Month: May 2011

Police confiscate alcohol brewing equipment in Fuvahmulah

Police have said that equipment suspected to have been used to brew alcohol has been confiscated after being discovered in an abandoned home on the island of Fuvahmulah.

The alleged brewing apparatus and a number of containers thought to have contained alcohol was reported to have been picked up by police.   Law enforcement officials claim they have dealt with six individual cases during the year so far relating to alcohol consumption or production, according to Haveeru.

The news report claimed that the equipment and alcohol were found both in an abandoned home and around swamp land across two separate wards on the island.

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Gamaadhoo human bones are 800 years old, claims Umar Naseer

The former deputy leader of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has claimed that results of examinations made on human bones discovered inside Gamadhoo Prison show they “are over 800 years old.”

”Those bones were first taken to Thailand for investigation and [investigators] said they were over 800 years old,” said Naseer. ”Later the government sent the bones to America, where they also said the same.”

Umar said the investigation into the identity of the bones was now closed, ”but the government will never say that because they want to use it for political purposes.”

”This news is confirmed to be true, we have allies inside police as well as in Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF),” said Naseer, himself a former policeman.

He said the police and government “cannot deny this and if they did, they should show the report on the examinations.”

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam today said that police had been still unable to determine the age of the human bones found inside Gamadhoo Prison.

”We did send it abroad for forensic investigations,” Shiyam said. ”So far we have not been able to determine the age of those bones.”

He said that investigation was still ongoing and that details of the case that police were able to share had already been given to the media.

On September 2009, inmates in ”Asseyri jail” discovered human bones buried two feet underground while they were digging the area to plant trees.

The same year, the President’s Office asked police to investigate the discovery and samples of the 14 bone fragments were sent to Thailand for DNA analysis.

In October last year, President Mohamed Nasheed said Human bones discovered in the site of the former Gaamaadhoo prison matched the age and estimated period of death of Abdulla Anees, Vaavu Keyodhoo Bashigasdhosuge, an inmate officially declared missing in the 1980s.

Nasheed that time said that forensic examination has identified the age of the deceased, while a former prison guard, Mohamed Naeem, of Gaaf Dhaal Hoadhendhoo Muraka, has told the police investigation that Anees died in Gaamaadhoo prison.

President Nasheed spent three years in Gaamaadhoo prison for dissident journalism in opposition to the rule of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

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Handling of economy affects popularity of Maldivian President: Sunday Times

Maldivian authorities have placed a restriction on the repatriation of foreign currency by expatriate workers including Sri Lankans to tackle an acute shortage of US dollars in the market, writes Feizal Samath for Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times, a move that recently triggered protests in the island nation.

“The restrictions, according to rules enforced in a gazette notification by the Maldivian Monetary Authority (Central Bank) on Friday, permits workers to remit their contracted salary and nothing more.

“The foreign exchange crisis in the Maldives has been precipitated by ballooning budget deficits spilling over from the regime of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

“Huge capital expenditure on new development which is not matched by revenue has widened the trade balance and precipitated the foreign exchange crisis. Banks have limited the issue of dollars. Most banks are limiting the issue of dollars against the rufiya (local currency) for repatriation, a move which has also affected tourism, the country’s main foreign exchange earner, and even for local business.

“’There is absolute confusion in the industry about how much can be retained by us in dollars (for our work). There are no clear guidelines,’” said a resort owner, accusing the government of mismanaging the economy.

“New taxes to be enforced in July on income and business profits, for the first time in the Maldives, have affected President Mohamed Nasheed’s popularity and led to a week of protests against cost of living and alleged corruption. Another new tax, Tourism GST was enforced from January.

“Prices of essential commodities have escalated and inflation has sharply risen mainly due to the shortage of dollars in the market. The Maldives imports all its needs except fish. Its main foreign earnings comes from the bed tax from tourism and fish exports while local taxes in the past have been limited to import duties and levies.

“The President’s chief spokesman Mohamed Zuhair, while acknowledging that the new measures have affected government’s popularity, has accused opposition parties and disgruntled businessmen unhappy over the taxes, of instigating the violent protests by youths, and also blamed unscrupulous traders for jacking up prices.

“He said while taxes were inevitable and had been announced a long time ago, the latest round of protests came after Mr Gayoom broke away from the main opposition DRP and formed his own faction.
Opposition spokesman Mohamed ‘Mundhu’ Shareef rejected the claim and said the protests were a natural reaction of the people against rising food prices and what he called ‘a corrupt regime’.”

Full story

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Uncertainty hinders investigation of Russian man’s sex assault claims

Police are investigating complaints that a 29-year old Russian national visiting the Maldives faced threats of sexual assault from an unidentified man he met online after coming to Male’ to work for him, despite claiming to have very limited details on the suspected attacker.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that the claims made last week by the Russian national presented an unprecedented case in the country and that investigators still needed additional details on the exact nature of complaints made regarding the expatriate’s allegations.

“The alleged victim came to police to complain about an individual he said had invited him to Male’ for a job after befriending each other online. After saying he would find him job, it was claimed that the person attempted to sexually abuse the alleged victim,” he said. “He didn’t have much detail about the alleged assault attempt, but we have noticed that the Russian national has been speaking to local media outlets about this.”

Shiyam added that police were hoping to question the suspect as part of its investigations, but were not at present looking to make arrests as the case is claimed to still miss vital details about what exactly had happened.

“At the moment we are just working on reports, but the alleged victim does not know anything about the individual who invited him out,” he said. “We are not sure from our interview if the suspect is a local businessman or even a Maldivian national. However, the case could be serious and we are treating the investigation as such.”

Shiyam claimed that the police were themselves hoping to speak to the Russian national further regarding the alleged incident in order to try and clarify who the alleged attacker could be.

The Russian Embassy based in Sri Lanka, which overseas administrative affairs for its nationals coming to the Maldives, was unavailable to respond to Minivan News at the time of press regarding the investigation.

Resort case

Aside from the Russian national case, Shiyam said that police had concluded an investigation into an unrelated sexual assault case alleged to have occurred at the Shangri-La Vilingilli resort in Addu Atoll. Police today said they had since ended their investigations into the allegations without making arrests.

A female member of staff at the resort complained to police last week that she believed she may have been sexually assaulted by a fellow colleague after being taken back to her room having felt unwell upon consuming a drink.

After having conducted medical checks at a local hospital and investigations at the resort, Shiyam said that no charges had been pressed against the suspect.

“The alleged victim was unsure exactly what has happened herself and no arrests had been made as part of the investigation,” he said.

Shiyam said last week that the alleged victim, who worked at a bar on the resort, had reported feeling unwell after drinking an alcoholic drink and was helped to her room by another member of staff.

According to police, upon being returned to her room, the alleged victim claimed that she had not been unaware of any assault upon herself.

However, Shiyam said that other sources had later come forward to claim that some sexual activity was believed to have occurred in the room involving the alleged victim.

In addressing current police procedure regarding suspected cases of sexual assault, Shiyam claimed that police were trained to investigate in various ways; including taking alleged victims to hospital for medical examinations to identify any possible signs of rape.

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Local council elections cost Rf45 million: EC report

The Elections Commission (EC) has claimed the bill for the local council elections, held in February this year, reached Rf45 million (US$3.5 million) – approximately US$15 for every voter in the Maldives.

Money was spent on transport, supplies, printing, salaries, overtime allowances and food, the EC stated.

In its report, the EC stated that problems encountered during vote counting were minor and solved quickly.

“Elections carried on rather successfully compared to previously held elections. Ballot counting was finished with minimal obstructions,” the report said.

Several cases sent by the EC to the Prosecutor General’s office including a man who gave false information to contest in the election (Rf20,000 fine), a man caught videoing the ballot (Rf12,000 fine) and a man who attempted to alter voter registration details and was sentenced to a year in prison.

The EC has yet to report party preference results from the election. The ruling MDP won seats in most populated areas almost unanimously, while the opposition DRP won the majority of seats overall, taking islands into account.

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Comment: Will the real DRP please stand up?

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), the main opposition party of Maldives held their last congress in February, 2010. During this congress there were two main lines of thought regarding electing their presidential candidate.

One group, led by Umar Naseer, proposed the presidential candidate should be elected through a party primary. The other group, led by the DRP council, proposed that such a primary was unnecessary and the leader of the party will be the party’s presidential candidate.

After much heated debate and talks during party meetings and local television, the issue was to be decided by the members of the party, at their upcoming congress. A vote was taken and more than 95 per cent of the attendees of the DRP congress voted in favour of the proposal made by the DRP council to make the elected leader of the party their presidential candidate.

The issue was solved. The presidential candidate of DRP would be its leader. This means Thasmeen will be the candidate from the DRP, for the 2013 presidential elections.

For a while it at least appeared to me, as an outside observer, that the debates were forgotten and everyone was working together. But as time passed, DRP started to show hints of a divide. Before long, the divide deepened and today DRP is split into two unequal parts. There is the main DRP under its leadership, and there is its “Z faction” as they now call themselves.

Z faction seems to be functioning under the leadership of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the former president of the Maldives. The letter Z in the name of this faction stands for Zaeem, an affectionate reference made to Gayyoom. Zaeem is an Arabic word, translated as ‘the honorary leader’. This honorary position was awarded by the DRP leadership to Gayyoom, who played a major role in founding DRP.

Gayyoom was thought to have resigned from politics for he announced his resignation in January 2010. So people expected him to spend his time away from the local political scenario. But if he did resign at that time, he seems to have re-entered politics and is now seen as an active member of the Z faction of DRP. Some even associate him as the reason why the Z faction was born.

Z faction, as the name indicates, is a faction of DRP. But on Saturday, after returning back to Male’ from a recent trip to India, Gayyoom announced that the Z faction of DRP is “the real DRP.”

My question is can this even be a legitimate faction? I think as long as they call it a faction of DRP, it cannot be legitimate before the DRP approves of its legitimacy. I don’t think the DRP will approve of its legitimacy because no matter what the supporters of Gayoom would like to call it, Z faction is formed of a rebellious group of DRP members.

The main leadership of DRP considers the Z faction as DRP members who do not accept decisions made by the party’s councils and committees. This is except for one person – Umar Naseer, whose name has been struck off the DRP membership register. Even though Umar Naseer and others who belong to the Z faction think Umar is still a deputy leader of DRP, DRP leadership considers him one of their ex-deputy leaders.

It is also worth noting here that most relatives of Gayyoom that I have seen on televised meetings of DRP are now seen in the frontline of the meetings held by the Z faction. So the Z faction is seen mainly as Gayoom, his relatives and supporters.

Representatives of a few minor political parties can be seen in the meetings held in the name of the Z faction of DRP. Many such meetings are solely or partially supported by the People’s Alliance (PA). PA’s leader, Yameen can be seen playing an active role in most of these meetings. Because of this and based on the comments made to local newspapers, until very recently, I was under the impression that Z faction is trying to promote Yameen as their presidential candidate. Like probably everyone else, I too was speculating. But now, I am thinking maybe I was wrong. I am now speculating that Z faction wants to bring Gayoom back as the president of this country.

Z faction has their own leadership which they selected only last week. I am not aware of how they chose their leadership. I only know that they announced the names of their leaders and council members. All of Gayyoom’s children hold posts in this newly announced leadership. This is not surprising to many of us because it is also widely speculated that Gayoom wants to create a dynasty. This will not be easy to achieve in the views of many political analysts.

Last Thursday night, Z faction held a meeting at the Artificial Beach. This was to publicly announce their leadership, amongst other things. In this meeting they tell us that Z faction holds the thinking of Gayoom. They also tell us that it is a democratic organisation. I cannot understand how it can be both. From what I understood, Z faction revolves around Gayyoom. How can an organisation that revolves around someone be democratic? If they love democracy so much, why did they split from the main DRP in the first place?

According to what they said, recently some of the council members of Z faction have even met foreign diplomats in Colombo, as the leading opposition party of the Maldives. They even discussed issues that are of national interest. I wonder what the foreign diplomats will think of this group. I also wonder whether they presented themselves as those belonging to a faction of DRP. If the members of Z faction met the diplomats, as members of DRP, then yes, they are indeed the leading opposition party. If they met as members of Z faction, I disagree.

Z faction is not a registered political party. Z faction is not DRP. Yet the members of this faction claim they are the “real DRP.” If they are the real DRP, why call it Z faction? Why not just DRP? For me, it appears that the Z faction is trying to highjack DRP and then bring a coup to it.

Even though the DRP congress decided that their presidential candidate will be their leader, in the minds of those belonging to Z faction, this issue has not been solved. Z faction does not want Thasmeen to be the presidential candidate from DRP. They want their favourite person to be the DRP presidential candidate. And because, under existing party regulations, this will not be possible, they have to search for an alternative means to do this. The result is the birth of Z faction.

Legitimate or not, the creation of Z faction has hit DRP hard. The biggest opposition party has not disintegrated but is weakened. All because one man wants to fulfil his dreams?

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Jumhoory Party MP Muthalib attacked on Thinadhoo

Jumhoory Party (JP) MP Ibrahim Muthalib has accused Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activists of attacking him while he arrived on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll to meet the Atoll Council.

”When I arrived was this group of MDP activists, they followed me as I walked to towards the Atoll Council Office,” Muthalib said. ”I did not say anything or respond to them, but then they hit me in the eye and my spectacles fell to the ground and broke.”

Muthalib said he then turned back and walked towards his speedboat to leave the island, and again someone hit him in the mouth and stomach.

”I could not eat anything since last night, my jaw hurts,” he said. ”It is most inconvenient and it is most unacceptable.”

He said MDP activists had planned to attack him for a few days now.

”That is typical of MDP activists, they assault and have no democratic manners,” he said. ”Everyone has the freedom to travel from one place to another.”

The MDP Parliamentary Group’s former spokesperson MP Ahmed Shifaz told Minivan News that he regretted the incident.

”I will not say they were MDP or DRP activists, but it is regrettable,” Shifaz said. ”MDP does not encourage such actions.”

He said he “does not believe that MDP activists would do something like that.”

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Opposition blames president for negative international coverage as protest talks continue

Opposition MP Ahmed Mahlouf has not ruled out future protests over living costs following a series of demonstrations held in Male’ over the last two weeks, claiming that President Mohamed Nasheed should personally take responsibility for any media attention that harms the Maldives’ global reputation as a result.

The MP’s comments follow a series of protests and gatherings held in Male’ over the last two weeks that the party said were initially organised by a non-political “youth movement”.

This movement is said to be focused on dealing with concerns at the rising costs of living and consumer goods in the country, and lead to protests that were included in a Washington Post list of the 29 largest government crackdowns of the last decade.

Organisers of the protests reportedly gathered on Friday night at the artificial beach area of Male’ for a meeting that that was described by newspaper Haveeru as an “anti-government” rally, with speeches from a number of political figures.

A police spokesperson said that the meeting was not treated by officers as a protest as it did not culminate on the capital’s streets.

After seven days of demonstrations across Male’ this month – purportedly in protest against the government’s decision to implement a managed float of the rufiyaa – police and protesters were witnessed clashing on a number of occasions leading to dismissed Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy leader Umar Naseer being pepper sprayed.

The Washington Post coverage was used by the government to allege that opposition politicians have been attempting to “mislead” international media about the protests for political gain by deliberately skewing certain facts to compare themselves to mass anti-government demonstrations in Egypt earlier this year.

Concerns had additionally been raised by some travel industry insiders that coverage of the protests had led to travel warnings being issued in Honk Kong that could negatively impact travel to the Maldives from emerging holiday markets; though these worries are thought to have subsided over the course of this week.

Speaking to Minivan News today before travelling out of the country for a week, Mahlouf said that protest organisers were expected to give the government time to respond to their concerns over the prices of goods and services before officially setting a date for any potential future demonstrations.

“I don’t think we will see any other protests this week as there are school exams coming up. I think the protesters will also give the government some time,” he said. ”People have been drawn to protests due to concerns about prices, particularly with Ramazan a few months away.

With reports claiming rufiyaa was being exchanged at a rate of Rf17 to the US Dollar – despite government setting an upper limit of Rf15.42 at present due to the recenet managed float of the local currency, Mahlouf said that the situation remained a serious matter for protesters.

“The public are also seeing seven percent of their pay go into pension schemes as well,” he said. “In general these are difficult times for people.”

In light of coverage about the protests in papers like the US-based Washington Post, fears reportedly have risen about the potential impacts on the country’s lucrative tourism market. However, Mahlouf said he rejected government criticisms that opposition groups like the DRP had manipulated the scale of the protests.

“We have tried our best to get the attention of the international media and community with these protests,” he said. “President Nasheed has a very polished reputation in the global media through his work on issues like the environment. But back at home things are different. Recent elections have shown he doesn’t have support and it is our duty to inform others of this.”

Mahlouf is himself linked with the Z-DRP faction that as last month officially spun off from the main opposition DRP in support of the group’s former leader, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Mahlouf added that while he was “sad” to see last week’s series of protests being included in a Washington Post story relating to the 29 biggest government crackdowns of the decade, he claimed that the inclusion of the Maldives in the list was the fault of President Nasheed and his policies.

“The action taken by police to disperse crowds was brutal. We were part of peaceful protests. Yet despite being so peaceful, police still decided to do harmful things to us,” he claimed.

Mahlouf said he was among a group of people including former President Gayoom’s spokesperson Mohamed Hussain ‘Mundhu’ Shareef that gathered in Sri Lanka to meet with representatives of the EU, the US and Canada to “explain everything” that had occurred at the protests from their point of view earlier this week.

The MP claimed that he remained committed to trying to address the stated concerns of protesters over the affordability of living in the Maldives.
“This issue is very serious. I was personally invited by [protest] organisers to attend and with so many people turning up – I believe it is the duty of MPs to be there in support.”

Amidst reported public dissatisfaction with government financial policy, Mahlouf last week announced plans to forward a resolution to parliament calling for a referendum to test public support for President Nasheed and his handling of the economy in light of the protests witnessed in the capital over the month.

While still committed to following through with his referendum plan, the MP said that he would first need to consult his parliamentary and party colleagues, as well as lawyers to see if he would be able to send such a motion to the Majlis.

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Gayoom expresses “disappointment” with Thasmeen’s DRP, upon his return

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has used his return to the Maldives today to criticise the current leadership of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), instead playing up the recently formed Z-DRP faction of the country’s main opposition amidst ongoing internal disputes between certain members.

Speaking to assembled journalists at Male’ International Airport this afternoon, Gayoom was quoted by Haveeru as claiming that the Z-DRP – formed amidst increasingly bitter disputes between certain opposition MPs – served as a “reform movement” that promoted the true ideologies of the DRP.

Formed amidst an ongoing dispute between serving DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor Gayoom, the Z-DRP aims to represent the former national leader and his supporters.

The Z-DRP has been particularly critical of Thasmeen and his role in opposing the government of President Mohamed Nasheed, announcing earlier this week that it intended to put forward its own presidential candidate for the 2013 general election at a congress to be held next year.

The Z-DRP faction, which is linked to serving DRP MPs including Ahmed Mahlouf and its dismissed deputy leader Umar Naseer, has been conversely attacked by the heads of its parent party – the DRP – over claims its members have acted undemocratically and against regulations.

However, upon arriving in Male’ today on a flight from India, Gayoom said that amidst the ongoing factional infighting, he believed that the Z-DRP was the true spiritual successor to the party he formed and ran for five years from 2005. Gayoom did not comment on his own future presidential ambitions with the faction though.

“The real DRP is the faction that calls itself Zaeem DRP. It is an initiative that began to achieve the objectives that the party was founded on,” Haveeru reported Gayoom as saying. “The DRP recently took a turn towards another way; it took decisions against the charter and the Maldivian people observed [failure] from the DRP in taking its responsibility of holding the government accountable. The Maldivian people were disappointed with DRP.”

When questioned on his possible intentions to form an entirely new party, the former president said that the party was founded on democratic principles and therefore had room for members sharing different beliefs. He was reported to claim that he did not have any intention of forming a new party.

However, reconciliation between the DRP and its recently formed Gayoom supported-faction appeared unlikely earlier this week when serving party Deputy Leader Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef said legal action was being considered against the Z-DRP to an attempt to protect its name and logo.

Shareef claimed that the DRP council had given Thasmeen the authority to possibly seek court action against the Z-DRP members over claims they had infringed on the party’s own name, as well as potentially confusing voters over the party’s serving leadership.

He added that after repeated requests to try and require party members aligned to the Z-DRP to work within the main party’s constitution and avoid criticising and attacking its leadership, DRP party heads were now considering how to deal with what they see as dissent in the ranks

Shareef nonetheless denied that the announcement of a separate Z-DRP presidential candidate standing for election in 2013 would be a concern to the country’s main opposition party, claiming the public were now becoming used to democratic processes. However, he accepted that there was a danger that some people were becoming confused as to who the DRP’s leader actually was.

“I don’t believe [a Z-DRP presidential candidate] is a concern. After what will be five years of democracy in the country, I believe people are more aware and will not vote for people who are unable to follow their own party’s constitution,” he claimed. “I don’t think we have to fear about the impact of the Z-DRP.”

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