated deficit.

Former Minister of Economic Development Mahmood Razee told Minivan News that increased expenditure in the face of a pre-existing deficit represented the government “ignoring reality.”

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meanwhile urged parliament’s Finance Committee and Economic Committee last week to expedite legislation on fiscal responsibility.

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Murder suspect blames earlier confession on police brutality, denies charges

Mohamed Samah, who is accused of murdering a police officer on the island of Kaashidhoo in July, has claimed during the second court hearing in the case that the confession he made during the previous hearing was a result of police torture while in custody.

The presiding judge asked if Samah could prove the allegation to the court, but Samah said he could not.

The judge then inquired as to whether he was kept in a separate cell and if he had met with other inmates. Samah replied that at at first he was kept in a separate cell and now he was with other inmates.

However, the judge said that during the trial one could not change what he had said earlier, and reminded Samah that today’s hearing was to hear his response to the statements of the heirs of the deceased.

During the hearing, Samah told the judge that executing him under Islamic Sharia would better for him that the torture he had to faced in prison.

The judge revealed that four of the three heirs of Lance Corporal Adam Haleem wanted to have Samah executed if the court found him guilty of the crime.

The fourth heir of Haleem was a minor, and the judge said he will determine the view of scholars of the four sects of Islam make a decision on how to deal with this particular case concerning taking the statement from the minor.

Before concluding today’s hearing the judge said that a verdict would be delivered next week.

On July 23 Lance Corporal Adam Haleem was stabbed to death on Kaashidhoo island in Kaafu Atoll.

Haleem was attacked while he was on his way to Kaashidhoo police station to report to duty.

While he was on the way to the police station police alleged he saw Mohamed Samah on the road, who was supposed to be under house arrest. Haleem followed Samah to his house and asked him to get himself ready to come with him to the police station.

Samah refused to go to the police station and became angry, police alleged, claiming that he entered his house and took an eight inch knife from the kitchen, which he used to stab Haleem in the left side of the chest.

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