Civil Court stops conducting hearings of cases related to the state

The Civil Court’s Judge Mohamed Naeem has declared that he will not conduct any cases related to the state unless parliament gives consent to the reappointment of Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad, reports SunFM.

MPs of the parliament have not yet given the consent of the parliament and Supreme Court has recently declared that cabinet ministers cannot remain in their posts if they do not have the consent of the parliament.

SunFM reported Judge Naeem as saying that the Civil Court Judges were split on the matter.

”The section I handle will not conduct trials on cases related to the state,” SunFM quoted Judge Naeem saying.

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Man sentenced four years for sexually abusing stepdaughter

The Manadhoo court has sentenced a man to four years imprisonment after he was found guilty of sexually abusing his stepdaughter, reported Manadhoo Live.

The paper identified the offender as Ibrahim Mohamed, of Kinbigasdhoshuge, Noonu Manadhoo.

He is now under charge of Manadhoo Council to be handed over to the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS).

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Gang murders 21 year-old man near Alikileygefaanu Magu in Galolhu

A group of men stabbed a 21 year-old man to death last night near NC Park in the Galolhu district of Male’.

Police said the incident occurred around 3:30am in the morning in Alikileyegfaanu Magu. The victim was identified as Ahmed Basheer, 21, of  Hithadhoo in Addu Atoll.

”He was stabbed four times in the back and three times in the chest,” police said in a statement.

Local media has reported that Ibrahim Shahum, who was recently charged in a murder case and released by the court after being kept in detention for six months, was sought by the police in connection with the murder last night.

Police have asked the public to report sightings of Shahum to police, and also warned people not to confront him.

A person familiar with the case told Minivan News that the death was a result of gang rivalry last night occurred between two groups in Male’ located in Maafannu, and that Shahum was not affiliated with either of the groups.

Although Basheer’s house is in Galolhu near NC Park, he said, he was affiliated with persons living in Maafannu ward.

”He is not affiliated with persons nearby his house and they do not have issues with him,” he said. ”He was attacked in a confrontation that occurred between two groups in Maafannu.”

In an effort to reduce violence in the Maldives, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Rasheed has presented an amendment to the Clemency Act during last week Tuesday’s parliament session, requiring the death penalty to be administered where the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.

In 2010 the Criminal Court issued a death sentence to a person found guilty of murder.

In last year’s death penalty verdict, the judge referred to article 88[d] of the Constitution, which stated that cases of murder should be dealt accordingly to Islamic Shariah, and that persons found guilty of murder ”shall be executed” if no inheritor of the victim denies the murderer to be executed, as according to Islamic Shariah.

According to MP Rasheed’s proposed amendment, if the Supreme Court upholds a death penalty ruled by a lower court, or if the Supreme Court itself serves death penalty to a person, the death penalty shall be executed.

Rasheed said he felt he had to present the amendment because of the increase in assaults and murder cases, which had “forced the living to live amid fear and threats.”

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Q&A: Young Muslim Advisory Group

Four young British Muslims from the UK’s Young Muslims Advisory Group (YMAG) visited the Maldives this week to learn about the Maldives and speak about their own experiences growing up as Muslims in a western society. During their visit they met ministers, civil society, school students and numerous community and religious leaders across Male’, Kuludhufushi and Hanimadhoo.

Minivan News spoke to Fahad Khan, YMAG’s chair and a graduate in International Relations from Leeds, Aisha Iqbal, a biochemist with an MSc in toxicology, Saadeya Shamsuddin, a London-based journalist and author, and Waliur Rahman, founder of the Bristol Active Youth Service (BAYS) and Project Manager for the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations (CEMVO).

JJ Robinson: Can you explain what the Young Muslims Advisory Group does, and the purpose of your visit to the Maldives?

Aisha Iqbal: The organisation was set up in 2008 by the previous UK government to engage young Muslims with the government on issues relating to violent extremism, which has now expanded to other issues including Islamic justice, religious and sex education, and foreign policy.

Waliar Rahman: We have a relationship with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office – therefore this visit – and we also advise other governments, including the US, Syria, Bangladesh and Algeria.

Fahad Khan: We’re not in the Maldives on behalf of the British government. We are here to promote and express our own views, to explain what it is like being a young Muslim in Britain, what Islam is like in Britain, and what the benefits and challenges are.

JJ: How did the group come about?

Saadeya Shamsuddin: Since the [London bombings] of 7/7, and 9/11, the UK’s government has made a whole range of changes in terms of how it gets in touch with Muslims on the ground. YMAG is part of something they created called ‘Prevent’.

FK: After 7/7 the government released a policy document as part of its wider counter terrorism strategy aimed at preventing violent extremism. At the time it was formed it had a strong focus on al-Qaeda. There was quite a large backlash from Muslims in the UK, down to how the document was worded, and its use of rhetoric they found offensive.

What we want to do is engage with the gov to change the policy and make it more positive. Currently the document is under review, and it is looking more likely that the policy will change to focus on all forms of extremism, such as the current surge of right -wing extremism in the UK. It is trying to challenge ideology in a positive way, and bring extremism into the mainstream so it can be challenged.

WR: [YMAG] is not representative of Muslims. We are not elected. But we are a channel between young Muslims and the government, and we are in a unique position because we can see both the government’s strategy and the thinking at a grassroots level.

AI: We are the first group so have had so much access to cabinet ministers and government. ‘Prevent’ was a very top down policy imposed on Muslim communities, with no prior engagement with Muslim communities, which had settled into different parts of the UK and been left alone – there was no interaction [with government].

It addressed Muslims in a very security-focused way. Our role is to make sure the government understands the need for dialogue and consultation, and not just imposed policies.

JJ: What changed with regards to the treatment of Muslim in the UK following the July 2007 bombings?

FK: I’m from Leeds, where three of the bombers came from. The experience in Leeds was very different and exaggerated compared to other parts o the UK – there was a massive influx of the world’s press wanting to speak to locals about the bombers, wanting to know about them, and asking how extremism had taken root.

A lot people walking down street had a microphone put in front of them. It made the Muslim community in Leeds very uncomfortable, because a lot of those speaking were young people aged 14-15, people without confidence or skill to speak clearly. As a result, the community became very insular and closed off. The spotlight was on them, and they were saying “we don’t want this, it’s not fair.”

Five years later the Muslim community has started to open up, and is willing to talk to people and address the issue.

JJ: How did people’s reactions change to you as Muslims living in Britain?

SS: One of the crucial things was that these were so called ‘home-grown’ terrorists. Prior to 7/7 terrorists from different parts of world had attacked America – but now it was British people attacking their own country.

AI: The whole question of identity and ‘Britishness’ came up. People asking who were you loyal to – to your faith first or to the country?

SS: The government made it an issue. it was never an issue for us.

AI: People on the street would wonder. We had huge debates and people were asked to choose [between their faith and their nationality]. It was really unfair – nobody asked Hindis or Jews. They targeted Muslim communities.

WR: In Bristol a young person was arrested on charges of planning to blow up a shopping centre. He was self-radicalised – there wasn’t a terrorist recruiter involved, which was quite unusual. He was vulnerable, disengaged, and that fed it even more. What was different was that the Muslim community stood up and worked with police to prevent this from happening.

After that the Muslim community formed the Muslim Advisory Network, a single point of contact. Because Muslim communities [in the UK] are under the spotlight, they have had to be more proactive in promoting their faith and putting in safety blankets so it doesn’t happen again.

SS: There was a media storm – it was overwhelming after 9/11 and 7/7. I’m from London and the bus bomb in Tavislock square happened a few meters from my university. There was a climate of fear – I use the tube a lot, and you could really feel the sense of fear.

A few days afterwards I was at Finchley Road station and saw two bearded men giving bags to a policemen with a resigned look. I thought it was so sad it has come to this.

AI: A lot of young people felt targeted. Young boys were so disengaged by police and felt targeted just because they were Muslim. Stop and searches went through the roof, and every time I went to the cinema they would look through my bag. A lot of people were feeling targeted and under suveillance.

In Birmingham, with no community consultation, the authorities put up £3 million worth of number-plate cameras ring-fencing the majority Muslim areas, so that anyone coming in or out would be under surveillance. The community was so angry – before that the counter-terrorism unit had great links with Muslim community, but a separate department funded it with counter-terrorism funding and said it was targeting anti-social behaviour.There was huge debate in the community, and eventually police lobbied for the cameras to be taken down.

JJ: Is there a sense that Muslim communities in the UK do isolate themselves because of this kind of reaction from the authorities?

WR: What happened was that after 7/7 people felt targeted and marginalised, especially young people. They were disaffected an disillusioned, and they felt not done anything wrong, and were being targeted because of their faith. Because of that they became increasingly isolated. One of our roles was to be that channel and identify where this disengagement was happening.

FK: In response to the question, very bluntly – yes, Muslim communities did become very insular, and I think generally speaking if your way of life is under the spotlight you will shut off, and you will only speak to people that have same beliefs as you, the same culture, and understand things the same way. That’s what happened.

WR: Let’s remember – it’s not even a percentage of the population that have these terrorist ideologies. But 100% of the faith was tarred with this brush.

FK: I work closely in schools, and one of the messages I hear is segregation in schools of young Muslim males. But that’s not just the case with Muslims – you see that with other ethnic minorites. In the UK we do not want to become isolated. We don’t want to become divided to the point where communities live in different parts of cities and there is no cultural crossover.

AI: I do think that although the majority of communities have withdrawn from politics, we are seeing a lot more young people engaged in politics and civic engagement. It is more visual now – especially at universities. I became much more active, and the events held were interesting and engaging. There is also lots of investment in leadership skills and empowerment of young Muslims.

JJ: Would you say the situation for Muslims in the UK has improved since 7/7?

WR: When Prevent was introduced, there was a large group of people who would not apply for funding – they would not go near it.

AI: It has taken a long time.

WR: The government does seem not sure where taking the strategy. A minister described it as a “fluid process” – which to to me means they have no idea where it is going.

FK: Mosques are now a lot more engaged with statutory authorities. There are programs to go out and train Imans as community leaders, run workshops in mosques, debate and discuss Islam in a way that young people can get involved in the conversation.

AI: Initially, Muslims felt attack and went on the defensive. But people are breaking from the mold and becoming self-critical, and improving governance in the mosque. Often [mosque] council members stay the same for a long time and it is very hard get the change that is needed, but the fact is that Muslim communities are slowly taking on the challenges rather than burying their heads in the ground.

JJ: What is your impression of Islam in the Maldives?

SS: We’ve been learning. We’ve had a crash course over the last week or so, starting with the Maldives High Commissioner in the UK [Dr Farahanaz Faizal] last week.

AI: Some people here are saying the religion is very similar to the culture, other people said they are seeing new influences of conservative Islam from abroad which is concerning them. We need more time to understand it.

JJ: What are some of the things that have struck you so far?

SS: I’m familiar with the culture and lifestyles of countries such as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and what I really like about the Maldives is the progressive equality of men and women. At all the offices we visited we’ve seen women working alongside men – in many of these other countries women seem few and far between – even the UK has gender imbalance. It is very impressive here – women have freedom to go out, do shopping, and without a chaperone. It was a huge shock, I wasn’t expecting that.

I’m not sure about the economic status of the Maldives, but it’s clean, has nice pavements – and it’s really impressive in terms culture and religion. Even though women are wearing headscarves, they are also out enjoying themselves and being independent.

WR: I think for me it’s been a shock to see the segregation of the tourism and the locals.

AI: It struck me the way people dress here. I thought coming to a Muslim country people might be conservative or there might be a traditional way of dressing, but what I found was that everyone looked Western – skinny jeans and tops. I was really shocked because I thought a conservative country would be covering itself or wearing baggy clothes. But it reminded me a lot of Indonesia and Malaysia, where faith is seen as more internal, and people aren’t judged so much by their image and their exterior.

Even where I’m from in Birmingham, a predominantly Muslim area, you get judged for what you wear. People tend to make judgements on how religious you are by your exterior appearance.

WR: Although there appears to be a rise in that here, judging from the concern of ministers and NGOs.

FK: For me what has been fascinating was to find that divorce for women is not a social taboo. In the UK, particularly for Muslim women, divorce probably means she will find it very difficult to get married again – she is seen as tainted. Whereas over here a divorced woman is not looked at as any less than a single woman.

AI: The High Commissioner told us a very funny joke about it when we were in London: “A tourist comes to the beach and sees a very pretty Maldivian girl. He wants to know who she is so he goes up to three guys and asks them.

The first guy says, ‘She’s my ex-wife.’ The tourist is very embarrassed by this, and says sorry. The guy next to him says ‘Oh, don’t worry about it, she’s my wife.’ The tourist is now really apologising. Then the third guy says, ‘Don’t worry, she’s my future wife.’” And that’s how relaxed marriage is. We were really shocked.

FK: We find this fascinating, because divorce is talked about a lot in Islam – scholars say you should avoid it.

JJ: Some Maldivians who travel overseas meet a lot of criticism back home from people who say they have been exposed to corrupting, decadent Western influences, and that these make you less Islamic, less Muslim than those who live in a 100 percent Muslim society. As young Muslims living in the West, what is your reaction to that?

SS: We visited a school and spoke to a class of 25 teenagers. We asked them to describe what they thought our experiences in the UK were. A lot of answers were quite conflicted: “tough”, “difficult”. We gave our own experiences, and I can understand why Maldivians might have this myth of British Muslim youth being corrupted.

It couldn’t be further from the truth. Actually, because we’re not a 100 percent Muslim country, because we have such a diverse mixture of colours, cultures and races, especially in London, it is a good test of your faith. You have freedom to choose, freedom to wear the headscarf, freedom to fast, freedom to pray five times a day.

Aisha’s family in Pakistan is always asking her: “you must have boyfriends – how many boyfriends do you have?” Then they come over and see the way we live, that we are far more conservative than they are, in terms of what we want to do and don’t want to do. I think it is a complete myth.

AI: I think it is true to some degree that external appearance shows that someone is more religious. But religiousity is different everyone. I’ve seen people who follow a very spiritual Islam, and for them it is about making sure their character is correct. Culture also influences you – when I first went to university nobody wore the hijab. I was one of the few to wear it, but wearing it has become a trend. People wear it in a funky way, and it’s also an identity thing. It can be very trendy.

SS: That said – there are definitely corrupt Muslims in the UK, maybe as much as in the Maldives – but no one’s watching them. Of course we have option of drinking alcohol when our parents aren’t looking, or to go out with friends to nightclubs, or have boyfriends. But it’s a very strong test of your faith to set your boundries yourself.

Because Islam is such a diverse religion, with different thoughts and cultural influences, it’s such a generalisation to think that because we are exposed to corrupting influences that we are therefore by default corrupt ourselves.

JJ: The authorities are strict in policing [unIslamic] things here, and there is antagonism towards questioning these rules, at least publicly.

WR: But then you drive it underground, into secret communities. It gives the authorities even more of a headache in terms of enforcement. What we advised when we spoke to ministers was to let people have a dialogue – people are going to have ideas that don’t conform to what you would want them to think. But let’s have a dialogue and celebrate diversity rather than trying to control it.

JJ: How do you promote debate within Islam? There is a case made here that you are only allowed to participate in a debate if you are a scholar, if you have a particular level of training.

FK: In the UK I do talks on Muslim cultural awareness – I’m not an Imam, I’m not a scholar, and I don’t have as much knowledge as them. But we can comment on Muslim culture in the UK – and certainly Islam does allow you to quote verses, and give information – so long as it is the right information. Of course I think the reason the Maldivians are more conservative about this is because they don’t want the wrong information being given out by the wrong people, which can then cause deviations from the faith, or traditional school of thought.

But in the UK, because we have the freedom to debate, we have different schools of thought. Ultimately we believe there is one God, and that Mohamed (PBUH) is his last messenger. That, and the five pillars, are universal among all schools of thought. We celebrate that.

AI: In response I would say that the first thing the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) commanded was “to read” – to read and find out about religion for yourself. We cannot just expect scholars to teach us about religion, we have to find out and take our own conclusions on the faith – to have a dialogue. Having only lectures is not empowering – it is disempowering. It’s important to learn and engage through dialogue, and if somebody doesn’t agree with you, the fact you have made your point means they have a choice; to reflect on their position, to adjust their position or maintain it.

WR: This is a difference in our cultures regarding education. It’s common in South Asian countries to learn by ‘read, regurgitate, put on paper.’ Whereas in UK we are taught to debate, to analyse, think on our feet and think for ourselves. That’s reflected in the way we practise our religion as well.

SS: I think having scholars commenting and reflecting on passages in Islam is only effective if it is in conjuntion with all these other things, such as young Muslims going out and reading the Quran for themselves, understanding the different interpretations and engaging with that inforamtion on all levels – not just sitting there and being talked to. It should be organic, not stilted.

JJ: What you are talking sounds similar to the human right of freedom of expression, which is stated in the Maldivian constitution as ‘freedom of expression subject to the tenets of Islam’. There is a perception that freedom of expression let fundamentalism out of the bag, as well as the liberal side, but such a caveat gives the moral authority in any debate to the conservative side – the liberal element feels it cannot debate publicly for fear of social ostracism. Can you have the kind of debate you are promoting with such a precondition?

SS: That’s very interesting – I think it’s about tolerance, and tolerance goes both ways. If you are liberal, you should be tolerant of extremist ideas – not accept them but give space to accept them. Freedom of expression is a good thing – but you can’t have it both ways. If you stop that debate, you will only hear the liberal debate and ideas – and that isn’t a democracy, or probably what the Maldives is striving to be.

AI: I would say that under the tenets of Islam you have 73 different groups that are going to be coming out – so I’m sure that both liberalism and conservatism will fit somewhere within those 73 groups. There is room for that debate and dialogue.

WR: I think that in a true democracy you have debate both sides of the argument, and do not control that debate to surpress one side or the other. I think what the Maldives will do is allow this new conservative view and allow people to have these ideologies, but also allow people to have the right information so it doesn’t become an extremist ideology. And to have control measures in place so there is no violent extremism. I think the only way you can empower people is to allow them to come to their own conclusions.

AI: I think the fear in the government here is that this new wave of conservative Islam may be eroding their culture. Any culture for them is integral because of their history. But I think that’s something for the people to decide, not the government.

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PA to stick with DRP coalition “for time being” despite internal strife

The People’s Alliance (PA) party has today said it will not look to break from its coalition agreement with the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) as internal divides between its current leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom continue to escalate.

The comments were made as newspaper Haveeru today reported that Gayoom had confirmed that under the position of “honorary leader” for the DRP, he would be withdrawing his support for Thasmeen to stand as its 2013 Presidential candidate.

PA Secretary General Ahmed Shareef told Minivan News that reports that the party, led by Gayoom’s half-brother Abdullah Yameen, were set to leave a coalition formed with the DRP were not true, at least for “the time being”.

Shareef confirmed that Yameen had been interviewed on television yesterday evening to state his belief that there were concerns among the party’s members about current developments with its coalition partner.

However, after the DRP last month announced it would also be forming a coalition agreement with the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) following local council elections, the PA had said it expected continue to collaborate with the party on opposition issues.

Neither DRP leader Thasmeen or representatives for Gayoom were able to confirm reports that Gayoom would no longer be supporting the serving leader to become Maldivian president in 2013.

However, one serving MP said that Gayoom’s reported snub of the current party leader was not surprising in light of divides within the DRP between supporters of the current and former party leaders.

Gayoom had originally appointed Thasmeen as his successor following his retirement from active politics last year, however both men have since become aparent figureheads for two different factions that have formed in the party.

This split between Thasmeen and a faction consisting of dismissed former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer and a number of serving party members has engulfed the party since December.

However, despite being dismissed from the DRP, Umar Naseer and a number of party MPs said to support him campaigned alongside former President Gayoom during a tour of a number of islands ahead of last month’s local council elections.

The last few weeks have seen this in-party feuding extended to a war of words between Thasmeen and Gayoom himself, with the former president last week putting his name to a twelve page document attacking his sucsesor for ruling in a “dictatorial” manner.

A number of DRP members contacted by Minivan News today either refused to comment on the media reports concernings Gayoom’s comments, or said they had not as yet been made officially aware of a statement on Thasmeen’s presidential ambitions, beyond what had been reported in Haveeru.

Speaking to Minivan News today, DRP MP Ahmed Nihan that he had not received any confirmation of whether Gayoom had retracted his support of Thasmeen possibly succeeding President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to lead the country. Nihan added though that he did not believe it was out of the question.

“I have not heard anything about what has been said outside of the meida. Given recent circumstances in the party this is expected though,” he claimed.

According to Nihan, core supporters of the DRP had been taken the issue of leadership to the media over concerns said to relate to Thameen’s questioning of the role Gayoom played in the party under the title of its ‘honorary leader’.

The DRP MP added that the reported end of Gayoom’s support for Thameen’s potential future presidential ambitions was “an outcome” of people trying to downplay and even omit the role Gayoom held as the party’s founding figure and one time leader.

“Some people are suggesting that Maumoon [Gayoom] only holds a symbolic position in the party,” he said. “Anyone who knows the DRP knows it was created on the basis of gayoom’s work and ideas. He is the DRP’s founder.”

Nihan claimed that the burden now lay on general members of the party to air their dissatisfaction against the party’s current leadership where possible to show support for Gayoom’s position within the party.

“I don’t think any DRP member would have expected this [divides in the party] to have happened a few years ago,” he said. “But, I think a large proportion of the party, perhaps some 80 or 90 percent of DRP members would be in support of Maumoon.”

Nihan last week said that he believed the DRP in its current form was “disintegrating” and was almost certain to split into different political bodies.

However, DRP MP Rozaina Adam said at the time that according to the party’s rules, former President Gayoom’s position as ‘Honorary Leader’ did not give him a say in the political running of the party.

“The political leader of the party is Thasmeen. He is the one who is legally responsible for the actions of the party. It is the DRP Council that votes on a course of action, not former President Gayoom,” Rozaina said.

She speculated that much of the tension within the party revolved around the Council’s decision last year to send former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer to the party’s disciplinary committee, which made the decision to remove Naseer from the DRP.

“It was the Council that voted to send Umar Naseer to the disciplinary committee, which made a decision regarding the issue, not Thasmeen himself,” Rozaina said, adding that it was doubtful whether Thasmeen even had the authority to change the decision of the committee.

The DRP had a review committee, Rozaina said, “but Umar did not even apply for that. Instead he went and complained like a little boy to Mr Gayoom, to try and get him to change the decision.”

A split was looking inevitable, she suggested.

“Right now it looks like we are heading towards that. A lot of members in the Gayoom faction have been talking about creating a new party. It probably will split – I don’t see us getting along or working together.”

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UNDP launches report on Women in Public Life

The UNDP yesterday launched a report on Women in Public Life in the Maldives, during a function yesterday evening at the Traders Hotel.

The report contrasts the country’s relatively high basic human development metrics with the country’s low Gender Empowerment Measure, which ranks the Maldives 90th out of 109 countries.

The report noted that a “culture of protectiveness” was inherent in the Maldives, “where girls are encouraged to stay home and boys are encouraged to be out-going, forward and self-confident.”

This impacted women’s education, as cultural expectations limited the ability of women to study abroad and attain tertiary qualifications.

Only 37 percent of married women had access to contraception, while malnutrition “is a major contributor to complications and mortality of women during childbirth and underweight babies.”

Concerning political representation of women, the report noted that those women who were in public life came largely came from the established families and political elite, “re-emphasising the privileged position of those in power.”

Decentralisation, it suggested, offered opportunities for women to become involved in local governance and increase political representation.

Vice President Dr Hassan Waheed, officiating the launch, noted that the report came at a time when the world was celebrating women’s week and international women’s day.

”We need to start planning how to expose this issue to pubic life and make it available to the public,” he said. “I don’t think everybody is really aware of the situation.”

Dr Waheed called on women to become more involved in politics.

”If there is no room in politics for women to be active and come out, be in front and compete and succeed, I think we should consider other political parties,” he said. ”I think the performance of political parties should be judged to the extent by which the party addresses women’s issues.”

Female Civil Court judge Aisha Shujoon observed that “despite the constitutional guarantee of non-discrimination in equality before the law, prejudice in practice still exists.”

”My hope is that everyone will respect the constitution and accept the fact that women, given the opportunity, are as capable as men.”

Change would not be easy, said Shujoon, observing that “there are far too many women who are victims of violence, who are forced into human trafficking, prostitution, and are forced or coerced so as to not benefit from their work.”

”We need to look at how to make the situation better, not just by efforts of response, but also prevention. Women, after all, consist of half of our population and one would think that it is not only democratic, but also morally wise to hear the voice of this heart,” she said. ”This is why men and women need to work at the micro and macro levels in both public and private life. This is why we need to stand up to try to eliminate the many obstacles that remain for women to reach their full potential. The test for whether or not you can hold the job should not be determined by the arrangement of your chromosomes.”

Mauroof Ahmed, a famous local football coach, said he agreed that men and women were important in all areas on development, including social, economic and political.development whether it is economic, social or politics.

”Today we can see a lot of women contributing to our development, this trend must continue to grow,” said Mauroof. ”We need to help and provide the opportunity for women to participate in public life and encourage women to be involved.”

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‘G-Spot’ doesn’t exist, contends shop owner in ongoing case against Economic Development Ministry

Mohamed Nizam, the owner of a shop in Male’ called ”G-Spot” has sued the Economic Development Ministry after it was declined permission to operate as a business because of its name, reported SunFM.

Today the first hearing of the case was conducted in the Civil Court.

SunFM reported that in the court, Nizam said that the name was first approved by the Economic Development Ministry and was also registered in the ministry.

He also said that he had spent a lot of money making the name board of the shop, printing paper bags and tags, all of which were done in the name of ‘G-Spot’.

State Attorney Aishath Seeza argued that the name ‘G-Spot’ was inappropriate to be used as a shop’s name and that it referred to the sexual organs of a male or female, according to SunFM.

She also said that the name was inappropriate for viewing by women and children.

In response to the state attorney, Nazim contested that the ”G-Spot” as Seeza understood it did not exist, submitting articles published in The Times, BBC and CNN to support his argument.

He also said that by’ G-Spot’ he did not mean what the state attorney was referring to.

Judge Maryam Nihayath queried him as to the meaning of G-Spot, to which he replied that G stood for ‘Girls’ and that his shop was a ‘Girls-Spot’ and sold female garments.

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Supreme Court disputes allegations of corruption against judges

The Supreme Court of the Maldives has issued a press release disputing the corruption allegations made against former Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, who is currently a member of the Supreme Court bench, and a second Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed.

”The stories published are all untrue,” the statement said. ”We advise not to conduct any attempts that will harm the sanctity of the courts and its judges and to keep all actions within the constitution of the Maldives.”

The statement said that repairing Supreme Court’s cars and vehicles was not within the job description of the judges and judges had no role to play in repairing the Supreme Court’s vehicles, after allegations that Hameed had twice repaired his car with Supreme Court funds.

No judge at the Supreme Court had ever received phone allowances or any other allowance, and no judge at the Supreme Court receives any allowance not mentioned in the constitution or laws, said the Supreme Court in its statement.

Local radio station SunFM yesterday reported that the two judges were accused of corruption and a case was filed in the ACC, alleging that the two judges had paid their personal telephone bills from Supreme Court funds.

SunFM quoted a senior staff member at the judiciary as saying that the phone bills of each of the judge totaled over Rf 17,000 (US$1323) each month.

”Last month judge Abdulla Saeed’s spent Rf 25,000 (US$1945) of the Supreme Court’s money as phone allowance,” SunFM quoted the source as saying.

SunFM also reported that judge Ali Hameed’s car was damaged twice in accidents and was also repaired using Supreme Court money.

The source in the judiciary also alleged that Ali Hameed had threatened a staff member at the Finance Department of the Supreme Court saying that he would be sacked if the did not hand over the money to fix the car after the second accident.

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Madaveli O’Level results investigated after students provide same answers to maths paper

Cambridge University has queried GCE O’Level mathematics papers submitted by Madaveli School in Shaviyani Atoll, after finding that all students had provided similar answers.

Haveeru reported that the school, which placed second in last years GCE O’Level examinations in the Maldives.

Director General at the Ministry of Education’s Department of Public Examination, Ahmed Shakeeb, confirmed to Haveeru that Cambridge University has questioned the department, and that a team from the ministry had been sent to the island to investigate the suspected cheating.

Shakeeb did not provide details of the investigation, but said cases involving similar answers occasionally arose.

“Such issues arise in subjects such as Fisheries Science, which includes a lot of group work. The students provide similar answers or those having similar sentences when they go on field trips and do group work. However, in such cases questions arise about whether the students have cheated or not,” Shakeeb told Haveeru.

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