President Mohamed Nasheed has expressed concern over the clash between journalists and police during the opposition led-protest on Monday night.
Several journalists from different media organisations have reported violent police attacks on journalists covering the riot.
The protest began as a gathering in front of party’s head office, but degenerated into a riot when protesters marched to the President’s official residence of Muleeage.
A journalist from Miadhu, three journalists from DhiTV, two journalists from VillaTV, one from newspaper Miadhu and a photographer from Haveeru reported they were attacked by police.
President’s Office issued a statement saying that it had received reports that journalists covering the opposition protest were injured by police officers who tried to control the situation.
The statement said the President’s office held a meeting yesterday to discuss the issue with the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), Maldives National Journalists Association (MNJA) and the Maldives Media Council.
Special Envoy to the President Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair, Deputy Under Secretary of the President’s office Aishath Shuweykara, Communications Coordinator Husham Mohamed and a police media official sat in the meeting with the media representatives.
The statement acknowledged complaints received from NGOs claiming that journalists were injured during police attempts to control the area, that they were deliberately targeted, that police forced journalists to move too far away from the area, and referred to journalists rudely.
The statement also acknowledged complaints that pepper spray and tear gas was sprayed into the area without warning, according to the NGOs.
Zaki told the delegates that the Maldives Media Council was establishing policies for journalists on how to cover riots and protests, and called on all concerned authorities to cooperate with the council.
Zaki said he do not believe that there was any hostility between journalists and police.
Opposition DRP MP Ahmed Nihan said that the reputation and dignity of the country was lifted among the international community after the press freedom was offered in the new constitution, and that the incident that occurred that night was disgraceful.
”The police acted upon orders from the President, they obstructed the work of the journalists while they were trying to broadcast the riot on air,” said Nihan. ”I strongly condemn the police actions.”
Nihan said the President was liable for the police action.
”It is against the words of the President – media is the fourth pillar of democracy, we will demand their freedom,” Nihan said. ”Police reactions were quick and very violent that night.”
He alleged that the attack on the media was given upon a request by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Moosa Manik.
”It was not even 48 hours after Moosa warned that he would ‘show some of the media what I’ve got’. He has also warned that action would be taken against Villa TV and DhiTV,” Nihan claimed.
He also regretted that international organisations such as Reporters Without Borders did “not appear to care” about this incident.
“You are swine” and “the children that you bear from this marriage will all be bastard swine,” a tourist couple renewing their marriage vows in the Maldives were told in a ‘traditional Maldivian’ ceremony conducted in Dhivehi at Vilu Reef Beach and Spa Resort.
“Your marriage is not a valid one. You are not the kind of people who can have a valid marriage. One of you is an infidel. The other, too, is an infidel – and we have reason to believe –an atheist, who does not even believe in an infidel religion,” the ‘celebrant’ tells the couple, who appear completely unaware of the humiliation they are being subjected to.
A 15-minute video of the ceremony was uploaded on YouTube on October 24 2010 by a member of staff. Vilu Reef Manager Mohamed Rasheed told Minivan News that the staff member who uploaded the video did it as “a joke”, without “realising the seriousness of the potential consequences”.
Vilu Reef Beach and Spa Resort advertises itself as a place where couples can renew their wedding vows “hand in hand against a golden sunset backdrop” and where their “everlasting love” can be sealed by a “kaleidoscope of romantic hues” that covers the sky during the sunset.
In the video the ‘celebrant’ briefs the couple in English, prior to the ceremony, that it will be conducted according to “not only Maldivian” but also “Arabic and Islamic” norms.
Two wedding rings inside an open coconut, which appears to be lined with mother of pearl, are in front of the couple along with two fresh coconuts. The couple seem dressed for the ceremony, the woman in white as favoured by Western brides.
“Don’t look at her chest”, a man – possibly the videographer – is heard saying as the woman leans over to take a sip from the coconut. She adjusts her neckline.
Men, about ten or more, surround the area both outside and inside the palm fronds, which appears to be a make-shift wedding venue.
The celebrant twirls his thumbs over a piece of paper that he appears to be studying with deep concentration. A male voice asks him if the document is “something new”. He replies that it is “the seventh Article of the Penal Code”.
The document, of which there is a brief close-up in the video, has absolutely no relation to marriage laws in the Maldives. Words that are legible on the document refer to “staff employment”, suggesting that it is a document relating to employment regulations.
Asking the couple and other ‘officials’ to raise their hands as is customary for Muslim prayers, the ‘celebrant’ begins his marriage vows.
“Fornication has been legalised according to Article six, 1.11 of the Penal Code”, he chants in a tone favoured by religious scholars. “That is, frequent fornication by homosexuals. Most fornication is by males,” he continues.
“Research has shown that men have a higher sex drive than women,” he says. “According to Article 8 to 6 of the Penal Code, converting to Islam, or circumcision, is not desirable under any circumstances.
“Germs of anger and hatred will breed and drip from the tips of your penises,” he says.
The ‘celebrant’ then switches from his improvised “Islamic and Maldivian marriage laws” to reading aloud from the document in front of him in the same ‘religious’ tone. This time, what he chants to the couple is to do with terms of employment.
When he returns to the ‘marriage vows’, he refers to certain Articles of the Constitution and combines ‘Section e” and “Section f” to create the word “balhu”, which in Dhivehi means “swine”. ‘E’ in Dhivehi is the letter ‘baa’ and ‘F’ the letter ‘lhaviyani’.
The ‘celebrant’ mixes the two letters to make the word ‘balhu’, the full version of which, as used by the ‘celebrant’, is ‘nagoo balhu’. The literal translation of the term is ‘crooked tail’, believed to refer to a pig’s tail, and is considered to be one of the worst insults in the Dhivehi language.
“You are swine according to the Constitution,” he declares, solemnly.
He then asks the couple to stand up and hold hands. The ‘officials’, too, stand up and place their hands on the couples’. They form a séance-like circle and the ‘celebrant’ begins chanting.
“Aleelaan, baleelaan…”, he begins. What he is chanting is not a verse from the Qur’an, or marriage vows in Dhivehi, but are the words of a popular Dhivehi children’s game.
Words of the game, too, are changed to say “black swine” instead of what is contained in the original.
“Before buggering a chicken, check if the hole is clean. That is because the people of the countries that you are from are familiar with the taste of the ****holes of chicken,” he chants, still with hands held over the couples’.
“Do not treat with kindness people against whom violence is being committed. Commit more violence against victims of violence. You are not people who have been sent to this world to commit violence.”
He then returns to the matter of staff salaries, which he continues to chant in the same tone as he had done the insults. “Do not complain too much about salaries, or matters regarding salaries. That is against the Penal Code. This is not something I am saying for your benefit – it is a law that we have made.”
He begins to chant loudly about “black swine”, stringing insult after insult and delivering it in the same rather ominous tone that Maldivian religious figures choose to deliver their sermons in.
“You fornicate and make a lot of children. You drink and you eat pork. Most of the children that you have are marked with spots and blemishes… these children that you have are bastards,” he continues solemnly.
Someone else is heard at this point to tell the ‘celebrant’ to “say a little bit more, and then quit.”
The concluding chant is delivered in a gentler, softer voice: “Keep fornicating frequently, and keep spreading hatred among people. The children you will have from this marriage will all be bastard swine.”
While the couple are putting rings on each other’s fingers, someone is heard saying that the recording should stop. “Don’t you worry about it,” says someone else, and the recording continues.
“Aren’t they going to suck mouth?” someone is heard asking. “Make them suck mouth”, it is urged. ‘Sucking mouth’ is a term used by Maldivians to denigrate the act of kissing.
“So now, in Maldivian law, in Islam, you are already married”, says the ‘celebrant’, returning to English. The hapless couple are then told to relax and enjoy the celebrations that are to follow, by the end of which a certificate of their nuptials will be ready for them.
Image from Vilu's website, advertising the ceremony
Once the ceremony is concluded, the celebrant, who is dressed in a shirt and tie – with the shirt left to hang loose over a traditional Maldivian sarong – swaggers out of the makeshift wedding venue – tugging at his tie and proclaiming himself “President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed.”
The celebrant, Vilu Reef Manager Rasheed told Minivan News, is an assistant Food and Beverage Manager named Hussein Didi. As he leaves the wedding venue having concluded his job, someone announces his presence, as “Ghaazee Hussein Didi”.
A Ghaazee is the Arabic name for a judge or magistrate, also adopted to mean the same in Dhivehi.
People clap loudly as the couple, whose marriage vows have just been mocked in some of the filthiest language known to Dhivehi, are videoed making their way to the next part of their ceremony – the planting of a coconut tree to mark the occasion.
Various types of insults about the woman and the man, their clothing and demeanour, are being spoken throughout in the form of a running commentary in a sports video.
As the bride bends down to plant the coconut tree, a man is heard is exclaiming, “Can see her breasts!” The ‘commentator’ observes, “She is wearing something”, he knows, he says, “because my beard has gone grey watching those things… I have seen so many of them now that I don’t even want to look any more when I see them.”
The groom, who is watering the new coconut tree which they have just planted, is totally unaware of the manner in which his wife and her breasts are being discussed by the group of Maldivian men ‘officiating’ at the renewal of their wedding vows.
‘Celebrant’ Didi tells the couple they should return soon to check on the progress of their plant, testament to what had taken place on the island that day.
The video concludes with the ‘commentator’ repeatedly urging the ‘celebrant’ to make the couple ‘suck mouths, suck mouths’.
The resort’s Manager Rasheed was unable to tell Minivan News how much the occasion had cost the couple or where they were from.
Asked if the couple had been made aware of the nature of the ‘wedding vows’ they had taken, Rasheed said they had been sent pictures but not the video.
“Our package includes sending them pictures on the CD the very same night”, he said. Rasheed added that the resort does not have a written ‘khuthuba’ or sermon from which to read, nor is the role of the celebrant undertaken by a designated person.
“It is done on a rotating basis. We have been doing it for ten years now, and from a very small start, it has grown into a very successful part of what we offer at Vilu,” he said.
Rasheed said he had become aware of the nature of the ceremony conducted by Didi shortly after it happened. He had banned Didi from performing any more ceremonies, but did not feel it was necessary to take any further action, until the video appeared on YouTube.
The staff member who uploaded the video, Ali Shareef, a shop assistant, is not being disciplined or investigated further, Rasheed said. He complied with the request by the management to remove the video from YouTube.
The ‘celebrant’, Didi, however is currently under investigation by the Head Office in Male’, Sun Travel and Tours.
Minivan News has learned that the ‘wedding package’ offered by Vilu Reef Resort lasts an hour, costs US$1300 which includes the services of a ‘celebrant’, a sailing trip and Maldivian music and dancing.
The happy couple can obtain photographs of their beautiful ceremony in the Maldivian sunset on Vilu Reef Resort for an additional US$440.
CEO of Sun Travel Ahmed Shakir was unavailable for comment.
The Civil Court ruling on whether or not the Judicial Service Commission is guilty of neglecting its Constitutional responsibilities has been delayed indefinitely because the court lacks an official seal with which to stamp the decision.
The Civil Court has been shut for business since President Mohamed Nasheed ratified the Judicature Act on Thursday due to a change in the Court’s name from Arabic to English. A Dhivehi word is not in use to refer to it.
Until President Nasheed signed the Judicature Act into law, the official name of the court had been Madhanee Court – ‘madhanee’ being the Arabic word for ‘civil’.
The Judicature Act, passed by the Majlis on 4 October, uses the English word ‘civil’ instead of the Arabic word ‘madhanee’ to refer to the court.
The Civil Court stopped its work once the Judicature Act came into force as it does not have an official seal bearing its new name with which to stamp its hearings and other official documents.
The Family Court and the Criminal Court, too, are suffering the same plight of being unable to rubber stamp their decisions after the name change.
A period of seventeen days was available between the Majlis passing the Judicature Act and President Nasheed ratifying it in which the seals could have been made.
Treasure Island Ltd is suing the JSC for professional negligence, alleging that it failed to investigate complaints of misconduct against two judges, one of whom is the former head of JSC and former Surpreme Court Justice Mujthaz Fahmy.
The JSC is an independent body Constitutionally mandated to oversee the judiciary and maintain its ethical and disciplinary standards.
Judge Mariyam Nihayath of the Civil Court, who on October 19 refused to admit additional infromation offered by potential JSC whistleblower, President’s member Aishath Velezinee, was set to hold a further hearing on the case today.
It is not known when the courts will have the necessary tools with which to resume justice.
Banks and the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) will close for 10 days during Republic Day and the Eid-al Adha holidays, November 11-20.
The MMA said the decision was made in conjunction with banks, however it has raised the ire of the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI).
“When nine [public] holidays were observed last year, we opened on one day in the middle,” the MMA told Haveeru. “The procedure does not allow employees to fully utilise the holidays. Banks also said that a few customers get the service during the holidays.”
A man has been arrested in Noonu Atoll for alleged sexual abuse of his 15 year-old daughter.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that a man was arrested in Noonu Atoll on charges of sexual abuse.
He said that further information could not be provided at the moment.
However, a person familiar with the matter told Minivan News that the case had been reported and the girl was being examined by police. He claimed the arrested person was the girl’s father, and that he had been charged with molestation.
The source claimed the girl’s boyfriend had secretly “gathered evidence” that the abuse was occurring before presenting it to her and assisting her in reporting it to the police.
The abuse had been occurring for some time, the source claimed.
Several journalists from different media organisations have reported violent police attacks on journalists covering the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)-led protest last night.
The protest began last night as a gathering in front of party’s head office, but degenerated into a riot when protesters marched to the President’s official residence of Muleeage.
Police attempted to restrict the activists from going any further when they reached Sosun Magu, but demonstrators broke through police lines and continued their march.
A journalist from Miadhu, Three journalists from DhiTV, two journalists from VillaTV, one from newspaper Miadhu and a photographer from Haveeru reported they were attacked by the police.
The two journalists from VillaTV were also arrested, handcuffed, and released the same evening.
Editor of DhiTV Midhath Hilmy claimed that three journalists from DhiTV were injured during the riot.
“One was hit by a tear gas canister and his head was bleeding, another journalist’s leg was injured,” said Midhath. “Police hit another DhiTV journalist three times in a chest with a baton.”
Midhath said all the journalists from DhiTV was wearing their press identification and were carrying video cameras.
Police were the persons supposed to protect the journalists, Midhath said, adding that he regretted the police attacks and hoped it would not occur next time.
‘’According to video footage take by journalists, I can see police have tried to stop the coverage and sometimes had covered the camera by putting their hands on it,’’ he said. “They also ordered the media to stop the coverage.’’
Editor of Miadhu Abdul ‘Gabbe’ Latheef told Minivan News that according to the injured Miadhu journalist, the police attacked her with baton while she was showing them her press card.
‘’She told me that some of the police referred to her rudely, while other police officers provided assistance to her,’’ said Latheef. “The media should condemn these actions.”
Latheef said he understood that the police were in a difficult situation and “had communication errors and difficulty identifying journalists.”
‘’The case should be investigated by an independent body,’’ he added.
Local media reported that police actions were violent and hostile, and that police attacked the journalists deliberately while they were staying in the area police officers had advised them to remain in.
However, Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam denied the claims and said some of the journalists working in the area had begun to show the characteristics as the opposition activists and engaged in hostile confrontations with the police.
‘’Some journalists opposed police orders and refused to stay in the security zone,” Shiyam said. “It would have gone smoothly if they had worked according to the orders,’’ said Shiyam. “Some journalists who opposed the police were moved away by using force.’’
He also claimed that journalists had tried to break the police lines and pass through the cordon. A Minivan News journalist was meanwhile obstructed from entering the area to cover the incident.
President of the Maldives Journalist Association Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir described the incident as “a black day for journalism in the Maldives”, and claimed that at least nine reporters were attacked by police with batons and shields.
“We will investigate each and every injury and ask journalists to send us their accounts of the incident.”
While those injured “were members of the mainstream media, reputable journalists”, Hiriga said he had heard reports that there might have been other journalists in the area “from an underground website”.
“It is an issue and some people have argued that the government should issue media accreditation,” Hiriga said. “The MJA doesn’t agree the government should do this – it needs to be an independent body.”
Five clinics offering alternative medicine in Male’ have been shutdown by the Health Ministry for failing to reach Ministry standards, reports Haveeru.
City Clinic, Indo-German Medical Centre, Cute Relax Alternative Medical Centre, Naeem Alternative Medicine and Green Care Clinic were found to be in breach of Health Ministry guidelines and standards and were shutdown.
According to the Health Ministry, those ‘practising’ medicine at the establishments were not qualified professionals, and, although being run as alternative medicine centres, some of them did not stock any traditional Maldivian medicine.
Some of the clinics did not keep proper patient records while others failed to properly set their price guidelines.
Speaker of the Parliament and opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Abdulla Shahid cancelled all sessions of parliament this week, after this morning’s session collapsed on points of order.
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson and MP Mariya Ahmed Didi said that parliament sessions had ceased since the Supreme Court issued an injunction on parliament’s endorsement of cabinet ministers last week, and accused the opposition of obstructing the parliament from debating any other matter.
“The Speaker and Deputy Speaker have tried really hard to put other items on the agenda,” she said, “but the DRP is not allowing it.”
“It’s very irresponsible, they can’t hijack an entire institution. There are so many things to be done,” Mariya said.
Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad said that the Supreme Court’s injunction related “only to Majlis deliberations on the question of cabinet confirmation.”
“Parliament is best suited to determine the course of it’s [own] calendar.”
The DRP has meanwhile called the government’s filing a case in the Supreme Court as a “delaying tactic”.
MP Ahmed Mahlouf said during the party’s protests last week that it had been three months since the reappointment of Nasheed’s ministers following their dramatic mass resignation and “we want to hasten the process of approving the ministers and are pressuring the government to be faster. We do not believe these ministers are acting legally.”
The opposition favours individually approving ministers, while the government wants a ‘block’ endorsement.
Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed described these as ‘retail’ and ‘wholesale’ interpretations of the procedure. This, he said, represented a far greater divide than the current Supreme Court case over 171(i) of parliament’s rules of procedure.
“I think they are two different matters. 171(i) is the clause the government claims is unconstitutional, a clause which tasks ministers to appear before committee and answer questions regarding their sector [under oath],” Nasheed said.
“Parliament can freeze that issue until it is decided in the Supreme Court, and even while this matter is in court other business can continue. But the DRP’s argument is that matters cannot be debated without ministers present – and approved. Not a response to the Supreme Court’s injunction per se, rather they feel the government has filed the matter in the Supreme Court as a delaying tactic.”
The Supreme court today granted minority opposition party People’s Alliance (PA), headed by the former President’s brother in law Abdulla Yameen, access to the proceedings.
The political divide, he said, “is a far greater problem that will not be solved by a court decision.”
“The government, backed by MDP, want a block vote. DRP wants to dismiss six ministers. Those are the two extremes. 171(i) is minor.”
Unlike the recent deadlock over the interim period and the appointment of a Supreme Court, that was ultimately resolved by the two parties holding peace talks outside the chamber, Nasheed said the position was so polarised and both parties had so far to fall that it was unlikely any compromise would be easily negotiated.
“Parliament is now deadlocked. The main parties control 65 of the 77 seats. Even one person standing can disrupt the chamber,” he said.
The current situation is symptomatic of the heavily partisan politics in the Maldives. Nasheed’s ministers briefly resigned in the middle of this year claiming that the opposition-majority parliament was obstructing them from performing their constitutional duties. The former ministers then led several rallies, while the police investigated several MPs for corruption and treason over vote-buying allegations.
The symbolic stunt brought international attention to the political deadlock between the executive and the legislature, and led to a number of appeals for the President to respect the law and ‘play by the rules’. At the same time, plunging public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary or its oversight body, the Judicial Services Commission, meant the executive had no third arm of government in which to resolve its disagreement. Less than two weeks later, all ministers were reappointed.
Parliament’s endorsement of the ‘resigned’ cabinet now appears to be the price the executive is paying for increasing the political heat in June. Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair has said that endorsing ministers individually would effectively amount to a series of no-confidence motions – theoretically, a “retail” interpretation of the procedure would allow the DRP to use its majority to dismiss cabinet in its entirety, except for Nasheed and the Vice President Mohamed Waheed.
The cross-party cooperation that finally achieved the appointment of a Supreme Court on conclusion of the constitution’s interim period suggested collaboration was not impossible, and drew widespread praise – even if much of the debate took place in secret peace talks outside the chamber.
Yesterday, UN Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox described many of the issues created by the spat between the executive and the legislature as “avoidable”, observing that political parties in the Maldives “have opposed each other and blocked key legislation as a matter of principle, even if there is no substantive disagreement.”
The UN and the international community, had, he said, “watched with concern as short term political interests have threatened to put the nation’s long-term interests at risk.”
Today, MP Nasheed noted that despite a great many bills remaining to be passed, five of parliament’s functions were now on hold with seemingly little chance of resuming until either side capitulated.
“Ultimately it is the country that is suffering,” he said.
A Maldivian woman went in to labour mid-air on a flight with her husband from Trivandrum to Abu Dhabi. The couple were heading to Minsk in Belarus
Head of International Media Relations of Etihad Airways, Holly Williams, confirmed to Minivan News that a passenger went into labour on October 24 on flight EY273, traveling from Trivandrum to Abu Dhabi.
‘’The flight was immediately diverted to Muscat in Oman, however the passenger delivered a healthy baby boy 20 minutes before the flight landed, with the assistance of Etihad cabin crew,’’ said Williams.
‘’Medical staff and an ambulance met the aircraft on arrival and the mother, her husband and the newborn baby were transferred to the nearest hospital, accompanied by Etihad Airways staff.’’
According to Gulf News, the couple were on their way to Minsk to attend medical college.
The newspaper identified the woman as Aiminath Raushan Khaleel, 24. Her husband, who was identified as Abdulla Shahid, told the newspaper that “my wife was due next month around the 20th, and we had to report before October 30 to complete our transfer from a Russian medical college to the college in Minsk, Belarus.”
“There was a trained nurse on board as a passenger and she helped in delivering the boy,” Abdulla told Gulf News.
Gulf News reported that the baby was a boy and that the baby’s condition was healthy.
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