Month: January 2012

Maldives among top 10 Chinese tourist destinations

The Maldives is ranked fifth overall in a list of top destinations for Chinese tourists, placing alongside Bali, Indonesia.

Hong Kong topped the list, followed by Seoul and Phuket Island.

The list was complied by the Chinese Tourist Academy, analysing the top travel destinations during China’s peak ‘Golden Week’ tourism season.

Chinese tourists, mostly on package tours, now make up the largest single demographic of foreign nationals visiting the Maldives. The economic impact of rising visitor numbers was credited with shielding the country’s vulnerable tourism-driven economy from the 2008 European recession, which hurt the country’s traditional markets.

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Protests slow at start of third week

Opposition protests in the capital city of Male’ appear to be deflating as they stretch into their third week of late-night stand-offs with riot police.

While opposition-led crowds continue to congregate outside the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) building, some bearing posters reading: “No one knows where the judge is” and “We want democracy”, the action has been pushed back towards the fish market by the sudden construction of a ferry terminal by Male’ City Council in the area used for the nightly gathering.

Minivan News understands that fishermen sleeping on the docked boats opposite the MMA had complained to the council about the nightly clashes between police and opposition demonstrators.

Protesters also appear to be voluntarily dispersing at earlier hours. Speaking last night to Minivan News, protest regulars said “a few speeches” were made near the fish market, but that they had drawn to a close well before midnight. Whereas last week opposition supporters had waited until midnight before advancing on police forces, last night the gathering had thinned out by 11:30pm with no reported confrontation with authorities.

Members of opposition parties have protested the “unlawful” detention of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed since he was arrested by the military on January 16, after he attempted to block his own police summons. He is currently being detained at a military training facility in Girifushi, his whereabouts and wellbeing established during a visit two weeks ago by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM).

In response, the government applied for international legal assistance to resolve its stand-off with the judiciary, which it claims is unsuited to its duties and dysfunctional. Among its grievances are the former Supreme Court’s 2010 decision to tenure itself, allegations of corruption within the courts, and the Civil Court’s 2011 ruling against the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) investigation of the judge.

While meetings and statements are made by day, opposition protesters have agitated by night, injuring several policemen as well as journalists. A targeted attack outside state television station Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) left one videographer with a broken hand. The Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) as well as the government have condemned the attacks, and security forces are maintaining surveillance of the station. Government homes and property have also been vandalised during the exchanges.

Violence is unusual for Male’, despite the often heated political rhetoric at such gatherings. Both opposition and ruling party activists have accused the other side of deploying paid thugs to create unrest and disrupt the other’s gatherings, while local gangs are known to be employed by various political figures, accepting payments for scare tactics.

Over the weekend Dhiyana Saeed, formerly SAARC Secretary General, called for President Mohamed Nasheed to be impeached. Last evening she was removed from Republic Square by police officials for protesting in an unauthorised area. It was the second time in four days that Saeed had attempted to protest in that area and had refused to comply with police orders.

Police officials emphasised that Saeed “was not arrested, and has been released from police charge.”

Saeed did not respond to phone calls at time of press.

Although protest activities appear moderately subdued, a habit seems to be developing. When asked if there were further plans for achieving their goal, one protester near the fish market simply said, “we will continue the protest here, every night.”

Still, as midnight approached most citizens in the area headed off on their motorbikes while others walked home.

Meanwhile, activities at the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) camp near MNBC, last week a protest target, have also calmed.

While ruling  party supporters awaited the arrival of an estimated 40 opposition members who were supposedly approaching the area, a film was screened in which four young people’s relationship was used to illustrate that MDP members could not be bought by the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), viewers explained.

When police forces established road blocks around the area at midnight, half of the crowd gathered outside the camp dispersed from the area, sensing trouble. As a group of opposition protesters appeared at one end of the blockade, onlookers cautioned Minivan News to be wary of thrown objects. However no confrontation developed and the protesters quickly moved on.

MDP members watching the film outside the party camp meanwhile peered down the road from their stationary bikes to observe any possible commotion, shrugged their shoulders when nothing occurred, joked amongst themselves and returned to watching the movie.

The protests – which have typically consisting of 200-400 people – now represent one of the longest running demonstrations over a single issue since the new government was elected in 2008.

Howver the opposition-led demonstrations are effectively an extension of last year’s anti-government protest to defend Islam, none have drawn crowds comparable to those who appeared at the December 23 rally.

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Nasheed vows “independent and fair judiciary” before end of first term, in leaked audio

An audio clip of President Mohamed Nasheed vowing to ensure a fair judiciary before the 2013 presidential election has been leaked to local media.

The audio was reportedly one of several recorded during a meeting with the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

“Freedom of expression and an independent and fair judiciary in this country – I will not go for the election after these five years without doing these two things,” Nasheed is heard to say.

He added that according to Home Minister Hassan Afeef, “the entire criminal justice system of this country is being destroyed because of a single judge.”

Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, who was detained on January 16 by the MNDF after he sought a High Court injunction to prevent a police summons, “will not retain his place on the bench under this government even if he is released [from Girifushi].”

“I will tell the army very clearly that [Abdulla Mohamed] will not get closer than 100 meters to the courthouse,” Nasheed said.

In another leaked clip, Nasheed argues that judges were not appointed lawfully and their verdicts and judgments were therefore suspect.

Several local media outlets reported Nasheed’s comments as a threat from the President not to hold elections unless the judiciary was reformed.

President Nasheed’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair was not responding to calls at time of press.

“The opposition is twisting what the President said,” responded a source in the President’s Office. “He was promising to reform the judiciary before the conclusion of his first term in office – he has no intention of calling off any elections.”

The Maldives is currently in the throes of a judicial crisis, after Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed scuttled an investigation by the judicial watchdog into his alleged misconduct by applying for a Civil Court injunction to halt the process. The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) yesterday argued in parliament that it had no option but to obey the ruling of a body it was tasked with overseeing.

That investigation concerned politically bias comments made on DhiTV, which an unreleased JSC report states violated the judge’s Code of Conduct.

The government has presented a bevy of allegations against the judge, listing 14 cases of obstruction of police duty including withholding warrants for up to four days, ordering police to conduct unlawful investigations and disregarding decisions by higher courts, “deliberately” holding up cases involving opposition figures, barring media from corruption trials, ordering the release of suspects detained for serious crimes “without a single hearing”, and maintaining “suspicious ties” with family members of convicts sentenced for dangerous crimes.

The judge also released a murder suspect “in the name of holding ministers accountable”, who went on to kill another victim.

Earlier allegations, forwarded to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in 2005 by then Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed, included allegations of misogyny, sexual deviancy, and throwing out an assault case despite the confession of the accused.

In one instance, Dr Saeed told Gayoom, the Chief Judge made two underage victims of sexual assault act out the assault “in the presence of the perpetrator and the rest of the court.”

The judge remains in detention and the government is appealing to the international community for independent and authoritative legal assistance to resolve the impasse and reform the judiciary. Meanwhile, opposition supporters have held two weeks of nightly protests calling for the judge’s release.

No organisation has yet stepped forward, however a UN spokesperson from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights over the weekend encouraged the government to “release the judge from custody or charge him with a crime.”

The matter has also been raised in the UK Parliament’s House of Commons by Conservative Party MP for Salisbury, John Glen.

“Although the judiciary is constitutionally independent, sitting judges are underqualified, often corrupt and hostile to the democratically elected regime,” Glen stated.

Leader of the House of Commons, George Young, responded that Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Alistair Burt, was “in touch with the Maldives President to see whether we can resolve the impasse. The high commission in Colombo is also engaged. We want to help the Maldives to make progress towards democratic reform in the direction that John Glen outlines.”

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‘Island President’ shows Maldives as ‘canary in the coalmine’ of climate change: Aspen Times

The Island President, an award-winning documentary about President Mohamed Nasheed’s environmental campaign at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, has been screened in Aspen Colorado ahead of its upcoming US release.

Several pre-release screenings were held in Male’ last year, to generally positive local reactions. Overseas, the film has been compared to a humanising version of Al Gore’s Academy Award-winning documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, which catapulted climate change to the top of the public agenda on its release.

“An Inconvenient Truth put a lot of inconvenient, and disturbing, facts and predictions in front of viewers. But the film, which earned the Academy Award for best documentary, didn’t put much of a human face on the environmental catastrophe of which it warned,” wrote Stewart Oksenhorn for the Aspen Times. “Featuring the wooden Al Gore alongside the PowerPoint presentation of statistics and forecasts didn’t do much to humanise the issue.”

“The Maldives, a nation of low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean, could be well considered the canary in the coal mine regarding rising temperatures and waters. The Maldives is also a tiny country, and combines the lack of influence with Nasheed’s small physique and sing-songy voice, and he comes off not as a bully but as an unlikely, and easy-to-like, voice in the environmental movement.

“’He’s real,’ said Director Jon Shenk. I’n a funny way, he’s an everyday guy who says everyday things. He’s not an untouchable figure like Gandhi. He’s willing to compromise.'”

“‘He plays like he has nothing to lose,’” said Shenk. “’He’s been pushed to the edge with torture. I think of him as this guy who wakes up every day and says, ‘Well, here’s another day I wasn’t supposed to have — what am I going to do with it?’”

“'[The film] is as much about leadership and political issues,’” he said. “It’s not uncommon for people to watch ‘The Island President’ and say, ‘Wow, I wish I had a president like that.’ You dream about this guy as your next leader.”

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Land plots awarded under Veshi Fahi program

Fifteen land plots were awarded today to Maldivian citizens qualifying for housing under Category A of the Veshi Fahi Male’ housing program, a government initiative to decongest the capital Male’ by expanding residential and industrial infrastructure to surrounding islands.

The plots are part of a 250 land plot package currently being awarded to applicants, along with 1000 newly constructed flats with a capacity of 7,000. Although the 21,000 applications for the housing program exceed the government’s initial pledge to house 10,000 people by 2016, Veshi Fahi program officials indicate that the government steering committee is considering adding an extra 100 plots to the program.

Speaking at today’s inaugural ceremony on Hulhumale’, President Mohamed Nasheed pledged to provide housing to all applicants. “In the Maldives every citizen should be have the option of living in whichever part of the Maldives he or she wishes,” he said.

Connecting today’s event with the ongoing judicial crisis which has gripped the country since January 16, the President observed that “national development involves all parts of a system.” Veshi Fahi Program Director “Sarangu” Adam Manik elaborated that the housing project’s success leans heavily on a robust judiciary.

“What we need is a proper judiciary to interpret land and housing contracts,” he told Minivan News. “If a judge does not have the proper education, degree and qualifications to interpret such contracts as well as the law, how can the system work?”

Affordable housing is one of the five pledges which form the backbone of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) manifesto, along with pledges for a nation-wide transport system, affordable living costs, affordable quality healthcare, and the prevention of drugs and narcotics trafficking.

On January 1 2012, all Maldivian citizens became eligible for free health care. Ferry systems have gradually improved transportation and communication within atolls as well, while the southern island of Fuvahmulah opened a new airport last year.

In July 2011, the President awarded documents of guarantee to the recipients of ten flats on Hulhumale’.

Male’ is the most densely populated city in the world with approximately 50,000 people per square kilometre, eclipsing Mumbai. Approximately one-third of the national population of 350,000 live on the capital island. Manik claims the pressure is already being released.

Launched in November 2010, the Veshi Fahi program aims to combine the development of Malé, Vilingili, Guli Falhu, Thilafushi, Hulhumalé and Malé International Airport. Under the program, applicants are categorised according to need: those living in extremely overcrowded conditions, those with land in Male but an interest in living in Hulhumale’, and those interested in housing in any of the nearby islands.

Under the program Male’ residents are asked to trade their land on the capital island for land in the nearby developing suburb- allowing Male’ City Council to develop areas of Male’ for community needs such as parking, dust bins and small parks. However, given the dire conditions of some Male’ housing units 3,000 new units will be constructed on the capital.

“We are very much on track,” Manik said. “Some projects are even ahead of schedule, such as this one,” he added, gesturing to the construction site where the basic structures of 1,000 flats have already been raised by Chinese and Bangladeshi laborers.

“By 2016 there will be no problems with shelter on Male,” he claimed.

As the housing issue dissipates, rent costs are expected to drop. Rent in Male’ currently rivals rates in New York in London, however officials expect half that sum on Hulhumale’ will give a person the same facilities and even more space than a flat on the capital island.

While people are expected to begin moving into the new housing on Hulhumale’ in July of this year, land plot recipients have two years from the date they receive the land title to construct their new home and move across the water.

“Many people can’t afford the move right away, so they need time to get loans and make plans. The concern is not that land will be left untouched, but rather that people need the time to connect the dots and establish their home,” said an official from the Veshi Fahi office, who requested anonymity.

Minivan News understands that recipients of the 250 land plots on Hulhumale’ will also receive housing loans from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

Meanwhile, the program’s rapid progress has encouraged more Male’ residents to apply for new housing.

“The previous government didn’t give people hope for these things,” said the official. “Now, people are seeing titles and deeds being awarded, they are seeing the flats go up- I think more are interested in applying during the second round.”

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MDP votes to hold “massive gathering” to show support for judicial reform

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s National Council has decided to hold a massive gathering in Male’ calling for an independent judiciary and to show support for the actions taken by President Mohamed Nasheed in the detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed.

A resolution was passed to the National Council by a council member which was then supported by ‘Sarangu’ Adam Manik, former Mayor of Male’ City.

The resolution also calls MDP to “stand up” against the protests held by the opposition parties, which have occurred every night for the past two weeks near the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) building.

MDP Secretary General Ahmed Shah today told Minivan News that the resolution was passed yesterday but that the date had not yet been fixed.

He said opposition political parties were “creating unrest in the country to obstruct government projects that are being conducted.”

‘’Only a few are turning up to those protests now,’’ he claimed.

Opposition political parties have been protesting every night following the detention of Abdulla Mohamed by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), on the evening of January 16 in compliance with a police request. The judge had earlier sought a high court ruling to overturn his police summons.

The judge’s whereabouts were not revealed until January 18, and the MNDF has acknowledged receipt but not complied with Supreme Court orders to release the judge.

Meanwhile, a group of lawyers campaigning for the release of Abdulla Mohamed have requested the Supreme Court not hear any case related to Judge Abdulla before the court decided on the request made by the lawyers to issue a writ to free the judge.

Today the High Court issued a warrant for the third time to produce Judge Abdulla, in an appeal against the Civil Court injunction he sought to halt his investigation by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The MNDF has not responded to any of the warrants issued.

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Civil Court injunction stops us taking action against Abdulla Mohamed: JSC

Judicial Service Commission (JSC) President Adam Mohamed has claimed the body is “impatient” to take action against the Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdullah Mohamed, and claimed that the only thing preventing the move is the Civil Court injunction filed by Abdulla Mohamed ordering the judicial watchdog not to take any action, until the court decided otherwise.

Adam Mohamed made the statements in response to questions asked at the Saturday’s meeting of parliament’s independent institutions committee where the JSC members, including opposition MP Gasim Ibrahim and Speaker of Parliament Abullah Shahid, were summoned to clarify the reason for delay in taking action against the judge.

In the committee meeting, broadcasted live, Mohamed restated that  it would be a “violation of law” to take any action against Chief Judge before the Civil Court injunction was overruled, stating that and the commission has to proceed within the legal bounds.

“If we take action against Judge Abdullah, we will be in violation of law. [Because] violating a ruling is violating the law. We are very cautious,” said Mohamed, the Supreme Court’s representative on the judicial watchdog.

“We are impatient to take action [against chief judge] within the legal bounds” he claimed, adding that the case had now been appealed in High court.

The civil court granted the injunction in November 2011 – on the judge’s request – during the 30 day period he was given to respond to the report completed by JSC in which was found guilty of violating the Judge’s Code of Conduct for making politically contentious statements on a local TV channel.

According to the JSC, a total of 11 complaints have been submitted against the judge.

While the JSC’s decision remains stalled due to the injunction, questions have been raised as to whether the civil court has the jurisdiction to rule against its own watchdog body.

Aishath Velezinee, former president’s member at the JSC, argues that “if the judicial watchdog can be overruled by a judge sitting in some court somewhere, then the JSC is dysfunctional. But that’s what has been happening,” she asserted.

While the injunction issued last November was appealed at the higher courts, JSC also cited that the commission does not consider that the civil court has authority to hear the case.

The JSC first appealed the case at Supreme Court, which instructed it to forward the matter to the high court.

The high court scheduled its first hearing on the case last Thursday, but was cancelled by the judge who decided the case cannot be heard in absence Judge Abdulla Mohamed, after the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) refused to produce him. He remains under MNDF custody on the training island of Girifushi.

The military arrested the judge on January 16 after he attempted to block his own police summons – subsequently all the courts , JSC, Prosecutor General Ahmed Muiz, and later Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed called for his immediate release citing the arrest as unlawful.

President Mohamed Nasheed met with some of the JSC members at a meeting held at the president’s office on Sunday to discuss his concerns related to the judiciary, local media reported.

UN calls for judge’s release

Associated Press (AP) has meanwhile reported that the United Nations (UN) has called for the Maldives to release the judge from custody or charge him with a crime, as the  body considers a government request for help resolving a dispute with the country’s judiciary.

“While acknowledging the challenges Maldives faces in reforming and strengthening its judiciary, we believe that Judge Abdulla should either be treated with due process, meaning he should be properly charged moved from military detention, and brought before a court, or released,”  Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman at the UN human rights office told AP on Saturday.

She also observed that the officials are still discussing how to respond to the request made by the Foreign Ministry last week, requesting international legal assistance.

The government has meanwhile listed 14 cases of obstruction of police duty by Judge Abdulla, including withholding warrants for up to four days, ordering police to conduct unlawful investigations and disregarding decisions by higher courts.

Afeef accused the judge of “deliberately” holding up cases involving opposition figures, and barring media from corruption trials.

Afeef said the judge also ordered the release of suspects detained for serious crimes “without a single hearing”, and maintained “suspicious ties” with family members of convicts sentenced for dangerous crimes.

The judge also released a murder suspect “in the name of holding ministers accountable”, who went on to kill another victim.

“We have been working to improve the judiciary since we came to power, but we have not succeeded,” said Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem last week, calling for a delegation from the United Nations Human Rights Commission (OHCHR) to help resolve “an issue of national security.”

The first complaints were meanwhile filed against  Mohamed in July 2005 by the Attorney General at the time time Dr. Hassan Saeed, president of the minority opposition party, which is leading the call for judge’s release.

The allegations  included, misogyny, sexual deviancy, and throwing out an assault case despite the confession of the accused.

Meanwhile, group of lawyers have  sent a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC), appealing that the judge’s detention is an “enforced disappearance” under the ICC’s Rome Statute  – while opposition activists have  taken the fight to free the judge to the streets, as protests continue for a second week.

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Former SAARC Secretary General calls for President’s impeachment as husband maneuvers party swap

Former SAARC Secretary General Dhiyana Saeed has demanded that President Mohamed Nasheed be impeached after alledgedly violating the constitution by detaining Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed.

Saeed’s statement follows her five-minute arrest last weekend for refusing to leave Republic Square during a nearby opposition-led protest.

Saeed recently resigned from her SAARC post after criticising the government after the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) responded to a police request to arrest and detain Abdulla Mohamed on January 16, after the judge filed a case in the high court to overrule his police summons.

Saeed, the youngest and first female to hold the SAARC post, demanded that parliament oppose the President.

Speaking to Minivan News following her resignation last week, Saeed said the judge “has to be dealt with within the confines of the law,” and identified his detention as “very clearly unconstitutional.”

“If you look at the how the government has acted these last three years you can see a trend. The government thinks any means to an ends is alright,” she added.

According to the SAARC charter, interference in the internal affairs of other states is a violation of the secretary general’s role.

Saeed’s statement was aired on opposition Jumhoree Party (JP) leader and JSC member Gasim Ibrahim’s television station VTV on January 19. Yesterday, Saeed’s husband and owner of J Hotels, Abdulla Jabir,  announced his switch from the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to JP, of which he is now deputy leader. Saeed herself remains a member of MDP, according to local media.

Saeed told local media that while her need to call for the President’s impeachment was regrettable, she maintained that her aim was to deliver a “strong message” disapproving of the government’s “direct attack on the state of Maldives”.

Suggesting that she speaks for a general public, Saeed told  media that even those who do not attend protests are opposed to the government’s actions, and vowed to not sit quietly on the sidelines. In response to the government’s criticism of her loyalty, she pointed out that no one was more loyal in politics “than was Chemical Ali to Saddam Hussein”.

She added that all Maldivians were obliged to defend the constitution, and maintained that her comments were “not for any political benefit.”

Saeed had not returned phone calls at time of press.

Under the constitution a president can only be impeached with a two-thirds vote from parliament. Parliament currently contains 77 members (MPs), 35 of which are aligned with MDP, 36 represent opposition parties and six are independent.

According to the President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair, Saeed’s request “is the wrong math. Even if all the opposition pulled together they wouldn’t pass the vote.” Zuhair added that the MDP has seen increasing public support in recent years.

Noting that Saeed is “not even a barrister”, Zuhair identified her call for impeachment as “just competitive political talk” which does not threaten the unity of the government. He added that her statement is a larger protective strategy currently employed by lawyers with close ties to JP leader, Gasim Ibrahim.

“You have to go to the chronological beginning,” Zuhair said, stating that Saeed, lawyer Azima Shukoor, Prosecutor General (PG) Ahmed Muizz, and opposition Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP) leader Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed held legal posts under the former regime.

“These are all legal people – birds of a feather so to speak – pulling together to protect their past from exposure,” he said.

“Their interpretation of the law has not been consistent with the government; instead they are protective of the former regime,” Zuhair continued, adding that they had all denied defendants access to lawyers during the judicial process.

Shukoor has consistently defended members of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s family and new political party, Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM). Jameel, who served as Justice Minister under the former regime, recently accused the government of conspiracy with Christians and Jews to spread “vice” within the country.

“Gasim pays a maintenance fee for his lawyers – they receive a monthly fee for staying on his side,” Zuhair said emphatically.

Meanwhile, Abdulla Jabir explained his shift of allegiance last night on Gasim’s VTV.

“The President wanted to make this place into New York overnight,” he said. “It is a good thought but we have to do things based on the resources at hand. [But the President] does not listen to financial experts.”

After stating that the MDP had gained significant public approval, Jabir accused the President of overshadowing party achievements by trying to “destroy the system for his own benefit”.

“President Nasheed cannot be a hero again. He will be a zero. Nobody will respect him,” Jabir said.

Making reference to the government’s use of the military to arrest Judge Mohamed, Jabir warned that tour operators “are dismayed with the Maldives” and listed overspending, nepotism and uninformed financial decisions as chief grievances against MDP.

Jabir’s party change has not surprised the government.

“Jabir was more interested in protecting his business interests,” Zuhair suggested, adding that financial compensation “was a likely factor” in Jabir’s party switch-over. Jabir was recently awarded a mid-market tourism project in Laamu Gan Asseyri, part of the government’s new tourism initiative.

Zuhair said he believed the MDP party’s infrastructure had been “too tedious” for Jabir as well.

“In MDP you have go through various elections, starting with small councils and going up through the national council, in order to get to the top. Other parties don’t operate like that, I believe. The same night [Jabir] joined [JP] he was appointed deputy leader,” he said.

During his VTV address Jabir announced that a candidate from the JP would contest in the 2013 elections.

Swapping political parties in the Maldives plays much like a game of cards, betting included. Recalling Saeed’s resignation, Zuhair said Jabir had requested MDP “not to tarnish his wife’s good name. The next day, the couple was pushing to start their own political party – like  mum-and-dad shops in the UK,” he explained.

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MP rejects authority of Criminal Court after judge releases armed “I was just cooking” civilian

Today’s Criminal Court hearing for a case involving ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Thimmarafushi Mohamed Musthafa was cancelled after the MP refused to accept the court summons on the grounds that the court’s judges were unlawfully appointed.

Musthafa added that Thimarafushi island council had advised against his attending the hearing.

Musthafa’s comment came after the Criminal Court today ordered the release of a man arrested for carrying a knife as protesters spread throughout Male’ on Friday evening.

Hassan Areef, who has prior convictions for violence, was arrested in Henveiru ward by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) before being handed over to police.

Appearing in court today, Areef claimed he had been preparing a meal using a butter knife when he went outside to see the commotion, unintentionally carrying the knife with him, according to local media.

The criminal court accepted Areef’s version and ordered his release. Police have announced their intention to appeal the verdict.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the court, Musthafa justified his refusal by citing President Mohamed Nasheed’s position that lower court judges were not appointed in accordance with Article 149 of the constitution, therefore their rulings held no legal weight.

According to Article 149, “A person appointed as a Judge in accordance with law, must possess the educational qualifications,  experience  and  recognised competence necessary to discharge the duties and responsibilities of a Judge, and must be of high moral character.”

The article further requires judges to be a Sunni Muslim of at least 25 years of age, who has not been convicted of an offence and is of sound mind.

Musthafa has been charged for bounced cheques.

The MP faces multiple charges of cheque fraud, notably over transactions made by his company Seafood International Pvt Ltd.

Citing deception by food supplier General Meat Ltd, Musthafa threatened legal action against the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) in November if it did not pay the US$500,000 that the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) owed Seafood International.

Musthafa alleged that the sum was due to be paid to his company according to a 1991 London court ruling.

Citing MMA as the “live branch of BCCI in the Maldives,” Musthafa previously stated that “the debt of a dead person has to be paid by a living legal parent. If the MMA does not pay us within seven days we will sue the MMA in court and when we sue, we will ask the court to take the amount of money for the loss we have had for the past 20 years as a cause of not having this money.’’

Meanwhile, a case filed in 2009 by opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Vice President Umar Naseer claims Musthafa must be removed from Parliament due to a decreed debt which is in violation of Article 73(c)1.

The Supreme Court was due to rule on a case against Musthafa on October 20, however proceedings were interrupted when MDP called for a nation-wide protest against the judiciary during an emergency meeting.

Speaking to Minivan News at the time, MDP MP and spokesperson for the party’s Parliamentary Group, Mohamed Shifaz, said judges had been blackmailed and that the party would protest the politicised judiciary indefinitely.

This month, the opposition took up the protest baton and demanded the release of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed from military detention. The Judge was arrested on January 16, 2012. Protestors have demonstrated against the government since that date.

Contending that the judge was lawfully arrested, the government has requested international legal assistance to resolve what has been labelled a “judicial crisis”.

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