the MNDF reported that no person was aboard the Harbour Princess when the incident occurred, and no person was injured.
The fire was controlled around 4:00am this morning, MNDF reported.
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(0)Police have complained that the defence lawyer of Al-Qary Hussain Thaufeeq, a renowned reciter of the Quran who was recently arrested on multiple charges of child sex abuse, also served as the prosecution lawyer for one of Thaufeeq’s alleged victims.
Thaufeeq formerly hosted a daily Quran teaching programme on Television Maldives (TVM) for school children every evening after Isha prayers. Prior to his arrest, he also led Friday prayers and conducted sermons.
A police media official said that police would not disclose details regarding the case, but said the lawyer Abdulla Shiyaz had appeared as both Thaufeeq’s defence and as prosecution for one of the girls he allegedly molested.
Legal Officer of the Criminal Court, Mohamed Amir, said the police concerns had been presented to the Criminal Court.
“There were two defence lawyers for Thaufeeq, Abdulla Shiyaz and Ali Shah,” he said. “Police have claimed Abdulla Shiyaz appeared in court as the prosecution lawyer for an alleged victim of the accused. When the investigation is ongoing, the victim has the right to present her own lawyer if she wishes so.’’
Amir said the police investigation team have claimed that the issue could obstruct the police investigation and influence the witnesses.
‘’It is against the code of ethics of lawyers to appear as both prosecution and defence lawyer at the same case,’’ Amir noted.
However Abdulla Shiyaz told local news paper Haveeru that he denied the charges and claimed it was an attempt by police to denigrate his reputation.
He said that when he appeared in court on the victim’s side, he did not know that it was a case related to Thaufeeq.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives Police Service has appealed for those participating in an upcoming ‘Baibala’ tournament, a traditional Maldivian sport, to conduct the activity peacefully in accordance with the law.
Baibala is played by two teams, one inside a circle and one outside. The group outside must run into the ring, tag an opponent and escape without being tagged in return. Any person tagged is disqualified from that round. It is traditionally played following Eid-Al-fithur, and requires speed and agility.
A group of 150 players last week petitioned the President outside his residence to hold the tournament. Police earlier have objected to the tournament because of its popularity with gangs and the potential for violence.
It is common for gangs to compete in teams under their gang name, and even print T-shirts with their gang logos for players and supporters.
A police media official told Minivan News that police objected to the Baibala tournament because in recent years disputes in the sport have triggered gang wars.
“We have two main concerns,” said the police media official. “The teams in it are mainly funded by money obtained through robbery and thieving, and because following the Baibala tournament, a series of gang wars usually commences.”
He said he would not comment on whether police would be providing security during the tournament.
The government has meanwhile requested concerned authorities give permission to the youths.
Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said the government would assist in anyway way it could.
“It is a permanent responsibility of police to maintain peace and law and order, especially in places where something may happen,” Zuhair said. “The Municipality Council, the youth ministry and the police are now discussing how to maintain the security of the area during the tournament.’’
“Police are concerned because during a recent football match, a boy was stabbed to death,’’ he said. “However security will be maintained during the Baibala tournament.’’
It is played between two groups and is often attended by youths.
(4)Dislikes(2)President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed Ahmed Latheef as the Maldives Ambassador to China.
Latheef was presented with a letter of appointment during a function at the President’s Office today.
Latheef was appointed following consulting the parliament, as required by the constitution, reported Haveeru.
(0)Dislikes(0)The coast guard have discovered a canoe belonging to an expat who was lost at sea while fishing, reported the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).
The MNDF reported that the canoe was discovered near Fulidhoo in Vaavu Atoll.
Speedboats searching for the missing person have now begun searching near the area where the canoe was found.
MNDF identified the lost person as Adhunaan Yousuf, 59, Mirusmaage of Fulidhoo in Vaavu Atoll.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Police Integrity Commission has ruled that an order by Maldives Police Services for DhiFM to cease coverage of a riot outside the presidential residence on January 28 was unconstitutional and violated the police act, reports Miadhu.
Police claimed that the order was given because the DhiFM coverage was broadcast in such a manner that it was a potential threat to national security, however police failed to convince the commission.
The commission claimed that two police officers went to DhiTV following an order by Superintendent of Police Ahmed Saudhee, with Saudhee taking the orders from Deputy Commissioner of Police Ahmed Muneeru, according to Miadhu.
Following the incident, Department of Information docked five points from DhiFM’s broadcasting license for eight contract violations,
Police had accused DhiFM of airing live interviews with people calling for others to join the protest and overthrow the government through violence. DhiFM claimed plain clothed officers entered the station’s premises and demanded the broadcast be terminated, raising the ire of advocates for media freedom.
The content review committee at the Department of Information found that DhiFM’s coverage breached aspects of the code including failing to distinguish between fact and opinion, produce unbiased and balance coverage of controversial/political events, and promoting criminal activities as “something good or acceptable”.
(0)Dislikes(0)A top UK transplant surgeon has died while snorkeling on holiday in the Maldives.
Reports in the UK press claimed the 61 year-old consultant transplant and vascular surgeon, Ali Bakran, was on holiday with his wife Diane and daughter Miriam when he was pulled from the water and pronounced dead.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the incident occurred at the Adaaran Meedhupparu Resort in Raa Atoll.
“The cause [of death] was most likely drowning but it is very difficult to confirm without a postmortem, and that is not something we can do here [in the Maldives],” Shiyam said.
Meedhupparu Resort’s management would not confirm that the incident had occurred, and said the resort would not release any information to the press until the matter had been investigated.
Bakran’s son Adam told the Liverpool Daily that the cause of his father’s death on August 27 was still unknown, and that the family was waiting for the results of a post-mortem to be conducted in the UK.
“We have no idea if he died before he drowned. My mum saw him snorkeling and then half an hour to 45 minutes later he was pulled from the water,” he said.
Bakran worked at the Royal Liverpool Hospital for over 20 years, and set up the charity Aequitas to help make careers in medicine more accessible to underprivileged students.
Fellow charity trustee Professor John Aston, also the UK’s North West Regional Director of Public Health, told the newspaper that Bakran “was a man who had quite humble origins overseas and was very committed to improving access to medical school among people from poor backgrounds. He wanted other kids to have the same chances as he had, and his commitment to social justice and equality and opportunity is something to be recognised.”
Registrar at the Royal Liverpool Hospital Ajay Sharma said the staff were very upset.
“At times, people in the hospital would be taken aback or a bit stunned because he would do whatever was necessary for his patients – he would bulldoze his way for patients,” Sharma said.
“When he was travelling, Mr Bakran would call me from America or Australia to check on his patients.
Balkran is the latest tourist to die in a series of snorkeling-related incidents this year.
In mid-August a Chinese couple holidaying in the Maldives disappeared from their resort after they went for a swim.
The 38 year old woman and 40 year old man were holidaying with their 13 year-old daughter on the Hilton Irufushi Beach and Spa Resort in Noonu Atoll.
On March 14, police received a report that a Chinese national, Rui Dai, died while snorkelling at Holiday Inn Kandooma Resort, South Malé Atoll.
Earlier that same month another Chinese man died while snorkeling at Chaaya Lagoon Hakurahura Island Resort, less than a day after a German tourist died in a snorkeling accident at Embudu Village Island Resort.
Mohamed Ibrahim ‘Sim’ from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) has previously stated that resorts need to ensure that inexperienced or elderly snorkelers are aware of the dangers, such as the country’s strong currents.
MATI is currently working with the Ministry of Tourism to make tourists more aware of the risks to snorkelers.
“Chinese guests in particular need to be made more aware because the Maldives is a totally different environment than what they are used to,” Sim said.
“The UK tour operators already pass on this kind of information, but China is a new market and the operators need to be made aware also,” he added. “Few resorts have reception staff or guides who speak Mandarin.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Dear Mohamed Fahmy Hassan, President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC),
Assalaamualaikum Wrh. Wbr.
My civil servant colleagues and I congratulate you for your nomination as the new President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
We take this opportunity to bring to your attention that there are a number of civil servants who are entitled to a food allowance but have not been paid to date.
This we believe is because they are not the majority. But we also believe the CSC must respect the feelings of the minority as well and that we hereby request you to look into the issue a bit seriously and without any further delay.
We have seen that a staff member travelling to the workplace by bus, organised by the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), are paid a food allowance, but the same staff travelling to the workplace by sea –
much further in terms of distance and much more difficult to travel – have NOT been paid a food allowance.
If we look at the set rules and regulations for providing a food allowance we believe it contradicts the rule and how it is been practiced because the rule says a staff member travelling to a workplace other than his/her residence are entitled to a food allowance and a travel allowance.
Again, this in contradictory when those who don’t get a food allowances are still provided with a travel allowance, which doesn’t really make sense and is really problematic.
Now the question is why these employees are been paid a travel allowance if they are not entitled to a food allowance. We believe travel allowance has been paid for the same reason as the food allowance has been paid.
Since the issue has been repeatedly notified to the Zinmaadhaaru Verin (ZV) and the Permanent Secretaries (PS) but remains unattended and ignored, please kindly try to help the civil servants get their entitled food allowance as soon as possible.
Sincerely yours,
Mohamed
(0)Dislikes(0)The Ministry of Gender and Family, the Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences 2007 suggest that one in every three women undergo some kind of abuse through their life, be it physical, psychological or sexual abuse.
For this reason, as a woman working to empower women, I felt a ray of hope on November 25, 2009, when the parliamentarians endorsed their commitment to the campaign to stop Violence against Women in the Maldives.
Unfortunately, the recent discussions held at the last meeting of the People’s Majlis (Parliament), before they went into recess, were shocking to some of us. Some of the parliamentarian’s crude remarks denote discrimination against women that is unacceptable for the lawmakers of the Maldives.
This is not the first time that such discriminatory, undermining and sexual language has been used toward women on the parliament floor.
The Maldives Constitution ratified in 2008. Chapter 2, article 17 states that everyone is entitled to rights and freedoms without discrimination of any kind including race, national origin, color, sex, age, mental or physical disability, political or other opinion, property, birth or other status, or native island.
In this respect, the United Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which Maldives ratified in 1993, specifically stipulates equal rights to women, to stop discrimination against women and places an obligation on the state to provide and protect the rights of women.
It is interesting to note that the parliamentarians did not question the sex of the candidates at the time when the names were sent to the Majlis by President of the Maldives, and when they reviewed and approved the names for the five membership positions of Human Rights Commission (HRCM).
The discussion heated up when it became apparent the President [Mohamed Nasheed] had sent female nominations for the President and Vice-President of HRCM, which are high positions.
Why is it that the thought processes of the parliamentarians then turned upside down? The parliamentarians did not debate over why women were not nominated for bench of Supreme Court, nor why there is only one woman elected for both the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and no woman sitting in Elections Commission.
The majority of the public and private sector do not provide equal opportunities for women when it comes to decision-making positions. These high positions and are not barred by Islam, and neither by the Maldivian Constitution.
The media lacks awareness about women’s rights and the importance of promoting gender equality. The misconception spread about gender equality is that women and men are equal. This is incorrect – the correct account is that men and women are biologically different because of their sex but gender is socially constructed.
This means that there are positions or jobs that the society believes that either men or women can do. This is the interpretation that the parliamentarians had when they had the discussions on the last day before recess.
If women’s names had been approved by parliamentarians according to their first deliberations, the approval should be based on their competency. The deliberations on the Majlis floor indicate lack of knowledge about women’s issues and women’s problems.
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