Month: August 2011

Journalists banned from Deputy Speaker corruption trial

The Criminal Court refused to allow journalists to observe today’s hearing of the ongoing corruption trial of Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim, who is facing charges of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud the former Atolls Ministry.

Local daily Haveeru and Sun Online reports that the hearing was scheduled to start at 12:00pm but was conducted one hour earlier at 11:00pm. The court did not inform any of the reporters who registered at the court this morning of the time change.

According to Haveeru, court reporters who learned of the time change and requested entry were told that “the judge has decided to hold a closed hearing.”

Asked by the reporters to offer a reason for the closed hearing, the court official asked the reporters to wait, went inside and did not appear until the hearing was over.

Almost two hours after the hearing concluded, Criminal Court Media Officer Ahmed Mohamed Manik told the court reporters that they were not allowed to enter because “negative perceptions of the court were being created [among the public] because of some journalists.”

Manik was not responding to Minivan News at the time of press.

Queried by the court reporters, the Criminal Court official insisted that the judge was authorised to exclude the public from trials under article 42 of the constitution.

Article 42(c) states that, “Trials of any matter shall be held publicly, but the presiding judge may exclude the public from all or part of a trial in accordance with democratic norms: 1. in the interests of public morals, public order or national security; 2. where the interest of juveniles or the victims of a crime so require; or 3. in other special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice.”

However, according to Haveeru, a member of the public was allowed to attend today’s hearing. Under normal court procedure, only trials involving child sexual abuse are closed to the public.

The Criminal Court has since issued a press statement explaining that the judge decided to hold a closed hearing “because the reporters allowed in to the hearing on May 24, 2011, gave the false depiction of the court to the public and because the court believes this depiction could obstruct the course of justice.”

Nazim meanwhile appeared at court today after reportedly failing to comply with eight summons during the past few months.

The minority opposition People’s Alliance (PA) parliamentary group leader is facing four counts of conspiracy to defraud to the Atolls Ministry, which were first identified in an audit report of the now-defunct ministry.

Following an investigation into the claims in the report, at a press conference in August 2009, Chief Inspector Ismail Atheef said police had uncovered evidence that implicated former Atolls Minister Abdullah Hameed, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem, former director of finance at the ministry, and Nazim in a number of fraudulent transactions.

Police exhibited numerous quotations, agreements, tender documents, receipts, bank statements and forged cheques showing that Nazim received over US$400,000 in the scam.

A hard disk seized during a raid of Nazim’s office in May 2009 allegedly contained copies of forged documents and bogus letter heads.

Police maintained that money was channelled through the scam to Nazim who laundered cash through Namira Engineering and unregistered companies.

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ACC obtains court order for MPs’ financial statements

A team from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) entered parliament today with a court order to obtain financial statements of MPs.

A Majlis media official confirmed that the ACC team was working in parliament while the financial statements were available from the Ethics Committee.

ACC Chair Hassan Luthfy told Minivan News today that the commission obtained a court order from the Criminal Court last night and the team was sent in this morning.

“We hoped to get [the statements] legally but no solution was found through discussions with parliament,” he said.

Luthfy explained that the ACC was investigating allegations of corruption and bribery involving MPs after receiving a number of complaints.

Luthfy stressed that as “these are only allegations” he could not divulge further details or identify which MPs were involved since “it could violate their privileges.”

The ACC chair however revealed that the commission had received “about two to four complaints” regarding MPs.

In April this year, parliament reached an impasse on public declaration of assets by MPs after voting against a proposal by the Ethics Committee to not make the information available unless ordered by a court of law.

When MPs voted against the proposal 34 to 24, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim declared the matter “void.”

“However, the Secretary General’s request for counsel on this matter has not been decided one way or the other,” he said at the time. “So the Secretary General will go ahead with it according to the rules of procedure.”

The Secretary-General had asked the Ethics Committee to determine whether MPs’ financial statements should be released to other state institutions upon request.

Secretary General Ahmed Mohamed confirmed to Minivan News that the requested financial statements and documents were provided to the ACC team before the court order expired at 3:00pm today.

According to Article 76 of the constitution, “Every member shall annually submit to the Secretary General of the People’s Majlis a statement of all property and monies owned by him, business interests and liabilities. Such declarations shall include the details of any other employment and obligations of such employment.”

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Police release suspects in human trafficking case

Police have released suspects arrested for their alleged involvement in the human trafficking network that exposed last month, Haveeru reports, after the Criminal Court found no grounds to detain them.

The number of suspects released is unknown.

Five Maldivians and 12 expatriates were previously arrested for their alleged roles in the human trafficking network, said to worth up to US$123 million. The ring reportedly to forged over 70 local investments using copies of national identity cards belonging to individuals who were uninformed or deceased.

None of the suspects released today were expatriates involved in that particular case, Haveeru News reports.

Minivan News earlier reported that human trafficking has replaced the fishing industry as the Maldivian economy’s second greatest contributor of foreign currency.


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President sends letter to Libyan rebels, calling for modern Muslim democracy

President Mohamed Nasheed has pledged the Maldives’ support to the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) in a letter yesterday, recognising the rebel group as the “sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people.”

The letter, which was sent to NTC chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil, expressed the President’s hope that Libya would “emerge as a free and democratic country, in which fundamental human rights can be enjoyed by all.”

In recent days, Libya’s six-month long revolution against dictator Muammar Gaddafi came to a close when NTC rebels seized Tripoli. Currently, Qaddafi’s whereabouts are unknown and over thirty foreign powers have recognised the NTC as Libya’s legitimate representative group.

President Nasheed noted in his letter to NTC chief Jalil that the Maldives was among the first three countries to recognize the NTC. Iraq, Morocco, the US and European Union member countries have also recognised the group, while Russia and China do not recognise the NTC as Libya’s only legitimate representative but are still engaging in talks with NTC leaders.

Ethiopia and Nigeria have called on African Union member states to recognise the NTC, and Hamas had declared its support of the rebel group.

The President’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair, said today that “The Maldives is in favor of democracy, and feels any government should recognise the voices of its people. We are continuing our support of the Libyan rebels, and asking other countries to do the same.”

Zuhair said the Maldives was one of the first Islamic countries to experience a democratic revolution. In 2005, the Maldivian people began the uprising that ousted former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in 2008.

“The same thing that is happening all over the Arab world has already happened here,” Zuhair said. “We are ahead of them, and we can share our experience.”

The Maldives, which has been a Muslim state for over 900 years, has one of the longest traditions of shariah law in the Arab world, said Zuhair. He said the Maldives encourages the Libyan NTC to apply democratic norms and values, and to use many small elections as they build a modern Muslim democracy.

“The Maldives would like to see Libya become a modern Islamic democratic state that is fully functional,” said Zuhair.

Colonel Gaddafi was only 27 when he took control of Libya after a military coup in 1969. His 42 years of power brought wealth to Libya, but his reign was also characterised by erratic policies and terrifying punishments. When the revolution began in February of this year, Gaddafi reportedly said, “Muammar is the leader of the revolution until the end of time.”

Earlier this week, the NTC reportedly placed a US$2 million bounty on Gaddafi’s head.

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China leads Maldives’ 18 percent tourism boom

Over 700,000 tourists visited the Maldives in the first seven months of 2011, the majority of visitors from China.

The Tourism Ministry has released data showing that the number of tourists who visited the Maldives between January and July 2011 increased by 18.3 percent to 520,483. This was compared to the 439,864 tourists who visited the Maldives during the same period last year.

Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) Secretary General, Mohamed Maleeh Jamal, told Minivan News that the timing of Europe’s economic decline matches that of the growing Chinese market. Asia’s high season corresponds with Europe’s low season, he said, and resorts are now catering more to Chinese tourists to keep business up.

Jamal also noted that airlines such as Qatar Airways had increased direct service to the Maldives in the last 10 months. He also noted that more airports are being constructed closer to resort islands, such as in Baa Atoll.

“The President has also decided to increase the marketing budget from US$1.5 million to US$7 million, since we expect the industry’s growth to continue,” said the MATATO secretary general.

Statistics show that Chinese tourists dominated the market in the first seven months with 103,734 individuals, accounting for 19.9 percent of the total arrivals. The United Kingdom was the second-largest contributor to tourism arrivals, composing 11.7 percent of the market.

Jamal forecasted “phenomenal growth” in the Chinese market, and estimated that the Chinese would account for 40 percent of the total tourists in coming years.

The Maldives currently hosts over 100 resorts boasting a total of 22,000 beds. Jamal said 3-4 more resorts were currently under construction, and noted that it was important “to always have excess demand and limited rooms to keep the appeal of the Maldives up.”

Secretary General of the Maldives Association of the Tourism Industry (MATI), Ibrahim Mohamed Sim, was more guarded on the issue. Sim told Minivan News that “we are holding steady in growth, but the market looks mixed since the decline of the US economy could affect our traditional European markets.”

Italy and the UK, formerly leading contributors to the Maldivian tourism industry, have declined, said Sim, but Germany was holding steady.

Sim said the demand from China was significant, and that the Maldives “is in a very lucky position to have the chance to meet that demand.”

Sources in the Chinese media and Mandarin-language tourism forums have meanwhile noted the rise of practices such as segregation of Chinese visitors from other guests at meal times.

Sim commented that although he did not believe there was segregation, the Chinese “stand out, they come here for a different reason than most tourists. They do not come here to sun tan, they come here to see a different place.” He noted that some resorts were also designed to specifically appeal to different groups.

Another recent event in the Maldives’ tourism industry was its withdrawal from the New7Wonders competition.

Jamal told Minivan News, “we think it was a loss that the Maldives pulled out. New7Wonders was a marketing tool, and major tourism companies were competing for the award.”

However he said he did not think that the Maldives’ decision had affected the tourism industry.

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GMR 180-day development initiative nears completion

A 180-day development programme undertaken by Indian infrastructure giant GMR to modernise and expand the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) is nearing completion.

According to a press statement by the GMR Group, one of the issues that was rectified was accommodating capacities for peak traffic periods by lengthening baggage reclaim carousals from 30m to 60m, adding a fourth carousal and opening six new check-in desks at the departure area.

“I am proud to state that most of the development plans focused on expansion and the provision of basic facilities for passenger ease has been settled and operations are smooth sailing,” said Andrew Harrison, CEO of INIA.

New lounges are expected to open in September that would “typify the essence of the Maldives and will exalt comfort, elegance and exclusivity.”

Medium-term programmes over the next two or three years would meanwhile focus on investment and infrastructure development.

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Nexbis threatens legal action over delayed enforcement of border control agreement

Malaysian mobile security system vendor Nexbis has threatened legal action over the stalled border agreement with the government, reports Sun Online.

In a letter to Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid on August 19, Nexbis complained that it had not received a reply from the Immigration Department to its inquiries after the cabinet decided to proceed with the project.

Nexbis stated in its letter that the company had spent “millions of dollars” to purchase equipment and had even paid import duties to the government, noting that the continuing delays were resulting in financial losses.

The border control agreement was signed on November 17, 2010. However the upgrade was stalled earlier this year when the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) expressed concerns about the deal, claiming that there were “opportunities for corruption” during the bidding process.

If concrete action to implement the border control project was not taken by August 31, Nexbis threatened to take legal action against the Immigration Department and sue for damages.

President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Sun Online that the government would respond to Nexbis before the end of the month.

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NSPA says Madhana won’t cover new clinic rates

National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) Director, Ibrahim Waheed, has told Haveeru that the Madhana health insurance scheme will not cover increased fees at private clinics. The government lifted control of clinic charges this week.

Earlier this week, an informed source told Minivan News that the clinic fees were likely to stay within the scope of the Madhana’s program.

NSPA reported said the Madhana program only covers the rates currently charged at hospitals and clinics. Any excess charges after the current Madhana rate will have to be paid for by the patient.

Haveeru News reports that some clinics have agreed to keep their current rates, to protect their clients. However, those clinics that want to increase their prices will be required to stop providing insurance services.

Clinics are still required to give the government a month’s notice before implementing price changes.

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Criminal Court suspends Assistant Public Prosecutor for one month

The Criminal Court has suspended Assistant Public Prosecutor Ihsan Mohamed Waheed from appearing at the court for one month after he allegedly refused to attend a hearing on Monday afternoon.

According to the Criminal Court, the judge announced at a hearing at 10:30am that a verdict would be delivered at 1.00pm but Ihsan told court employees to “finish the case another day” and walked out.

Ihsan did not answer his phone when the court attempted to contact him at 1:00pm. The accused and an accompanying penitentiary officer meanwhile had to wait at the court until 4:00pm for the Assistant Public Prosecutor, who did not turn up.

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