American climate change scientist Michael Mann has been cleared of manipulating his research findings, reports ABC Australia.
The allegations caused an international furore and reinforced the stance of climate change deniers, after emails between Dr Mann and other scientists were taken from a computer at the University of East Anglia in Britain and posted anonymously on the internet.
(0)Dislikes
(0)The Maldives government is preparing evidence to file a case in the Supreme Court over the Majlis attempt to “grab powers invested with the executive”, according to the President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair in a statement to the Asian Tribune.
The government is also attempting to hold talks with opposition parties to encourage co-operation between the Majlis and the executive branch of government, said Zuhair.
Opposition DRP official Dunya Maumoon confirmed there have been “indications” of approaches for talks, and she criticised the government for attempting to govern without cabinet ministers.
(0)Dislikes(0)The European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with South Asia intends to discuss the situation in the Maldives at its next meeting in Brussels on 15 July.
Political instability in Maldives could have a crucial impact on the social, economic and tourism development of the country, says the chairperson of the delegation, Jean Lambert, in a statement issued in Brussels yesterday.
Maldives “needs stability in order to capitalise on its location,” she said, calling on political parties and institutions “to work constructively and in good faith” and “to promote good governance and allow the country to tackle the challenges it faces.”
(0)Dislikes(0)The amendments to the Maldives Public Finance Act were ‘the Grand Finale in the process of decimating the Executive, once and for all’, according to the latest update on Ibra’s Blog.
Ibrahim Ismail, one-time member of the Majlis for Male during the presidency of Maumoon Gayyoom, was an early supporter of democratic reform.
His blog analyses the cultural, legal and political dimensions of reform in Maldives.
“With the change in government, there was trepidation among many that there may be a witch hunt to bring criminals within the former regime to justice. The relative security of the Majlis was sought by many, and some succeeded. After the initial scrambling for personal security, some were emboldened…”
(0)Dislikes(0)The country’s ability to borrow money has been made more difficult by a Majlis member borrowing a large sum of money and lowering the country’s credit rating, said the state minister for finance Ahmed Assad at the President’s Office press conference yesterday. Now that person has made a request to the government to give him a ‘letter of no objection’ to borrow a further large sum, he said.
Assad refused to name the Majlis member at the conference but it is widely assumed in the Maldivian media that the Majlis member is Gasim Ibrahim.
The European Investment Bank is complaining that the country is already in default, said Assad, and because of that complaint, the Maldivian government is having difficulty borrowing money and the country is in serious financial difficulties. It is jeopardising the government’s ability to borrow money for important projects like housing, he said.
The Majlis has left a tax bill in committee for a whole year, along with around 30 other bills which the executive government has submitted, said MDP MP Eva Abdulla last night on TV Maldives’ Rajje Miadhu (Maldives Today) current affairs program. These bills were designed to provide services to the people which were promised during the presidential election, she said, and instead of doing anything to pass the bills, the opposition has been amending existing legislation to remove the powers of the president.
The IMF has set up a program to help the government out of economic crisis, and an essential part of that program is to reduce expenditure and increase revenue, Eva Abdulla explained. The Tourism Goods and Services bill and the Business Profit Tax bill are designed to increase government revenues, she said, and both bills have been sitting in the Majlis committee for over a year and no progress has been made in passing them. The Majlis sub-committee considering the two bills is chaired by the leading businessman in the country [Gasim Ibrahim], she said.
Gasim also the head of the permanent Majlis committee for economic affairs.
This week, Gasim Ibrahim and another Majlis member, People’s Alliance party leader Abdulla Yameen, were arrested on charges of treason involving bribery of Majlis members. The Criminal Court ordered that Yameen, the younger brother of former President Maumoon Gayyoom, be presented in court by the police after midnight less than 6 hours after his arrest. The High Court yesterday endorsed the Criminal Court order. Both men were released from police custody by the Criminal Court and placed under ‘house arrest’ with permission to attend Majlis sittings and committee meetings. Gasim Ibrahim’s swift hearing at the Criminal Court took place without any media presence.
Abdulla Yameen is on the permanent Majlis committee for financial affairs which is headed by his party’s deputy leader Ahmed Nazim who is the deputy speaker of the Majlis. Yameen is also head of the permanent Majlis committee for national security.
Last night on Gasim’s Villa TV station, Yameen appeared and said he was confident that he would win the 2013 Presidential election competing against current MDP President Nasheed and the DRP’s Thasmeen Ali. Yameen also criticised the government’s economic policies and said the current administration had borrowed more than US$500 million in the last 18 months.
What is clear is that both Gasim and Yameen will have to pay significant taxes if the tax laws are passed, and therefore they are delaying the bills, said Eva Abdulla on TVM last night.
Gasim Ibrahim owns resorts and has an extensive businesses and media interests. Yameen also has widespread business interests in the Maldives and was a long-serving minister during President Gayyoom’s 30 year rule.
The present Maldivian government’s ministers resigned en masse in a ceremony held at the President’s Office earlier this week, before Gasim and Yameen were arrested. The ministers, who were appointed by the president, said that they were unable to function due to restrictions placed on them by Majlis amendments to existing administrative and financial legislation.
A press release by Gasim’s Jumhooree party says the arrests were designed to intimidate its leader and Abulla Yameen, and that the resignation of the ministers, followed by the two Majlis members arrests, were contrary to ‘the spirit of the rights granted to them by the constitution’, and designed to place undue influence on the Majlis.
“We know that there are big businessmen and corruption in the country,” said the former foreign minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed at yesterday’s President’s Office press conference. “For a young democracy, corruption is the biggest enemy. Corruption is present in every country. Democracy will only be strengthened when institutions that are supposed to fight against corruption are strengthened. Maldives is at that stage. The question we have to ask is if the current institutions don’t help us, then how can we do this?” Dr. Shaheed said.
“Maldives is in this economic crisis because corruption has been widespread. Particularly because the previous government has looted the country and because they have given priority to their personal interests rather than to the nation,” he said.
Democracy can be strengthened only when looters of the country receive appropriate punishment, Dr. Shaheed added, and the government has to take urgent action against corruption.
(0)Dislikes(0)Regarding the political chaos that has developed in the Maldives, the Supreme court has issued a statement assuring the people that the judicial system will maintain the power of the constitution and rights of the people for every individual without discrimination.
The judicial system is one of the basic elements of democracy and the most important institution for maintaining freedom and rights, says the Supreme Court.
”We appeal to the beloved people to maintain law and order,” said the statement. ”We are one nation, we speak one language, and our religion is Islam.”
The people had established a democratic policy to obtain economic development and a better life, says the Court.
”The basis of this policy is for the people, the executive and the institutions to obey the constitution and laws, and for the three powers of state to fulfil their obligations within the law,” the statement said. ”and for those powers to co-operate together to achieve national goals without impeding each other.”
However, former attorney-general Husnu Suood has said recently that he did not believe that the Supreme Court can make judgments fairly.
The government could not resort to the Supreme Court to overturn parliamentary decisions, “because we filed two cases in the Supreme Court, and they ruled it was not the right of the government to file such cases.”
State institutions had failed, Suood said, and senior officials of the judiciary were “irresponsible”, and the independent commissions were operating like “small governments”. “All this has brought the government to a standstill,” he said.
Meanwhile, opposition MP Ali Waheed has claimed that the government is trying to declare a state of emergency to gain more powers.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldivian High Court has ruled that the criminal court order for People’s Alliance party leader and MP Yameen Abdul Gayyoom and Jumhoory Party leader and MP Gasim ‘Buruma’ Ibrahim to be brought before the court within one hour, was not unlawful.
The ruling was given in response to an appeal by the police against the criminal court order.
”Maldives Police Services understand that the criminal court order was contrary to the law,” said the prosecution lawyer Dheebanaz Fahmy yesterday.
The legislation states that police can keep a person in custody without a court appearance for 24 hours. The two MPs were arrested around 6.30 p.m. and around 9.30 p.m. Yameen’s lawyer Azima Shukoor requested the criminal court to determine on what grounds Yamin was arrested.
The order was issued around 12.15 a.m. that same night, less than six hours after the arrest. The police claimed the court order was unlawful and against judicial procedure.
Last night the criminal court ruled both MPs were to be placed under house arrest for three days while the investigation continues, and that they would be free to attend parliamentary sittings and committee meetings. The police also appealed to the High Court against this ruling.
DRP deputy leader and MP Ali Waheed meanwhile condemned the actions of the police for arresting the two MPs. “The government is trying to gain a majority in the Majlis by force,” said Ali Waheed. ”That’s why they are threatening the opposition MPs.”
Waheed claimed that the police were influenced by the government. ”I have been repeatedly trying to contact Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh to hold a meeting to discuss this issue,” Waheed said. ”He has not responded.”
Waheed also said that the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) was active in Male’ although there was no civil unrest.
“The government is trying to declare a state of emergency,” he said. ”Then the executive will gain a lot of powers.”
He claimed that the former minister of defence Ameen Faisal (who resigned two days ago along with the entire cabinet) was attending MNDF headquarters. Waheed said this was a threat to national security.
”After he resigned, he had no authority to enter MNDF headquarters,” Waheed said. ”He is a person who also had some connection with November 3rd attack.”
The judicial system of the Maldives is not impartial, says the secretary-general of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Ibrahim Shareef.
He said that the MDP might include that issue in their ongoing protests against opposition party actions in the Majlis which the MDP claims are an attempt to undermine the constitutional powers of the executive branch of government.
(0)Dislikes(0)Dear Editor,
I am writing to bring to your attention and to express my disgust at the fact that my son and countless other children who attend Billabong International School in Male’ was potentially exposed and endangered when the school last year appointed Alexis Valoran Reich aka John Mark Karr as the schools head teacher.
It was today brought to my attention that Alexis Valoran Reich is a suspected murderer and pedophile in his native United States of America.
Upon obtaining this information, a group of concerned parents, today, made an appointment with the owner of Billabong International School Maldives Mr Absy and went to the appointment at 2.45pm only to be told
by the school that Mr. Absy will not be able to keep his appointment with the parents due to the fact that Mr. Absy was out of the country (it is believed that Mr. Absy found out why the parents had requested for an appointment)
The parents where then met by the principal of the school who informed the parents that the school was aware of Mr. Alexis Reich’s past history and his employment was subsequently terminated due to this fact.
Although I am relieved today that Mr. Alexis Reich no longer works in in Billabong International School, I would like to know;
1) If he is currently still in the Maldives?
2) Why was he employed in the first place?
3) Were any children harmed by him while he was a teacher in the Maldives, if so what was done by the school to address the matter and to help the children in question?
4) What are the guidelines of the Ministry of Education on hiring teachers in Maldivian Schools? and if these guidelines are different to private schools and public schools in the Maldives and if so, how?
5) What is the concerned authorities in the country going to be doing in the future to avoid unfortunate and avoidable instances like these in the future?
I would very much appreciate if my concerns had a venue to be made public through your reputed news agency.
Yours Sincerely,
Muzaffar Naeem (Muju)
Concerned Parent
(1)Dislikes(1)A teacher who worked at Billabong High School in Male’ from Feburary until June 2009, Alexis Valoran Reich, has been revealed as the transsexual alter-ego of John Mark Karr, a man who falsely confessed to murdering JonBenét Ramsey in the United States and has been investigated for possession of child pornography.
The JonBenét case remains one of the most high-profile unsolved murder cases in the US. The six year old was discovered dead in the basement of her parent’s house in Boulder Colorado in 1996, apparently strangled with a garrote made from a length of cord and the broken handle of a paintbrush.
The case initially focused on Ramsey’s parents as the murder suspects, attracting extensive media coverage, which often remarked on her participation in child beauty pageants.
Karr, who was on the run in Thailand after being charged in the US for possession of child pornography, confessed to the killing in 2006 and was extradited to the US to await trial. He was eventually acquitted because his DNA did not match that discovered on Ramsay’s body. The five charges of possession of child pornography were also dropped after investigators reportedly lost the computer they seized from him in 2001, containing the images.
Boulder police reopened the case February 2009, although the case remains unsolved despite the unmatched DNA evidence.
Karr disappeared from the public stage and reportedly began working as a teacher in countries across Europe and Asia. He arrived in the Maldives on January 20 last year as a woman, ‘Alexis Valoran Reich’, and was employed at Billabong school as a preschool and grade one English teacher.
Karr/Reich left the school in June after “personal differences” with then-Principal Kevin Dillow, explained Billabong board member Ahmed Adhly Rasheed.
“Reich was employed through a reputable English teacher recruitment agency, which provided us a [clean] Seattle City police report in his name,” Rasheed said.
“We did several checks – the immigration check when [the staff member] enters the country, the check when the work permit issued, and we checked the referral letters from places where he had worked before. We also do our own checks, and were in the process of doing that when Alexis left. He arrived on January 20 and left four and a half months later.”
The connection between Karr and Reich only became public knowledge in March-May 2010, following news reports in the US on his sex change that led to an update of Karr’s entry on Wikipedia.
The photo of Reich in Billabong’s personnel file is unmistakably a feminine likeness of Karr, and his passport details – birthdate December 11, 1964, issued December 2008 in his hometown of Georgia – match Karr’s details exactly.
“We had the police in the school this morning asking where this person was,” Rasheed said, emphasising that Reich had left the school over a year ago, destination unknown.
During her time at the Billabong there were no allegations made against him or any evidence of impropriety, Rasheed said. Reich was by all accounts an excellent teacher – “he was in fact the most popular teacher at the school.”
“He left because of a conflict with the principal Kevin. I don’t mean to defend this guy, but he was actually very popular among the parents. When he left and parents found out it was to do with a conflict with management, some parents approached us and expressed disappointment that he was leaving, and desire that he [remain at the school].”
A Billabong teacher who worked alongside Reich concurred: “Sure he was a bit strange, but he was really good with all the kids. They all liked him – there was no seediness,” the teacher said. “I think he pulled a runner because he wasn’t enjoying the work. He used to complain, but just about normal work things. There were no issues.”
Rasheed said the school received no allegations about Reich while he was working at the school.
“Nothing of any concern happened while he was here – there were no allegations,” Rasheed said. “Our concern is the talk around town that this is somebody who is still working at the school.”
Reich’s passport identified her as male – it had been issued the month before he arrived, Rasheed explained.
“He spoke with a deep voice. I don’t know the extent of his sex change operation,” Rasheed said. “He was known as a man to co-workers, teachers and students while he was in the Maldives.”
Billabong’s unwitting employment of an infamous transsexual teacher acquitted of murdering a six year old beauty queen – a saga somewhat at odds with the conservative nature of modern Maldivian society – together with the allegations of child abuse facing the (former) Principal of the Maldives’ other private school, Lale Youth International – has raised questions among parents and the Education Ministry as to the efficacy of the country’s vetting procedures.
In a letter to Minivan News, concerned parent Muzaffar Naeem said that while he “was relieved that Mr Alexis Reich no longer works at the school”, he questioned the Education Ministry’s guidelines on the employment teachers, and whether the rules were as stringent for privately-owned schools as they were for government institutions.
Deputy Education Minister Shifa Mohamed said the same proceedures were required to be in place at private schools as those in government-owned schools.
“The Ministry expects all schools to follow the same proceedures and obtain police clearance before employing teachers,” she said. “It is also the responsibility of each school to take the initiative and check that teachers are of good quality.”
Rasheed reiterated that the identity of Alexis Reich was only revealed a month ago: “we followed our proceedures but of course in this case there was no connection between the two individuals.”
Current Principal of Billabong David Key, who took over from Dillow in November, observed that Reich’s Seattle City police record would have been clear if his history of charges was kept in another US county.
“It’s similar if you ask the London Metropolitan police for a police record check – they won’t check the rest of the country,” said Key.
“This school is putting in proceedures that are stock standard in every international school in the world – get records, references, call referees first, all these kind of things. Police records should not only come from the country where they were born, but should come country the person was last living in. This is very important – you can have a teacher who has worked for five years in Thailand but hands in a UK police report. They been in Thailand last five years, how do we not know anything [happened]?”
Most important, Key said, was the need for schools to interview teachers “face to face, person to person.”
“I think we need to actually meet people, because that gives you a better idea of nature of a person than Skype or a phone call. The teachers I would like to employ [at Billabong] are people I know would fit into this society and have an agreement with the way of life here – rather than necessarily having the best educational qualifications. Those are important, but it’s more important that the teachers we get fit into the Islamic culture here and the nature of the Maldives.”
Correction: Reich’s passport, issued December 2008, identified him as male, not female as previously stated.
(0)Dislikes(0)