Two expatriates working on the island of Innamaadhoo in Raa Atoll have been arrested on charges of sexually abusing two young girls.
Deptuty Chair of the Island Council Abdulla Shafeeq told Minivan News today that both expatriates were Bangladeshi nationals and that they have been living on the island for almost a year.
“The two expats showed pornographic materials to the girls – the girls would be only nine years of age,” Shafeeq said. “One man is 24 and the other is 30 years-old.”
Shafeeq said the abuse had been going on for some time, and the first incident occurred about a month ago.
“But yesterday at school, the girls told their classmate about this and then the parents found out,” he said.
Shafeeq said the two men were then summoned to the Council Office.
“Four islanders went to their place to get them and they refused and attacked the four,” Shafeeq said, adding that later a confrontation between the islanders and the two men also occurred while they were inside the council office.
He said that the two men were later taken away by police.
“The police arrested them and we received no further information,” Shafeeq said.
He said that the two expats have been working on the island in the construction industry.
Local media cited an islander as stating that the two girls were threatened using a knife, however Shafeeq could not confirm the allegations.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police are currently investigating the case.
Addu City and Hulhumale’ students will compete in an International Rowing School Competition during the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), to be held in Addu City during the first eleven days of November.
Students over age 11 from Addu’s 12 schools and Hulhumale’ have been training in four-seater crew boats, or ‘quads’, since September. The teams are down to their last three weeks of training for one of the Maldives’ first contemporary rowing competitions.
“Over the past few days we’ve been racing the students to select the fastest from within each age group for every school. There have been some very close results so I’m looking forward to some great racing between the schools come the 4th of November.”
British national rower Natasha Howard trains students from a program base on Hithadhoo Island. She arrived in the Maldives in August with fellow rower Rachel Loveridge to volunteer coach students for the competition.
Unable to exercise during the day in Ramadan and with few resources (boats were imported, and the island’s Utility Office has served as a boat house), Howard used the first month to meet with principals and the city council to arrange a schedule to ensure the teams would be ready to compete in November.
“The City Mayor Abdullah Sodiq and all the council members have gone out of their way to ensure that I have everything I need,” said Howard, who has operated from a desk in the council’s education unit.
Howard said the program has generated great enthusiasm in Addu. Without volunteer support from Hithadhoo Youth Center, only a fraction of interested students would have received any training. Instead, seven volunteers learned the sport in order to help instruct 213 interested students on necessary skills.
But limited resources have made cuts necessary.
“I could have cut the sessions twice over and had children in tears when the cut was made to reduce the group to just 16 boys and 16 girls [from each school]. Others ask me constantly could they come for more sessions and don’t believe me until I show them my schedule that there really is not another hour in the week they could come (unless they skip school).”
Further cuts will reduce the team to four boys and four girls from each age group (U14, U16, U19, U21) for the race on 4 November.
Start line: Zero Degrees
The program began with a world record. On 30 March 2010, British national Guin Batten became the first person to row across the Maldives’ equatorial Zero Degree Channel.
Speaking at a presidential ceremony in April, Batten reflected on her record’s significance. “I hope that my crossing is an inspiration to bring rowing back here to the Maldives,” she said.
Primary school teacher and coastal rower James Cowley took the suggestion to heart. When Batten left her boat in the Maldives in March, Cowley used it to develop the sport of rowing from his volunteer base in Thinadhoo.
One significant step was establishing the Rowing Association of the Maldives. In November 2010, the Maldives became the 131st member of the International Rowing Federation (FISA).
Equipment has been slowly added to the Maldives’ rowing collection. Acting as the Sports Development Coordinator for Friends of Maldives (FOM), Batten arranged for two four-person ‘quad’ rowboats and several coaches to be brought to Thinadhoo and Ghadadhoo in 2010 with the support of British Airways (BA), British Rowing and Westminster School.
This year, Howard and Loveridge were accompanied by seven coastal ‘quads’ from the UK, three of which are being used in Hulhumale’ and four of which are in Addu.
“Our aim is to ensure that when the volunteer coaches leave there is a self-sustaining club in place,” Howard said.
The Addu program instructs 213 students, mostly boys, who are shuttled across Addu’s 14 kilometre road, Maldives’ longest, each day for practice. In a progress report, Howard noted that fewer girls had the necessary swimming skills to participate in the program, “it wasn’t for lack of interest in rowing.”
Remembering the drowning incident at Kuda Huraa earlier this year, Howard reported that rowers will receive swim training by a Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) volunteer after SAARC. She also mentioned plans for an Addu swimming program next year “as concern is growing at how many of the students do not know how to swim.”
Students have shown enthusiasm for the program, which involves two two-hour sessions of land fitness and water training each week. Most groups are separated by gender, according to school advisories.
“Like everywhere in the world some students are keener than others and push themselves harder but not a single student has refused to do anything we’ve asked of them from carrying 50 kilo boats to and from the water to doing burpees, press ups, squat jumps and sit ups. We’ve had lots of reports of sore muscles during the first week but everyone came back for more,” Howard said.
In addition to gaining physical strength and finesse, rowers develop strong communication skills.
“The art of communicating with each other and doing the same thing together and at the same time are crucial and something we have been working on with the students,” said Howard, adding that each student learns at an individual pace.
“How quickly a student learns the new skills will vary with each individual – if they are naturally shy and quiet building the confidence to talk and give instructions to their partner will take that little bit longer than it does for an out going, noisy and naturally bossy person! However, the desire to win races is a great motivator and all our students have worked out their various ways of communicating.”
Not just kids’ play
As Batten noted in 2010, the Maldives has a unique appeal for rowing. Howard highlighted the climate’s unique advantages for coaches, novices and experts.
“The area of water we use here in Addu is great for getting novices started – sheltered by some small islands it never gets rough and there are no strong currents. Even when the wind is blowing hard the boats cannot be blown out to sea.
“The warm weather and water also means everyone is very happy to get soaking wet (the more often the better) and we, as coaches, are able to hang off the back of the boats as the students learn to row and so provide one on one coaching support very easily.
“The other great advantage is the ability to look over the side of your boat and see coral, fish and turtles swimming by – definitely not something many other rowing locations can boast about!”
While rowing was a traditional transportation method in the Maldives, contemporary facilities are sparse. Howard said resources are currently being channeled into SAARC preparations on Addu, but that improvements are expected after the summit.
After consolidating the programs in Addu and Hulhumale’, “our next priority is to utilise the local boat building skills and investigate the possibility of having the boats built here in the Maldives to reduce costs and so make them more widely available.”
According to Howard, there is plenty of demand for expansion.
“Interest is not just limited to the students. Teachers, parents, doctors, council members and the ladies in the Education Unit are all desperate to come and have a go and race. Time and too few boats means that everyone has to wait their turn right now,” Howard observed.
For Maldivian rowers, Batten’s record remains fair game for the breaking.
After failing to break her own record in the Zero Degree Channel in November 2010, Batten told the public, “The record is still there for the taking, and there’s a good chance somebody local could break my time of 7:16.”
The Criminal Court yesterday convicted two persons identified by police as dangerous criminals.
The court identified the pair as Hassan Ali of Fares-Mathoda in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, who was sentenced to three years, and Aseel Ismail, who was sentenced to seven years.
The pair was sentenced after the Criminal Court found them guilty of attacking Riluwan Faruhath last year in December, on Boduthakurufaanu Magu in Male’.
At today’s hearing the judge said that Aseel had confessed that he had an altercation with Riluwan that day and attacked him with a machete.
Hassan was charged for assisting Aseel in fleeing after attacking Riluwan.
In March this year, Hassaan and Aseel were arrested again during a special operation conducted to avoid potential clashes between rival gangs following the fatal stabbing of 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer.
Recently two individuals, Ali Shareef and Maadhih Mohamed, were sentenced to jail after the court found both guilty of stabbing Ismail Firdhause of Feydhoo in Addu City on February 24 2011, when he got off the Hulhumale’ ferry.
Because it was the first time both had been found guilty of a crime violating the Act, Maadhih was sentenced to eight years and Shareef to 12 years in prison.
Both had denied the charges against them, however the court granted the police authority to hold them in custody until their trial was concluded.
Maadhih and Shareef both admitted that they were in the area when the incident occurred but denied that they were involved in it or that they knew anybody in the gang that attacked Firdhause.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday entered the Disaster Management Center (DMC) with a police escort to investigate files relating to a 2006 housing construction project in Laamu atoll.
The Ministry of Housing and Environment did not comment on the investigation’s purpose, which is being conducted four months after outstanding payments to the construction company were made.
Movey Construction Company was hired under the former government to manage an Rf18 million project in 2006, which was completed in 2007. In 2009, DMC delayed payments due to a financial shortage, and in January 2011 Movey Construction filed a complaint for financial losses.
Deputy Minister of Housing and Environment, Ahmed Zaki, said he had been puzzled by the delay. “All the paperwork was in order,” he told Minivan News today. Moreover, the complaint against the Disaster Management Center “had enough evidence, and the payments were made with approval by the Finance Ministry in May.”
Zaki said forensic experts had accompanied ACC staff yesterday to “review paperwork and files in a clear and informed fashion. The hard drives which had been removed for further examination were returned today, all clear.”
When asked if the ACC investigation implied a concern for corruption, Zaki said he did not believe there was any reason to suspect corruption in the dealings between DMC and Movey Construction Company.
“This is just an accusation because payments were delayed. But the payments were made this May with sufficient documents from all parties. The financial system in the Maldives is very transparent, there are a lot of layers, checks and balances, so I am confident that there is no issue of corruption here,” he said.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the police would provide support as needed during the investigation.
“We have a signed agreement with the ACC to provide support as needed. Our forensic experts are currently working on the case,” Shiyam said.
Members of Movey Construction Company and the ACC were not available for comment.
Indian teacher Shijo Kokkattu was arrested last week on Raa Atoll for possession of Catholic imagery and a Bible.
A Raafainu School teacher had contacted police after finding what appeared to be Christian hymn videos on a school computer, which 30 year-old Kokkattu had allegedly transferred from his personal flash drive by accident.
Foreign media and school sources reported that religious songs and pictures had been transferred onto the desktop of a school laptop, which Kokkattu had used.
“The videos were in Indian, so I don’t know what they were saying, but the images were Christian,” said Raafainu Principal Mohamed Shiraj. Shiraj did not know if the video transfer was intentional.
Shiraj said that a teacher had found the material and contacted the National Administrative Center, which had reported the matter to the police. Kokkattu was taken into custody, where he has been held for the past week.
Police could not confirm Kokkattu’s arrest and detention.
Kokkattu, of Kerala, India, had been teaching at Raafainu School for two years before his arrest. “He was a very good teacher, we’ve not had any complaints of him in the past,” said Shiraj.
Shiraj said Kokkattu had not shown the material to anyone.
Meanwhile, the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) has demanded in regional media that the Indian government seek an apology from the Maldives over Kokkattu’s treatment.
“The lack of justice and the degree of religious intolerance in the Maldives is reflected by the actions of the Maldives government,” GCIC President Sajan K George told Asia News. “This is the worst form of religious persecution. The Indian government should demand an apology for the shabby treatment inflicted on one of its citizens.”
George called Kokkattu’s case evidence of the Maldives’ paradoxical nature. He said the Maldives “claims to be a major tourist destination, yet arrests innocent people,” George said. “This shows its intolerance and discrimination towards non-Muslims as well as its restrictions on freedom of conscience and religion.”
President Mohamed Nasheed’s energy advisor Mike Mason has unveiled the technical and economic justification for transforming the Maldives into a solar-powered nation.
“I have the oily rag job,” said the former mining engineer, speaking at Soneva Fushi’s Slow Life Eco Symposium about the government’s ambition to generate 60 percent of the country’s electricity needs through solar. “It’s a bit like trying to build a complex aircraft while the captain’s trying to fly it.”
Last year the Maldives spent 16 percent of its GDP on fossil fuels, making the country staggeringly vulnerable to even the tiniest oil price fluctuations and adding an economic imperative to renewable energy adoption.
Mason evaluated available renewable alternatives to diesel and concluded that solar was the most abundant, cost-effective and realistic resource to exploit.
“We can forget ocean currents for now,” he said, explaining that as the currents were wind driven and therefore seasonal, marine current generators would only generate significant electricity for half the year.
Ocean thermal was “very exciting”, Mason observed, although he noted that Soneva Fushi bore the scars of a failed ocean thermal project: “I suggest we wait for someone else to pioneer this,” he said.
Biomass generation “fits us rather well”, as even if the most expensive form of biomass was imported from Canada it would represent 50-66 percent the current cost of diesel.
“It is cheap but can only be used at scale, such as Male’ and possibly Addu,” he said.
Wind and solar
That left wind and solar, the potential for which was “fascinating”.
The challenge with wind, however, was that it was inconsistent, and there were large periods of the year with little resource available.
“What do you do in the eight months without enough wind?” Mason asked, displaying wind data collected in the country’s north.
“What you do is put up solar. In that case, why bother to put up wind at all? With solar the sun rises every day – it is wonderfully predictable.”
The trick was going to be to transform solar from a green, niche, “subsidy hungry creature, to something so obvious that the current government of the time sees it as a sensible and intelligent thing to do. The reality is that it is easy to get to 30-40% emission reduction, but getting beyond first stage to the 80-90 percent that has been proposed by cabinet will be more difficult.”
Mason collected data concerning the cost of generating electricity using diesel at 100 of the country’s inhabited islands, “as I felt there was not enough data available”, and found staggering levels of inefficiency.
The numbers, he said, “are really scary. At best it costs 28-29 cents to produce a kilowatt hour, but at the top right of the graph it is costing 77 cents per kilowatt hour. Anything beyond 28-29 cents for a big island and 32-33 cents for a small island is just money being burned.”
The Maldives could quickly and easily save US$0.5-1 million dollars a month “simply by fixing power stations by doing boring, sensible stuff.”
“Diesel engines are designed to work at their rated power – they like going flat out. The moment you back off by half, you end up with a less efficient engine. Many islands have power stations with engines out of proportion to the size of the island’s energy needs – in some cases they are running at 15-25 percent capacity. That is a real cost we have.”
Mason then displayed a graph detailing the cost of providing solar, and observed that the cost plummeted quickly when it came to providing 30-40 percent of the country’s energy needs but sharply increased thereafter to a point where it was less competitive.
The challenge, he explained, was storage – how to retain electricity to operate devices such as lights, fridges and air-conditioners at night.
“Energy storage is the big hole in our story here. The key for me is to reach that 80 percent goal without the [cost] graph rising beyond where it is today,” Mason explained.
Using data detailing the energy use patterns of the island of Maalhos in Baa Atoll, Mason observed a high variability in power demand. Introducing solar without storage – “from panel to fridge” – would complicate that by requiring more flexibility from the existing power plant.
Energy Advisor Mike Mason
“Stick a solar panel on [Maalhos] and you can generate 29kw at midday with zero demand [on the powerplant]. But the maximum you need from the powerplant [without solar] is 42kw. This is a fundamental problem – the more solar you get, the more we have to get the power stations right.”
The cost of providing solar electricity straight from the panel was far below the cost of using diesel on any island, including Male’. On Maalhos, by pointing the solar panel in the same direction all day, “you can meet midday demand easily. But between 6-11 am in the morning, and after 2pm in the afternoon, you still need to meet the cooling load of fridges and air-conditioners.”
Mason had two suggestions – the first was to use (more expensive) tracking solar panels that would follow the sun and extend the daytime period in which demand could be met using solar. This would also generate the maximum yield from each panel, mitigating another problem – space.
“The challenge will be getting tracking to work in a hot, humid, salty environment,” he acknowledged, particularly if the panels were mounted in shallow lagoons.
The cost of providing electricity from solar in conjunction with current commercially available battery technology was not much different from existing diesel arrangements on many islands, Mason observed. “You lose 20 percent of the electricity putting it in and taking it back out, and it is expensive to fix. It’s not good enough.”
However on Maalhos, Mason noted, 28 percent of the electricity demand was for cooling.
“I had a think about storage. We could use really cold water refrigerated during the day, and use that to drive air-conditioning and fridges at night. This applies as much to resorts as it does home islands.”
This innovation would drop the cost to the level of the country’s most efficient diesel generators, Mason explained. For those powerplants currently running at 77 cents a kilowatt, “this is an opportunity to print money – and there aren’t many of those available to the government.”
Challenges
The major problem was obtaining the capital, Mason said, estimating that such an overhaul for the nation would cost US$2-3 billion, “although half of that would come from the tourist industry.”
“With renewable energy, on day 1 you buy 25 years of electricity. It might be cheap, but you still need enough cash on day 1.”
Attracting the investment in a country such as France or Germany would be “a no brainer”, Mason said, however because of the Maldives turbulent political history and fiscal deficit, it had a very weak credit rating.
“There is a shortage of knowledge and skills as well,” he said. “We need an energy technology support unit, and an energy finance corporation that can for this project provide guarantees and get countries to underwrite us. We do not want to be reliant by subsidies.”
In response to a question regarding the planned Gaafaru wind farm, Mason acknowledged the build, own and operate agreement STELCO had signed with Chinese wind turbine manufacturer XEMC to develop a 50mw wind farm at Gaafaru was a potential commercial pressure for adopting solar.
Under this agreement, a backup liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant would also be built, capable of providing up to 30 megawatts on windless days, or when there is not enough wind to meet demand.
Minivan News raised concerns in an article published in April 2010 that according to figures published in a 2003 report by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), North Malé Atoll had an annual average wind speed of 4.9 m/s (17.7 km/h), while a 2005 report by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) described the minimum average wind speed needed to run a utility-scale wind power plants as 6 m/s (21.6 km/h).
Mason described the contract as crafted with “more enthusiasm than technical involvement”, and noted that an LNG plant put out 92 percent of the emissions of a diesel plant “of the kind that STELCO already run very well.”
“A single cycle gas turbine of the kind described is very efficient but does not have the flexibility [required]. There is a technical challenge. We need to think about how we integrate things before we sublet the parts, so my instinct is that the contract will not be enacted in form presented.”
Speaking of the solar plan, now backed at least by data if not the finance, a senior government official remarked that the plan to turn to solar was “no longer froth. There’s a shot of espresso in the cappuccino now.”
The Maldives has meanwhile become the first country to crowdsource its renewable energy plan on the internet.
Forum topics in the comprehensive crowdsourcing project include solar and wind technology, energy storage, system control and demand management, novel technologies (including marine current and ocean thermal), biomass power generation, and finance.
Under each topic the Maldives appeals for expert assistance on several technical questions, around issues such as the use of solar panels in corrosive environments, the economics of tracking or fixed solar panel systems, and the viability of low velocity wind turbines.
The Criminal Court has sentenced a man to six months imprisonment after the police discovered two plastic sex toys inside his room.
The court identified the offender as Musthafa Hussein of Mahchangolhi Feyruge.
According to the Criminal Court, possession of objects shaped like sexual organs were prohibited under articles 4(c) and 13(c) the Contraband Act of 1975.
While article 4 of the Act states that pornographic material cannot be brought into the country, under article 13[c] images, sounds or videos depicting sexual activities as well as objects made to look like sexual organs shall be considered pornographic material for legal purposes.
Musthafa was therefore charged with possession of pornographic material.
The sex toys were discovered by police when they searched his room during a special operation on April 30, 2011.
The Fishermen’s Union has rejected Male’ City Council’s proposal to privatise the fish market on the grounds that the change would eliminate competition and complicate boat routines.
“We have to keep our system,” said union chairman Ibrahim Umar. “Privatising will make the operation too big.”
Umar said that 50 vessels currently come to Male’ each day to deliver fish, and that space is tight. Under the proposed plan, said Umar, fishermen would have fewer responsibilities in Male’s fish market but would be expected to make more frequent trips in and out of Male’s harbor.
“There isn’t room for that kind of traffic in the harbor. And there isn’t storage capacity for the extra fish that would be coming in,” said Umar.
According to Umar, the fish market currently enjoys a healthy level of competition.
“Every day the fishing is good, there is enough money, and there is even demand from other atolls for fish from Male’. Privatising the fish market will kill the competition because fishermen will have to sell at the same private rate. Bringing in more fish will also keep the price down, and there’s nowhere to keep it on Male’. We need to run this through the union,” he said.
Male’ Mayor ‘Maizan’ Ali ‘Alibe’ Manik said the plan to privatise is an effort to comply with World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, Haveeru reports.
“When we hand over the fish market for management, the fishermen will just have to bring the fish to the market and hand it over to those in charge of management. That way it saves the fishermen time, allowing them to set off fishing faster,” he said.
For Umar, the advantages were unclear.
“How will fishermen get paid? It will take longer if they aren’t selling the fish themselves,” he observed.
Addressing the issue of facilities, however, Umar said that an earlier proposal to build a fish harbour in Hulhumale’ was being revisited by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, the Ministry of Transport and Hulhumale’ Development Corporation (HDC).
In 2009, plans to build a fish harbour on Hulhumale’ were sent to the National Planning Council. The harbour was intended to expand and expedite the fishing industry, and reduce the pressure on Male’s market.
When the National Planning Council rejected the plan, however, Umar said there was a breakdown in communication and trust. “They weren’t talking to us, I found out through the Fisheries Minister that they had rejected the plan. There was no communication with [the union] about the plan or the finances.”
Umar said the union was told there was a lack of funds, but claimed that the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) had set aside money for the harbour. “I don’t know what happened with that money, we never got an explanation.”
In 2006, IFAD approved a post-tsunami recovery program in agriculture and fisheries. IFAD currently classifies the program as ‘ongoing’.
Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Ibrahim Didi, said the earlier financial problems have been resolved and the ministry is currently working with HDC to construct a fish harbour.
Didi said expanding work space is integral to privatising the fish market, which is growing.
“There’s already plenty of demand for the fish,” said Didi. “Privatising it would bring significant benefits to fishermen. They will have more access to the harbors, necessities such as ice will arrive on time, and things will happen more quickly.”
Didi said development of Hulhumale’s fish harbour has priority, and plans for other fish harbours will be considered accordingly.
According to Didi, President Mohamed Nasheed’s plan will distribute fishing components such as ice, oil and parts to different interested parties. Didi said the approach would improve facilities.
“If the different components of the fishing industry are spread out among interested parties working with a commercial interest, then business will move very fast because there will be a real business interest.”
The City Council earlier told Haveeru that the goal of privatising the market was to improve selling procedures, not to increase profits. Representatives said the union’s response would affect planning.
Council representatives and officials familiar with the proposal had not responded to inquiries at time of press.
Barack Obama’s administration and lawmakers may cheer the killing of US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. But this is not how legal scholars, libertarians and millions of Muslims feel.
Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico on 22 April 1971, was an American Islamic scholar who was an engineer and educator by training. He was killed in a drone attack in a remote Yemeni town on 30 September 2011 by US forces.
To some, he is a Muslim hero, a mujahid (fighter for the sake of Allah) and a great Islamic scholar. His lectures have inspired hundreds of followers. One reason why many people admired him was that he was talented in delivering Islamic lectures in fluent English. This made him famous not only in US and Europe, but also in the Maldives.
There are only few Maldivians who agree with US government officials’ allegations against al-Awlaki. According to US president Obama, he was the leader of external operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a statement which many Maldivians openly deny.
“The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda’s most active operational affiliate,” said Obama after the drone attack. “He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans … and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda.”
According to US officials al-Awlaki allegedly preached to a number of al-Qaeda members and affiliates. Among them were three of September 11 hijackers, alleged “Christmas Day bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
US government has made a list of allegations against al-Awlaki, but none of these allegations was ever made in court.
Al-Awlaki was an American citizen. The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution explicitly guarantees the right to life of American citizens in the absence of due process of law to determine when to withdraw that right. The Fifth Amendment stipulates that no citizen shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”.
Article 11(a) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence”.
But al-Awlaki was executed without any charges, without a trial or without giving any chance to defend. Even Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was given his constitutional rights before his execution. This raises questions about the legal authority under which the US government can target its own citizens for assassination.
Al-Awlaki’s father Nasser al-Awlaki has publicly announced his son’s innocence.
“I am now afraid of what they will do with my son,” he said speaking to CNN earlier. “He’s not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he’s not.”
“He has been wrongly accused, it’s unbelievable. He lived his life in America; he’s an all-American boy”.
US officials have continuously accused al-Awlaki for preaching radical Islam, which gives endorsement for Jihad (struggle) and violence. This inspired new recruits to Islamist militancy, especially though internet (YouTube), according to US officials. His videos were removed from YouTube on 3 November 2010.
This is the only evidence which the US government has presented to the media against al-Awlaki in order to prove he is a radical, an extremist and a terrorist.
If this is the case, the US may label not only al-Awlaki but other Islamic scholars in future for giving “radical” sermons, because sermons are based on the verses from Quran and Hadith of prophet Muhammed (pbuh).
In Quran, there are nearly 41 verses which speak about Jihad, and many more verses against Jews and Christians.
For example, Quran 4:89: “They wish that you reject Faith, as they have rejected (Faith), and thus that you all become equal (like one another). So take not Auliya’ (protectors or friends) from them, till they emigrate in the Way of Allah (to Muhammad pbuh). But if they turn back (from Islam), take (hold) of them and kill them wherever you find them, and take neither Auliya’ (protectors or friends) nor helpers from them”.
Similarly, Quran 2:191: “And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah is worse than killing. And fight not with them at Al-Masjid-al-Haram (the sanctuary at Makkah), unless they (first) fight you there. But if they attack you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers”.
Al-Awlaki’s story has told the world today that US government is the judge, jury and executor of all Muslims.
Ibrahim Mohamed is a Parliamentary Reporter at the Peoples Majlis of the Maldives.
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
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