Year: 2012

Former President returns to Addu for final leg of campaign trip

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has rejoined his party’s ‘Journey of Pledges’ in the southern atolls following his release from custody on Wednesday.

Prior to his original departure last week on the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) campaign trip, Nasheed was placed under a travel ban restricting his movements to the capital.

The Department of Judicial Administration have confirmed that Nasheed had requested permission before leaving the Male’ area to rejoin his party. The Foreign Ministry observed in a statement that Nasheed was no longer under a travel ban.

He has since flown south and rejoined his party which is currently in Fuvamulah in Gnaviyani Atoll, continuing its door to door programs and policy workshops in order to gather information ahead of the next election – scheduled for July 2013 at the earliest.

Nasheed had been returned to Male’ on Monday after the Hulhumale’ Magistrates Court ordered the police to produce him at the first hearing in the Judge Abdullah Mohamed detention case on Tuesday.

Nasheed’s lawyers asked the three member panel of judges to give them a time period of 30 days to study the evidence and prepare a defence.

The judges however gave a period of 25 days. They announced that the next hearing would be held on November 4, 2012.

He will fly back to Male’ after the completion of the campaign at the Equatorial Convention Center in Hithadhoo on Saturday October 13 while the rest of the five boat flotilla returns separately.

Information gathering

President of the MDP’s Youth Wing, Shauna Aminath, said that the trip had been extremely useful in gathering specific information on the situation in the atolls.

A similar trip is planned for the northern atolls before the end of the year.

Shauna said that the party had been made aware of the deficiencies in public service provision in a number of areas.

“At almost every island, people have said that since February 7 they have been having problems receiving benefits for single mothers and for those with special needs,” she said.

Shauna also noted a failure to provide consistent public transport as promoted under the Nasheed administration.

“Almost every island said the ferry system had been stopped by non-MDP councils,” said Shauna. “People have grown to appreciate the need for public transport – we found a way around the problems but the people who have the passion and commitment are not there.”

Shauna said that some ferry services were refusing to take small numbers of passengers while others even asked passengers to provide fuel for the service.

She also alleged that the party had gathered information regarding the sacking of MDP supporting government workers since February in what she described as a “witch-hunt”.

The seeming reversal of decentralisation policies observed in the trip – such as those concerning local health workers – was reminiscent of the “old style”  under the 30 year Presidency of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, said Shauna.

In April the government announced its intention to annul provincial health and utility corporations in an attempt to streamline and improve service delivery.

The Local Government Authority (LGA) has said that it intends to revise the current system of local governance which it has described as prohibitively expensive for the country – which is said to cost US$12 million a year in salaries.

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President Waheed visited by German and US ambassadors, and UNICEF director

Germany’s new Ambassador to the Maldives, Jurgen Morhad, yesterday presented his credentials to President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, the President’s Office has reported.

The President thanked the new ambassador for Germany’s contribution to the tourism industry and its assistance in dealing with environmental problems.

The current issues facing the Maldives young democracy were also discussed.

“Highlighting the political, social, and fiscal challenges being faced in the country today, President Waheed underlined the importance of conducting capacity building programmes for the youth. He noted that such programmes would in turn solve the unemployment issues in the Maldives,” read a release on the office’s website.

Social issues were also discussed when the President welcomed Karin Hulshof, UNICEF’s Regional Director for South Asia.

Waheed briefed the director on the steps being taken to meet the UN’s Millennium Development Goals whilst Hulshof emphasised the importance of raising drug awareness within the school system.

In a busy day, the President also welcomed US Ambassador Michele J. Sison who was briefed on the measures being taken to increase security and safety in the country following the murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali.

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Mother of former Environment Minister sues police for damage to house during Nasheed’s arrest

Mother of former Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam, Rasheedha Mohamed, has sued police for damage caused to her house by police officers during the raid to arrest former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Speaking to Minivan News, Aslam confirmed his mother had filed a case at the Fares-Mathoda Magistrate Court, alleging police had disrespected the privacy of their house as guaranteed to all citizens in the constitution.

‘’It is not about the amount of money to compensate for the damage, it has all got to do with the procedure they applied to arrest Nasheed,’’ Aslam said.

‘’I was on the doorstep when the police officers arrived. They showed me the warrant issued by the court to arrest Nasheed and I told them to wait there while I passed the message to him,’’ Aslam explained.

‘’But they followed me inside and started searching all over, breaking doors and calling Nasheed to come out from his room,’’ Aslam said. ‘’It would have been right for them to use excessive force if they had let me forward the message to Nasheed and Nasheed had refused to come out.’’

Aslam said had Nasheed refused to come out, police could have asked his mother’s permission to enter the house to arrest a person as ordered to do so by the court.

He also said that police asked Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Nazim to open the toilet door while he was inside.

‘’Nazim told the officers that it was him but officers demanded to open the door and he did open the door. Then a while later they broke the toilet door while he was inside,’’ he said.

Following allegations made against police after the arrest of Nasheed, police issued a statement that day claiming that police officers followed professional standards in arresting Nasheed.

In the statement, police said they initially requested Nasheed hand himself over to the police. According to police, officers broke down the door of the room Nasheed was in and detained him after he failed to respond to their initial commands. The statement claimed that this is the general course of action used by police in similar situations.

The police denied that any officers used offensive language or that any physical or that psychological trauma was caused to anyone during the arrest.

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‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam says World Bank cannot give any more money to Maldives

MP for Meedhoo constituency Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam has informed the Majlis that, after meeting with a representative of the World Bank, he was told that no additional money could be provided to the Maldives, reports Sun Online.

“The reason given by him is that Maldivian citizens are being forced to cope with political unrest and danger. He said that Maldivians are in dismay, and that investors are apprehensive about investing in Maldives,” he said.

Shiyam was reported in local media as telling the Majlis that investor confidence was being negatively affected by the country’s politics.

Sun reported Shiyam as saying that more attention should be given to the opinions of foreigners in the Maldives affairs and that new faces were needed on the political scene.

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Jagged islands: The Economist

“Emerging from their planes, tourists are whisked into lavishly equipped boats which cross the turquoise sea to their resort islands, or onto seaplanes to get to farther-flung islets. Those who visit the capital find a tiny city which functions well and looks strikingly modern by South Asian standards,” writes a columnist for the Ecnomist.

“Beneath the calm, there are bitter, highly personalised differences of view regarding the former president, Mohamed Nasheed, who was arrested on October 8th in the south, a week after fleeing the trial to which he had been summoned. He was released from custody on October 9th, given 25 days to answer charges that he overstepped his powers while president, and restricted from leaving the capital.

His supporters extol him nonetheless. “For so many years he was the only one fighting for our democracy, our freedom, our right to speak our mind,” says Ahmed, a photographer in Male. He is not a member of Mr Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) but praises the changes it has brought, ranging from better transport between islands to a health-insurance scheme.

Adam, a young doctor, feels differently. He feels that under Mr Nasheed’s presidency it became “not cool to say you’re a devout Muslim who prays five times a day”. He says the ex-president was whimsical, and asks why he had to spend a month personally overseeing the construction of a conference centre in the southernmost atoll.”

Read more

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MDP submits no-confidence motion against President

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has submitted a no-confidence motion in parliament against President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik.

According to MDP, the no-confidence motion was submitted to the parliament in response to orders from by Waheed to attack citizens and MDP MPs, and to carry out acts of inhumanity on February 8 which were executed by the army and police.

The MDP alleged that President Waheed had destroyed the sensitive economy of the nation and that his handling of the economy has destroyed foreign investor confidence in the Maldives.

The MDP also noted that Dr Waheed’s government had not taken appropriate measures to curb gang violence in the country.

The party also raised the government’s recent loan of MVR 300 million (US$19.5 million) from the Bank of Maldives (BML) without the consent of the parliament as legally required.

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed Nihan told Minivan News that he was “very confident all PPM MPs are with Dr Waheed and this no-confidence motion vote will fail in parliament.”

Nihan said the MDP’s objective was to obstruct parliament from conducting its work, to waste parliament’s time, and to disturb President Waheed.

‘’MDP also have it on their agenda to split the coalition parties,’’ he added. ‘’They are doing this just to pressure the parliamentarians at a time when the people of the nation are in need of the parliament.’’

Nihan reiterated that many of the important bills submitted to the parliament by MPs have been sitting in parliament for ages without being passed.

He also criticised the MDP for saying that Dr Waheed had destroyed the economy of the state, and said that MDP was responsible for ‘’bringing [Indian airport developer] GMR to the Maldives, and selling Dhiraagu shares to Cable and Wireless.’’

Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) MP Dr Abdulla Mausoon said the party had not discussed the matter, but said the DRP would not follow the MDP.

“Although we haven’t officially decided on the matter our view on it is already known. We will not support any irresponsible issues created by MDP,’’ Dr Mausoom said. “All the DRP MPs that have already met me have joked about this. We will not dance to the beat of the MDP,’’ he said.

He also said he believed the MDP was trying to drive media attention away from former President Mohamed Nasheed’s ongoing trial.

Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Alhan Fahmy recently said that he would submit a no-confidence motion against President Dr Waheed Hassan and said he was receiving cooperation from MDP and other parties in parliament.

Later his party’s leadership dismissed the comments he made and said the party was in support of Dr Waheed.

Parliament figures show that MDP has 30 MPs, Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) has 13 MPs, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has 17 MPs, Jumhoree Party (JP) has 5 MPs, Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP) has one MP, People’s Alliance Party (PA) has 3 MPs, while 7 MPs remain independent.

It takes a two-thirds majority to win a no-confidence motion against the President or Vice President.

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Waheed government submits bill to facilitate death penalty

The government has announced its intention to introduce a bill to the People’s Majlis in order to guide and govern the implementation of the death penalty in the country.

“It is currently a punishment passed by the judiciary and a form of punishment available within the penal system of the Maldives,” said Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed.

“But for full guidance and matters governing the matter, legislation is required,” he added.

A meeting of the cabinet yesterday strongly condemned last week’s murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali and urged President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan to start taking immediate measures to ensure safety and security in the country.

President’s Office spokesman Masood Imad said that the government had received a large number of calls for implementing the death penalty.

“We are having enormous pressure since these high profile murders,” he said. “We have indications – the talk around the town – that there will be more murders.”

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has this week proposed a no-confidence motion against the home minister, citing the unprecedented instances of murder and assault in the country since he assumed office in February.

Afrasheem’s murder was the 10th in the small country this year, sparking much debate on the death penalty.

Following the murder of high profile lawyer Ahmed Najeeb on July 1, two people were sentenced to death after Najeeb’s heirs opted for qisas (equal retaliation) rather than blood money.

Public outcry over Najeeb’s murder prompted Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz to declare that full enforcement of the courts’ rulings is necessary to maintain the effectiveness of the judiciary.

A case was submitted to the High Court in August, requesting that it annul the President’s ability to commute death sentences to 25 years imprisonment, provided in the Clemency Act.

Similarly, in April Ahmed Mahloof – parliamentary group member from the government-aligned Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) – proposed an amendment to the Clemency Act to ensure that the enforcement of the death penalty be mandatory in the event it was upheld by the Supreme Court.

In a comment piece written for Haveeru following Najeeb’s murder, however, Special Advisor to the President Dr Hassan Saeed warned that implementing the death penalty could be both arbitrary and prohibitively expensive.

Judiciary and human rights

The last execution in the Maldives came in 1953 when Hakim Didi was charged with attempting to assassinate President Ameen using black magic.

Since that time, the Maldives has retained the practice of the death penalty for murder although Islamic Shariah tenets also give the courts the power to pronounce capital punishment for offences such as sodomy, fornication, apostasy and other crimes against the community.

Statistics show that from January 2001 to December 2010, a total of 14 people were sentenced to death by Maldivian courts.

Jameel said that there was to be no re-consideration of the Clemency Act but that “necessary reform to legislation governing the criminal justice system will be undertaken by the government.”

Concerns over the judiciary were confirmed in the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) report which investigated the events surrounding the resignation of former President Mohamed Nasheed in February.

The final report recommended that immediate steps be taken to improve the performance of the judiciary.

“The judiciary must enjoy public confidence and where there are allegations about judges’ conduct, the Judicial Services Commission must act in a timely and definitive way and report,” read the report.

Aishath Velezinee, formerly Nasheed’s appointee to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), has said that corruption and an unreformed judiciary were the primary causes of crime in the country.

“Islam upholds justice, and not only has death penalty; it has very clear qualifications for judges too. Neither MP Mahloof, nor any of the Sheikhs, has expressed alarm that the judges are far below standard and some of them are convicted criminals themselves. This is pure politics and abuse of Islam,” she told Minivan News in a previous interview.

In July, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) said it was “deeply concerned about the state of the judiciary in the Maldives,” as well as calling for the abolition of the death penalty, in order to ensure the Maldives’ compliance with International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

After speaking with a Maldivian delegation headed by Jameel, the council released a statement saying that the state had acknowledged both that the independence of the judiciary was severely compromised and that the death penalty did not deter crime.

Today marks World Day Against the Death Penalty – organised by an alliance of more than 135 NGOs, bar associations, local authorities and unions seeking the universal abolition of capital punishment.

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UK, EU express “concern” over arrest of Nasheed

The UK and the EU have issued statements expressing concern over the arrest of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

“Along with our international partners, we call on the Maldivian authorities to ensure any trial is fair and transparent,” said UK Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt.

“These latest developments underline the need for all parties to resume dialogue and work together to implement the democratic reforms identified by the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) in August. We look forward to peaceful, free and fair elections next year, in which all political parties are able to participate fully,” Burt added.

Meanwhile in Europe, “it is with great concern that the High Representative [of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton] learned about the arrest of former President Nasheed of the Maldives.”

Ashton “recalls the assurances given by the Government of the Maldives as regards the personal safety of Mr Nasheed and his right to a fair trial,” her office stated.

“In view of the importance of the next presidential elections, the High Representative reiterates the need for credible and transparent elections allowing for the full participation of party candidates.”

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has been released from custody following the first hearing of a trial in the Hulhumale Magistrate Court concerning his detention of Chief Criminal Court Judge, Abdulla Mohamed.

Nasheed was temporarily held at Dhoonidhoo detention facility on Monday (8 October) ahead of yesterday’s hearing after he broke a travel ban imposed on him by the court.

The former president and his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have maintained that the charges of detaining Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed are a politically motivated attempt to prevent him from contesting the 2013 election.

“The Prosecutor General’s only objective is to ensure I cannot contest next elections,” said Nasheed, at a rally on Tuesday night following his release from court.

“What is the specific moment during the orchestration of the coup that all political actors were noting as most important? The moment when Abdulla Ghazi (Judge Abdulla Mohamed) was released. The coup d’etat that was brought in this country was made possible because our criminal justice system has failed.”

The US Embassy in Colombo earlier issued a statement urging “all parties to find a way forward that respects Maldivian democratic institutions, the rule of law and the Maldivian constitution, as well as protects human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

“We urge all sides to remain calm, reject the use of violence and to avoid rhetoric that could increase tensions. It is our expectation that former President Nasheed be given every due process that the law allows,” the embassy stated.

“In response to statements that somehow the United States was involved in the detention of former President Nasheed, the Embassy strongly denies that claim,” it added.

“We note that all US law enforcement cooperation [with the Maldives] includes activities that focus on professionalisation and professional development of the police and places special emphasis on the need to adhere to international standards of human rights and the strengthening of democratic institutions and the rule of law.”

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Police file case against man for pricking girls with a pin

Police said they have completed an investigation and submitted a case to the Prosecutor General (PG) against a man who had been arrested for allegedly pricking girls with a pin.

According to the statement the case was sent to the PG office on September 30.

The 31 year-old man, Hussain Shareef of G Greenland, was charged with harassing a group of girls from Ahmadhiyya School by pricking them with a pin in various areas of their bodies, multiple times.

The police statement said that Shareef was brought into police custody at approximately 7.44pm on August 28, 2011.

The police declined from confirming whether Shareef was being kept in police custody since his arrest or whether he has been freed.

Police Media Official Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef had not responded at the time of press.

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