Month: April 2010

Maldives Center for Historic and Linguistic Research to be closed down

Deputy Leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Ibrahim Shareef has told Miadhu the government’s decision to close down the Maldives Center for Historic and Linguistic Research, and to transfer its work to other institutions, poses a great challenge for the Dhivehi language.

Shareef said the Dhivehi language has been an integral part of Maldivian culture and identity, and should be protected for future generations.

He said the center’s work with Dhivehi would be very different from how a college would teach Dhivehi, which is something all Maldivians should be worried about.

President of the Center for Historic and Linguistic Research Ahmed Naseer told Miadhu the language department will be transferred to the Maldives College of Higher Education, and the cultural and historical work will be taken to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

He said there would be no change in the level of services being provided and the transition will be over in three days.

The land on which the center stood will be taken over by Malé Municipality to build flats.

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President inaugurates new Maldives Polytechnic

President Mohamed Nasheed has unveiled the Maldives Polytechnic, a new educational institution to operate under the Ministry of Education.

The institute will take over the vocational programmes currently under the Maldives Institute of Vocational Education and Training (MIVET), as well as certificate and diploma level courses run by the Faculty of Engineering Technology of the Maldives College of Higher Education.

The president has subsequently eliminated the MIVET, and vocational training centres in Kaafu Thulusdhoo and Raa Alifushi which were running under the Faculty of Engineering Technology are now under the Polytechnic.

The Maldives Polytechnic was created to facilitate the administration of vocational and technical education programmes carried out by MIVET and the Faculty of Engineering Technology by joining them under a single institute. It will also reduce expenditure and enable utilisation of resources, the President claimed.

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Islamic Ministry expresses concern over Akon’s SuperFest

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Ahmed Shaheem Ali Saeed has said the ministry has received “many complaints” from people concerned about the upcoming Akon concert, which is to be held in the Maldives on 23 April.

”We have received many phone calls and complaints from people asking why we are doing nothing when a person who sings explicit lyrics is about to perform in the country,” Shaheem said.

”Our opinion is that we do not like explicit singers to perform in the country.”

He explained that scholars agreed that singing was allowed under the tenets of Islam, ”but with a good level of discipline.”

Akon is no stranger to religious controversy, after he was denied a visa to Sri Lanka by the country’s authorities because of a video clip in which he dances around a Buddha statue with scantily-clad women.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said the government had no valid reason to reject Akon from performing in the Maldives.

Zuhair said if the Islamic ministry had any issues against it, “they can either send a letter or speak about it in the cabinet meeting.”

”It would be very unfair to say that Akon might do this or that before he actually does it,” Zuhair said.

He said a private company had spent a large amount of money investing in the performance in the Maldives, and that many Maldivian companies were also involved in the event.

Zuhair has previously stated that President Mohamed Nasheed is keen to attend the concert, which the government hopes will lead to further performances in the Maldives.

Event Manager in the Maldives for Akon concert Fathmath Raufa said the organisers were “fully confident” that nothing against the tenets of Islam would take place during the event.

”Our main purpose is to promote our country and to introduce entertainment tourism to the Maldives,” she said. ”This is like any other show held in Male’.”

She said there was no reason to stop this event, and noted that Akon and both his parents were Muslim.

Islamic NGO Jamiyathul Salaf did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

From Akon’s song ‘Senegal’:

‘So what you know about how God comes first in our lives, everything that we do is for Allah

So what you know about that Holy place called Touba where Prophets were born

So what you know about comin’ here, gettin money and investing it back home.”

From Akon’s song ‘Bartender’:

” Don’t smoke, don’t drink, that’s why I don’t be by the bar, baby

Just lookin’ at you from a distance, lookin’ like a goddamn star, baby

So my girl don’t see me, T-Pain, can I get those keys to the car?

‘Bout to go and bang bang boogie with my cutie and I’ll see you tomar’.”

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President grants clemency to self-exiled ‘Sandhaanu’ Luthfy

President Mohamed Nasheed has granted clemency to Ibrahim Moosa ‘Sandhaanu’ Luthfy, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for writing against the former government.

Luthfy escaped imprisonment by the former government when he was taken to Sri Lanka for medical treatment in May 2005. He undertook self-exile in Switzerland where he was supported by the United Nations and the Swiss government.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said Luthfy was a man who was “on the front line” when the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) started its work “to reform the government.”

Zuhair said that  according to the new constitution, “freedom of expression is not illegal.”

”In the constitution people have freedom of expression,” he said, ”so [Luthfy] has committed no crime under the law and so should not be serving a punishment.”

Speaking from Switzerland, Luthfy told Minivan News the charges against him by the former government were “unjust and made by force.”

Luthfy said he had been charged for “misleading the people and defaming a former government cabinet minister.”

”At first we started dropping papers on the ground to let people know about the condition of human rights and the judicial system in the Maldives,” Luthfy said.

“Then the internet was invented, and we started our work as an online, unregistered magazine based in Malaysia called ‘Sandhaanu’.”

Luthfy claimed the former government put him under life imprisonment “because they had no other way to stop us from working.”

”They tried to catch us in many ways, including sending CID agents to Malaysia, but they could not,” he said.

”Then during the time of the September 11 attack, the former president [Maumoon Abdul Gayoom] gave out an international red notice that we were terrorists.”

He said he was then caught and brought to the Maldives.

”Criminal court judge Abdulla Areef [now a judge at supreme court] gave the verdict without giving me the chance to use a defense lawyer or to present any witnesses to defend myself,” he said.

Luthfy claimed that the serious injuries he received while in prison led to international journalism organisations pressuring the former government to take him out of jail for medical treatment.

”They brought me to Male’ where doctors said I needed to go abroad for treatment, so the former government took me to Sri Lanka along with two guards,” he said. ”The doctor at the Sri Lankan hospital gave me two options: either stay in the hospital for seven days for observation or to come back after seven days, and said I preferred to come back after seven days.”

He stayed in a hotel with the two guard, but one morning he managed to escape.

”One day after fajr prayers when I came out of my room, the two guards were sleeping so I ran away,” he said.

”I sought for help from the United Nations and other organisations via e-mail, and meanwhile sent messages to the former government saying that I would let people know about how people were being tortured in the cells if any international notice was put out to find me.”

He claimed the former government tried to find him, assisted by the Sri Lankan police, but were unsuccessful.

The United Nations protected him in Sri Lanka for six months before sending him to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Switzerland.

”I have been here for seven years but will be returning to the Maldives very soon,” he said.

Spokesman for the former President, Mohamed Hussein ‘Mundhu’ Shareef, said as far as he was concerned Luthfy was “not a person”, “a nobody [who will] remain so” and he would not drop his reputation to the same level as Luthfy by commenting on the matter.

Furthermore, Mundhu said that news outlets reporting on “these kinds of unprofessional people” also risked being categorised as unprofessional.

“All you achieve in giving this clown space in the media is giving him unwarranted attention and importance. I do not wish to have any such part in such an exercise. Scum will always remain scum,” he said.

“If you want people to believe that Minivan [News] is anything but Anni’s mouthpiece, it’s advisable to stay clear of such [an] exercise to give cosmetic makeovers to people like Luthfy.”

He noted that MDP Chairperson Mariya Didi was a State Attorney at the former Attorney General’s office at the time of Luthfy’s  conviction.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and DRP MP and former cabinet minister Abdulla Mausoom failed to respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Finance Committee deliberating over distribution of media subsidies

Parliament’s Finance Committee has appointed a seven member sub-committee to discuss how media subsidies allocated in the state budget will be distributed. The recommendations will then be reviewed by the main committee and submitted for debate in Parliament.

Finance committee member MP Riyaz Rasheed told newspaper Miadhu that the committee was currently receiving submissions from media organisations and expected to make recommendations by the end of the week. Early discussions include splitting the amount allocated in the budget, about Rf4 million (US$307,600), between radio and newspapers at a ratio of 3:2.

Managing Editor of Miadhu Abdulla ‘Gabbe’ Latheef said that distributing the subsidies “just to media the Majlis likes is not fair. This money should be divided by the [soon to be elected] media council, not the Majlis.”

“For instance, they are only considering print and broadcast media for subsidies, not internet media,” he claimed. “Media in the Maldives is not only TVM and DhiTV.”

Latheef said that media subsidies in the past had not benefited staff, “only newspaper owners.”

Finance Minister Ali Hashim told Minivan News that any subsidies provided would take the form of training and capacity building, such as scholarships, rather than direct financial assistance.

“We will work with the [Maldivian Journalists] Association,” he said, but added as a caveat that “any form of hand outs compromise independence.”

Latheef said he feared the MJA was turning into the “Opposition Journalists Association”, as it had recently issued a press release reporting on a ‘meeting of editors’ to which it had failed to invite Miadhu.

Former Information Minister and Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed, who is not part of the committee deliberating on media subsidies, said he did not favour “cash handouts” but rather supportive subsidies, such as “10 to 15 percent of the electricity or water bill, rent, or the cost of training human resources.”

“Subsidies should be given for capacity building and upgrading quality of service, not necessarily cash-in-hand,” he suggested.

While he acknowledged that subsidies risked compromising media independence, Nasheed observed that media “is oxygen for democracy and a fundamental right in and of itself. You can’t compare it to something like subsidies for the fishing industry.”

“There needs to be a universal set of rules [for media subsidies] allocated through the government’s annual budget; they should work and earn it, and meet a set of criteria.”

Nasheed noted that during his time as Information Minister be formulated policy to stop newspapers “linked to people in the government” receiving direct subsidies in the form of rent assistance or lump sums for machinery.”

“This allowed the mushrooming of several papers favouring the then-opposition,” he noted.

Regarding the former government’s indirect subsidisation of media through advertising, Nasheed suggested a “one plus one” model whereby government ads would be rotated through the country’s largest newspapers. The current government moved all government advertising to an in-house gazette, a move that did not endear it to the country’s largest newspapers or the MJA, which has previously claimed that the unique economic situation and limited population of the Maldives is not conducive to 100 percent ad-funded media.

However Nasheed suggested “it’s a misnomer that this is a limited market. When you spread the papers out and see what they charge per centimetre, you can see what they’re getting in terms of advertising. But while they say how much they print, there’s no independent statistics for their circulation or how many people actually read the paper.”

“Nobody does these surveys and the papers are not willing open their records to the government,” Nasheed said.

Adjusting to an environment of competition and free expression was “today’s challenge [for the media],” he claimed. “Three years ago the challenges were very different, when the struggle was finding space for dissent, and the giving of that space. Today’s challenge is building credibility and capacity.”

Beyondthe issue of media subsidies, Nasheed said, “now we need to enshrine the principles of media freedom in our laws, build an independent institution that protects and consolidates media freedom, and introduce proceedures for the public to make complaints.”

Media Council

The Department of Information has meanwhile short-listed 14 candidates out of the 35 who applied to be members of the Maldives Media Council.

Those selected by the Department as candidates for the seven seats include Ahmed Mizmad, Ali Hashim, Fathimath Ishan Ali, Mohamed Azim, Abdul Hadhee, Ali Waheed Hassan Manik, Ibrahim Ismail, Mohamed Fareed, Aishath Aniya, Abdul Raheem, Ahmed Abdulla, Shujau Hussein, Anas Ali and Ahmed Faisal.

The department considered whether the candidates were eligible as stated in the Media Council Act, while giving priority to those without a stake in a media organisation, business, political party, or NGO, the official said.

The 14 candidates have a range of backgrounds including education sector, religious studies, politics, business and gender, the department said.

Representatives of 20 media organisations will vote on April 20 to elect seven members to the council. Information Department acknowledged some of them were from discontinued newspapers and magazines, but said they were eligible for voting.

“We can include them under the law, as long as they don’t dissolve the organisation. So we have decided to include them as well,” he added.

Representatives of DhiFM, DhiTV, Radio Atoll, a ceased newspaper called The Voice, Haveeru, E-Sandhaanu Magazine, Hiyama Magazine, Vanni Magazine, Minivan News Online, the now stopped Minivan Daily, Aaila (Family) Magazine, VTV, Navaranna, Sungadi, the disbanded Manas Daily, Manas Magazine, Haama Daily, Miadhu Newspaper, Television Maldives (TVM) and Youth TV would be voting in the election.

The MJA has expressed concern that several of those shortlisted “are editors of magazines and newspapers that have been dissolved, and some of titles the MJA has never heard of.”

“The MJA does not believe that the power of the Media Council should be given to these people,” it said in a press statement.

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Unregistered marriages leave children unable to inherit, warns Family Court

The Family Court has claimed that unregistered marriages occurring in the Maldives are denying children the legal rights of those born to ‘registered’ couples.

According to Maldivian law, children born out of wedlock can face difficultly obtaining legal recognition for matters such as claiming their inheritance.

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Didi confirmed that children born to couples who exchange vows in unsanctioned private marriages do not have the same legal rights as children born to those who marry legally.

“It’s a serious problem,” Didi said, explaining that such children can experience problems claiming inheritance and tracing their family.

“The children cannot find their family line or claim their property,” he said.

There were “certain religious people” giving false information to others in small communities, he said, who were instructing their followers to marry “according to Islam and not Maldivian law.”

Didi noted that although these marriages could technically be recognised by Islam, “the country’s law says we have to register a marriage.”

He said the ministry is running “awareness programmes giving proper information to people,” as well as providing education through the media, information sessions at the ministry and during Friday sermons.

Didi said the ministry “has not found clues” as to why certain religious scholars are marrying people outside the law, but he thinks the only reason is “they want to have a bigger group of followers.”

The Family Court confirmed it was dealing with some cases involving private marriages, and said if the marriage was not registered at the court, it was not technically legal.

Couples receive a certificate through the court which proves they are married, she explained.

Children born to couples who are not registered will not appear under the father’s name and “will not have legal rights”, the court registrar noted.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said the problem was all down to the “concubine business.”

According to legal procedures concerning polygamy, for a man to marry more than one woman, the first wife must give her consent for her husband to marry someone else. In this event, his finances and ‘level of commitment’ will be examined by the court.

Zuhair said some men who did not pass the requirements were getting married outside the law.

“The problem is that divorce is then also not legal, and children are unable to claim their inheritance,” he said, noting that although the marriage could be recognised under Islam, it was not recognised under Maldivian law.

Zuhair noted the greater issue behind these ‘private marriages’ was the discussion by Islamic scholars over whether State laws should stand alone from Shari’a, although “of course State law is influenced by Shari’a law.”

“The Constitution gives power to the State,” he said, “but certain Islamic scholars believe this shouldn’t be the case.”

A source who wished to remain anonymous from an island “well known for these type of illegal marriages” told Minivan News that “there is a group of people who believe the Constitution of the Maldives should not be followed because it is not based on Shari’a law.”

He said these people claimed that judges at the courts were “apostates” and that marriage under a Maldivian court could not be recognised under the tenets of Islam.

He said people who do not follow this group “would also be considered apostates.”

He said many people involved with this group were also not sending their children to school because they would have to sing the school song “as they believe singing is haraam, and also claim the school uniform is not very ‘Muslim’.”

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Presidential Commission member resigns over “political influences”

Presidential Commission member Idham Muizzu Adnan resigned from the commission yesterday, claiming a lack of transparency and impartiality.

The Presidential Commission is an independent body created by President Mohamed Nasheed in May 2009 to investigate corruption allegations in the country. The president was also responsible for appointing all of its members.

Spokesperson for the Presidential Commission, Abdulla Haseen, said the commission’s mandate was to investigate corruption cases, particularly targeting people accused of corruption under the previous regime.

However Adnan, who has worked with the commission since it was created, said he resigned because of “certain political influences” that were being imposed on the commission.

“I agree the president has the power to dictate [how the commission is run]… but he should do it in a reasonable and impartial manner,” Adnan said.

Adnan said sometimes the commission was pressured “not to call on certain people” when investigating a case, or was advised not to disclose certain information to the public.

“In decree, the commission is to function independently… [it] should not be used as a tool to protect people or attack opponents.”

Furthermore, “we should be allowed to disclose any information [we find],” he said, “because these corruption issues need to be investigated.”

Adnan said a press conference scheduled for yesterday evening was cancelled at the last minute on request from the President’s Office, which made him reconsider his position in the commission.

“I feel [the commission] cannot function in an impartial manner,” Adnan said.

Haseen confirmed Adnan’s resignation and said Adnan “is really concerned about transparency… he is not satisfied with our decision to postpone a press conference.”

Haseen confirmed the scheduled press conference was postponed “on the advice of the President’s Office.”

He said the commission gives press conferences “frequently” and this one was postponed “because the issue is quite controversial.”

The Presidential Commission is allowed to share information with the public, Haseen said, but “we have some limitations.”

Haseen explained that once the investigation of a case is completed by the commission, a press conference will normally be held before the registration report is sent to the police. The police then have to send it to the Prosecutor General’s office, who decide whether the case will be sent to court.

Although Haseen said the President’s Office “never intervenes with the process” of investigation, on this occasion, “Mr Adnan is not happy about it.”

Haseen said the commission regularly seeks the president’s advice, since “he appointed the commission, it is related to his advice,” and their investigations are always “cooperative.”

Haseen said the issue of the commission’s transparency was “nothing to worry about.”

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said President Nasheed expressed his regret about Adnan’s resignation, and thanked him for his sincerity and the legal advice he provided the commission.

Zuhair noted the President created the commission to strengthen the role of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), among other independent commissions

“The Presidential Commission is an auxiliary body to help police and other agencies at the front line of legal matters,” Zuhair said.

He said he believed Adnan “jumped the gun” with his resignation.

“He may have other assumptions [about the commission],” Zuhair said.

Zuhair said the press conference that was cancelled yesterday had originally been scheduled for Thursday, but the commission postponed it until Sunday “for their own reasons.”

He said the president then wrote a letter to the commission asking for the details of the press conference, “saying he should be informed of the key points to be made public.”

Zuhair said “it would not be the decent thing to do to go ahead with the press conference without giving the president the facts he wanted. It is the Presidential Commission. The president is the head of this body.”

He said the president “didn’t want to jeopardise the legal process” by revealing certain information before the case was made public and sent to the police. “The president wanted to know whether the commission had a water-tight case.”

But he assured “there was no order [made] to stop the press conference.”

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Man confirmed dead after boat accident

Police have found the body of Ibrahim Shareef, 35, Kudhi Lunboamaage, L. Hithadhoo, south-east of Olhuveli reef, about 45 metres from the surface, reports Miadhu.

Shareef was reported missing after an accident between a dhoani and a speed boat last Saturday night, which occurred off the coast of Olhuveli.

The search was conducted by the Coastguards and a group of divers in the area.

Police have reported the body has been taken to L. Hithadhoo for the funeral.

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Islanders will “regret it” if DRP wins council elections, says MDP

Secretary General for the Maldivian Democratic Party(MDP) Hussein Shah said that if the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) wins the upcoming island and atoll council election, “islanders will regret it.”

Shah accused the DRP of not wanting to “bring powers close to the people”.

”They wish everyone to be crowded in Male,” Shah said. ”Their purpose is to try and stop the government from fulfilling its pledges.”

He said the party was trying to make people understand how things would be like if DRP won the election.

”In parliamentary elections we did not win the majority,” he said. ”Now people can witness the DRP MPs trying to [sabotage] the beneficial bills sent by the government.”

DRP MP Abdulla Mausoom said people had “no confidence” in the current government “as they have feel that it is a dictatorship.”

Mausoom said that people knew now that “nobody in the MDP thinks about the nation and its people.”

”In all the islands of the country we see people against MDP,” he said. ”It’s up for them to make a good decision.”

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that a loss to DRP in the island and atoll council election would mean the government “will not be able to do anything for the people.”

Zuhair said after the council election there will be a direct link between the government and the islanders.

”Look at the parliament now – the situation is worse there than in countries that have civil wars,” he said.

He said the supposed date to hold the elections had now passed.

DRP Deputy Leader Umar Naseer claimed that the government had proved it could not run the country.

”Eighteen months have passed and they haven’t done anything,” Umar said. ”DRP would try to do everything it can to develop the islands.”

”Nothing will happen if MDP wins, ” he said. ”Things will be just same as they are.”

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