Day: March 15, 2010

DhiTV and Haveeru staff attacked

Four men forcibly entered DhiTV studios and attacked five senior officials at the station this afternoon, shortly after the the station aired a report on its 2 o’clock news claiming that Ibrahim Nafiz, ‘Chika’, has been released to house arrest.

Nafiz was sentenced to five years imprisonment in July 2008 for possession of a sword. Although the state also prosecuted Nafiz for alleged drug trafficking, the charges could not be proven at court and were dismissed.

Sub-inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that police had received a report of the incident this afternoon and could not divulge further information while the investigation was ongoing.

DhiTV CEO Yousuf Navaal said the station did not wish to provide any information regarding the incident as he feared it would aggravate the situation.

Haveeru employee stabbed

Three hours after the alleged gang attack on DhiTV, a Haveeru employee was stabbed in the back.

Abdul Razzag Adam, 39, who works at the printing department, was knifed outside the Haveeru office building while he was on his cycle.

According to a family member, Razzag is in a critical condition and is currently undergoing treatment at  Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

Meanwhile, although police have sent four officers to DhiTV, Naval said the attack on a Haveeru employee had shown that individual employees cannot be protected at all times.

Navaal said DhiTV had decided not to run the story again in its news tonight.

‘Until we receive assurance [of our safety] that we can report this type of news, we will not cover it anymore,’ he said.

Sub-inspector Shiyam said it was “difficult to say” whether the two attacks were connected at this stage of the investigation.

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Deputy Speaker of Parliament pleads not guilty to conspiracy to defraud

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud and embezzlement at the criminal court yesterday.
At yesterday’s hearing, State Prosecutor Abdullah Rabiu said Nazim was managing director at Namira Engineering when the company’s equipment and staff were used to create fake letterheads and submit proposals on behalf of unregistered companies for a bid worth US110,000 to provide 15,000 national flags for the former atolls ministry.
If found guilty, the MP for Meemu Atoll Dhiggaru and vice-president of the opposition People’s Alliance will be ordered to pay Rf1.4 million to the state and sentenced to between one to six years imprisonment.
Under article 131 of the penal code, an extra month will be added to the sentence for every additional Rf1,000 if the fraudulent transaction exceeds Rf100,000.
According to article 73 of the constitution, an MP convicted for over one year in jail will lose his seat in parliament.
Responding to the charges, Nazim’s lawyer Mohamed Saleem requested time to study the evidence and prepare a defense.
Web of corruption
In August last year, police concluded an investigation into alleged web of corruption revealed in the audit report of the former atolls ministry.
At a press conference in August, police said they had uncovered evidence that implicated former Atolls Minister Abdullah Hameed, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem, former director of finance at the ministry, and Nazim in fraudulent and corrupt practices worth over US$260,000 (Mrf 3,446,950).
Police exhibited numerous quotations, agreements, tender documents, receipts, bank statements and forged cheques proving that Nazim received over US400,000 in the scam.
A hard disk seized during a raid of Nazim’s office in May allegedly contained copies of forged documents and bogus letter heads.
Police maintain that money was channelled through the scam to Deputy Speaker Nazim who laundered cash through Namira Engineering and Trading Pvt Ltd and other unregistered companies.
Police further alleged that MP Saleem actively assisted the scam in his then-position as a director of finance within the ministry, while Nazim’s wife Zeenath Abdullah had abused her position as a manager of the Bank of Maldives’ Villingili branch to deposit proceeds of the fraudulent conspiracy.
Police said Hameed played a key role in the fraud by handing out bids without public announcements, making advance payments using cheques against the state asset and finance regulations, approving bid documents for unregistered companies and discriminatory treatment of bid applicants.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the former ministry of atolls development.

At yesterday’s hearing, State Prosecutor Abdullah Rabiu said Nazim was managing Director of Namira Engineering and Trading Pvt Ltd when the company’s equipment and staff were used to create fake letterheads and submit proposals on behalf of unregistered companies.

One of the paper companies won a bid worth US$110,000 to provide 15,000 national flags for the former atolls ministry.

If found guilty, the MP for Meemu Atoll Dhiggaru and vice-president of the opposition People’s Alliance will be ordered to pay Rf1.4 million (US$108,900) to the state and sentenced to between one to six years of imprisonment.

Under provision 131 of the penal code, an extra month will be added to the jail sentence for every additional Rf1,000 if the fraudulent transaction exceeds Rf100,000.

According to article 73 of the constitution, an MP convicted for over one year in jail will lose his seat.

Responding to the charges, Nazim’s lawyer Mohamed Saleem requested time to study the evidence and prepare a defense.

Web of corruption

At a press conference in August last year, Chief Inspector Ismail Atheef said police had uncovered evidence that implicated former Atolls Minister Abdullah Hameed, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem, former director of finance at the ministry, and Nazim in fraudulent transactions worth over US$260,000 (Mrf 3,446,950).

Police exhibited numerous quotations, agreements, tender documents, receipts, bank statements and forged cheques proving that Nazim received over US$400,000 in the scam.

A hard disk seized during a raid of Nazim’s office in May allegedly contained copies of forged documents and bogus letter heads.

Police maintain that money was channelled through the scam to Nazim who laundered cash through Namira Engineering and other unregistered companies.

Police further alleged that MP Saleem actively assisted the scam in his then-position as director of finance at the ministry, while Nazim’s wife Zeenath Abdullah had abused her position as a manager of the Bank of Maldives’ Villingili branch to deposit proceeds of the fraudulent conspiracy.

Police said Hameed, brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, played a key role in the fraud by handing out bids without public announcements, making advance payments using cheques against the state asset and finance regulations, approving bid documents for unregistered companies and discriminatory treatment of bid applicants.

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Maldives to attend Moscow travel exhibition

The Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) has announced the Maldives’ participation in the 17th Moscow International Exhibition Travel and Tourism Fair (MITT) beginning on 17 March, reports Miadhu.

MTPB has said it will promote the Maldives as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

The fair, known as Russia’s number one travel exhibition, will be attended by tourism experts, members of the tourism industry and potential tourists.

The Russian market has been a growing and important market to the Maldives. The MTPB says Russian tourists look to take long holidays and approximately 40,000 Russian tourists visited the Maldives in 2009.

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President gives lecture on climate change at University of Iceland

President Mohamed Nasheed delivered a public lecture at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik on the effects and ways to combat climate change.

He said climate change was a very real threat, and “climate deniers” were trying to continue with “business as usual.”

“A handful of e-mails don’t disprove overwhelming body of science,” President Nasheed said.

The president added that cutting down carbon emissions would not compromise the development of a nation, stating that “we need development but we do not need carbon.”

He used Iceland as an example of a country developing without large amounts of carbon emissions. He said Iceland could be seen as a great example by other developing countries.

The president also spoke of the urgent need for a legally binding climate change treaty.

President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was present at the lecture. In his introduction he said President Nasheed is “a champion of democracy” and congratulated him on his efforts to highlight the issues of climate change.

The president also visited the University’s Natural Science Building and sought information on geological and climactic change.

President Nasheed concluded his visit in Iceland and left for Switzerland yesterday.

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President meets with Icelandic ministers

On his last day in Iceland, President Mohamed Nasheed met with both the Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture, Jón Bjarnsason, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphéðinsson.

President Nasheed met with Minister Bjarnsason at Iceland’s Marine Research Institute, where they discussed the development of a mutually beneficial cooperative framework between the Maldives and Iceland in the area of fisheries and fishing technologies.

They agreed that both countries could benefit from sharing their experiences in the fishing industry.

President Nasheed said Maldivian fisheries industry could benefit from Iceland’s experience in practices and fishing technologies and Minister Bjarnsason said Iceland wanted to work with small fishing island nation such as the Maldives.

President Nasheed and Icelandic President Ólafur Grímsson visited Iceland’s Marine Research Institute, where President Nasheed was briefed on marine research and mechanisms to monitor and control fishing activities.

President Nasheed then met with Minister Skarphéðinsson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they discussed ways of further strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

They mainly focused on the areas of fishing, renewable energy and climate change adaptation.

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Ban on blue fin tuna could put pressure on Maldivian waters

Minister for State Economic Development Adhil Saleem has told Miadhu that the EU’s decision to back the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on blue fin tuna would increase pressure on Maldivian waters.

Saleem warned Coastguards needed to be careful in monitoring illegal foreign fishing vessels that might enter Maldivian waters to catch the blue fin tuna.

He said some fish which are common in the Maldives could face extinction if outer seas were not patrolled carefully.

Bunyaameen, Chairman of the Maldives Sea Product Processors Association, told Miadhu that the decrease in blue fin tuna would increase the value of Maldivian yellow fin tuna.

CITES has proposed a temporary ban on international sale of Atlantic blue fin tuna due to over-fishing and the low numbers of this species. The USA has also backed the ban, but Japan, where most blue fin tuna is eaten according to the BBC, is opposing the ban.

The motion needs a two-thirds majority to pass.

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