Day: February 11, 2013

“Nations say it will be difficult to accept elections if I cannot contest”: former President Nasheed

Former President and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed has claimed that India does not wish for the Maldives to have a presidential elections in which any party’s candidate is barred from contesting.

The former President, who returned today from an official visit to the country, said India was concerned that this may lead to unrest in the island nation.

“India wishes for peace in the Maldives. And they see that the way to achieve this is through holding elections after establishing an interim administration,” he claimed.

“Nations are telling me in very clear terms that it will be difficult for them to accept election results if I am barred from contesting,” Nasheed said, speaking to local media upon his arrival from India on Monday afternoon.

Responding to questions as to why he had failed to attend his hearing in the Hulhumale’ Court  scheduled for Sunday, he responded that he “did not believe the trial can be carried on.”

Nasheed was due to attend the second court hearing at the Hulhumale Magistrate Court regarding his controversial arrest of the Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

Nasheed insisted that his trial can be put off until after the elections, citing the case of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s trial being postponed until after the country’s elections.

“Those are judicial procedures. That is the norm. That is how the world sees it. If elections in the Maldives are held in any other way, very few in the international sphere will accept the result,” Nasheed said.

Nasheed said that weakened relations between India and Maldives could be strengthened by renewing the agreement for airport development with Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

The developer was given a seven day eviction notice in late November 2012, after the government declared its contract void.

“As I see it, the GMR contract will be renewed before this year’s elections,” Nasheed stated.

Nasheed said that despite the government’s repeated assertions that the Maldives’ relationship with India remained unaffected, ties were becoming increasingly weakened. He said Maldivian citizens were facing more and more difficulties as bilateral ties with India continued to slump.

Although Nasheed did not name any Indian officials, he claimed to have met with relevant authorities in India and held discussions on restrengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.

“If we are unable to improve ties, it’s not just visa issues we will be faced with. We might need to deal with difficulties in obtaining much of the construction material or food items we import from India,” said Nasheed.

Nasheed also stated that he would be travelling abroad at the end of February, having accepting an invitation from the Commonwealth Secretary General, and to Denmark under an invitation from the state.

Hundreds of MDP supporters gathered near the jetty and at the airport to greet Nasheed on his arrival.

Minivan News observed that police had cordoned off many of the main roads leading to the jetty area.

An MDP representative claimed a number of MDP members were arrested at the site of the gathering.

Police Media Official Sub Inspector Hassan Haneef was not responding to calls at the time of press.

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Young Indian teacher hospitalised in “very serious condition” after alleged rape

A young Indian teacher working on the island of Dhangethi in Alif Dhaal Atoll has been hospitalised after a group of people broke into her home on Sunday night and allegedly raped her.

The 25 year-old woman is in a “very serious condition” following the attack, said the Island Council President Azim Adam.

“They broke in [to her house] around 2:15am. I came to know about it at 4:00am and I instantly reported it to the police. The girl is now in the atoll hospital in a very serious condition,” Adam said.

A source close to the victim said she was in the hospital’s intensive care unit but was “bleeding uncontrollably.”

“We have put seven pints of blood into her but she is still bleeding. It is a very serious issue. We are planning to send her to India, there is not much more we are able to do here,” the source said, adding that her brother had arrived in the Maldives and was on the island.

The Indian High Commission in the capital Male’ said it had been informed of the incident and had received the woman’s details from the police.

Maldives Police Service (MPS) Spokesperson Sub Inspector Hassan Haneef said specialist teams were investigating the incident. He could not confirm whether any arrests had been made, but said further details would be released to the media at a later stage.

Local media reported that the woman was teaching a private computer course on the island.

Island Council President Adam said the young woman had been working on the island for less than a month, and described her as a “very kind person who was very friendly towards the local islanders”.

Dhangethi is the third largest populated island of Alif Dhaal Atoll, with a population of around 1200 people.

An official from the Indian High Commission noted that a similar case had occurred in 2011 involving an Indian nurse working on an island in the Maldives.

“I told the police that [in 2011] there was a rape case like this whereby a nurse was raped on one of the islands. However in that instance all of the suspects were later acquitted in court,” the official added.

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All murderers involved in 2012 murder cases found: police

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) have claimed that all murderers involved in cases last year have been found, local media reported.

In a promotional video uploaded on YouTube, police claimed that murderers who killed MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, lawyer Ahmed Najeeb, Police Lance Corporal Adam Haleem and Ayyube in Kudahuvadhoo in Dhaalu Atoll had all been found.

Local media reported that trials against some of the murder suspects are still ongoing in court, whilst others have been convicted and sentenced to death.

Cases related to theft increased last year and the seizure of drugs by MPS had reached a record high, police claimed.

Other figures from the video, as reported by local media, stated that 29 brothels have been closed down, while cases related to domestic violence against women and children sent for prosecution had increased and organised crime had been “controlled”.

In an effort to reduce crime, the Crime Prevention Department will now operate under the Public Affairs Department, local media reported.

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Hulhumale Magistrate Court schedules trials of former Defense Minister and other senior military officials

The Hulhumale Magistrate Court has scheduled hearings against former Defense Minister Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaanu, former Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) Male Area Commander (retired) Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi and Colonel Mohamed Ziyad.

All three are facing the same charges as former President Mohamed Nasheed, concerning the former administration’s arrest of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed, in January 2012.

Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) official, Mohamed Zahir, told Minivan News that the hearings are to take place from next week.

According to Zahir, Tholthath’s trial is scheduled to take place on February 16, while both retired Brigadier General Didi and Colonel Ziyad’s trial will be held on February 25.

Zahir said that a date has not yet been set for Nasheed’s hearing.

Nasheed meanwhile failed to appear in court for his scheduled hearing on Sunday. Nasheed was on an official visit to India and arrived back in the Maldives this afternoon. The hearing was cancelled in Nasheed’s absence.

Zahir told Minivan News that the bench would meet to decide on a date to hold the hearings.

Background

An investigation led by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), on the order of the Prosecutor General (PG), found that the former President was the “highest authority liable” for the military-led detention of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

Along with Nasheed, the report concluded that the former Defence Minister, Tholhath, was a second key figure responsible for the decision to detain Judge Abdulla.

The commission stated that the judge was not physically harmed during the 22-day detention at the military training island of Girifushi.

However, the HRCM did claim that the government had “violated his human dignity” and made attempts to manipulate the judge through a psychologist who visited him at the facility where he was detained.

In July 2012, the PG filed charges based on the findings of the HRCM investigation.  The accused stand charged with violating Article 81 of the Penal Code, which states that the detention of a government employee who has not been found guilty of a crime is illegal.

If found guilty, parties may face a jail sentence or banishment for three years or a MVR 3000 fine (US$193.5) at the discretion of the judge.

The PG pressed charges against Nasheed in the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court on the grounds that holding the trial in Male’ at the Criminal Court represented a conflict of interest on behalf of Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, whom the case concerned.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) appointed a three-member panel of judges to oversee the trial of the former president.

The Commission’s members include two of Nasheed’s direct political opponents, including Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid – Deputy of the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) – and Gasim Ibrahim, a resort tycoon, media owner, MP and leader of the Jumhoree Party (JP), also a member of the governing coalition.

During the first hearing of Nasheed’s trial, his legal team challenged the legitimacy of the court and several other inconsistencies, however was this was dismissed.

Nasheed’s legal team then appealed the matter in the High Court. Despite its initial rejection, the High Court subsequently accepted the team’s appeal over the procedural points and issued a injunction on the case.

Following the JSC’s request that it look into the legality of the magistrate court, the Supreme Court ruled that the magistrate court was formed in accordance with the law and therefore could operate normally.

Meanwhile, High Court upheld the rulings of Hulhumale Magistrate Court in the appeal case filed by Nasheed’s legal team, and ordered the court to proceed with the hearings.

Arrest of the judge

The chief judge was detained by the military after he opened the court outside normal hours and ordered the immediate release of current Home Minister and deputy leader of the Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP), Dr Mohamed Jameel.

Jameel had been arrested after the President’s Office requested an investigation into “slanderous” allegations he made that the government was working under the influence of “Jews and Christian priests” to weaken Islam in the Maldives.

Nasheed’s Home Minister Hassan Afeef sought to justify the arrest claiming that the judge had taken the country’s “entire criminal justice system in his fist“.

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

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Tourism budget for 2013 increased by MVR 60 million

The tourism budget for 2013 has been increased from MVR 20 million (US$1.2 million) to MVR 80 million (US$5.1 million), local media has reported.

The budget increase follows criticism from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), which last month called for the government to reconsider the MVR 20 million budget allocated for tourism marketing in 2013.

The initial sum of money allocated was the lowest in eight years, according to a statement from MATI, which highlighted concerns that the Maldives’ economy was mostly reliant on tourism.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb told local media that the ministry had initially requested a budget of MVR 200 million (US$12.9 million) to carry out tourism promotion for the year, however parliament had “erased a zero” from the figure when finalising the budget.

Adheeb noted that while tourism promotion is expensive, the revenue generated from the industry “drives the entire engine”.

“When we put down MVR 200 million, the government authorities don’t actually realise the priority that this requires. Parliament erased a zero from the MVR 200 million we proposed, and gave us MVR 20 million,” he told Sun Online.

“Then we had to work in all other different ways, and now the Finance Minister has committed to give us MVR 60 million more.”

Adheeb claimed that government institutions did not realise the importance of promoting tourism.

In 2012, the ministry set a target of welcoming one million tourists into the country.  It was allocated a MVR 70 million (US$4.5 million) budget to conduct marketing activities to help achieve that goal.

Figures released last month revealed that the tourism ministry failed to reach the one million mark by roughly 42,000 arrivals.

Despite the political turmoil that enveloped the country at the beginning of 2012, the figures showed that there had been a 2.9 percent increase on the total number of arrivals in 2011.

Tourism promotion efforts last year included a US$250,000 (MVR 3.8 million) advertising deal to promote the tourism industry on the BBC and a £93,000 per month (US$150,000) contract with public relations group Ruder Finn in an attempt to improve the country’s image following political unrest in 2012.

Despite the increased expenditure, tourism growth slowed to just 0.7 percent in 2012, compared to 15.8 percent in 2010 and 9.1 percent in 2011.

The government’s forecast for economic growth in 2013 is 4.3 percent.

Adheeb told local media yesterday that the government had “re-set” its sights on reaching the one million arrival target in 2013, and said there were plans to participate in a number of fairs and promotions  to attract more publicity.

“If we can fully establish the Maldives brand, we can promote Maldives and subsequently increase room rates. Every single dollar we spend on marketing will give a large amount of money in return,” he said.

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Advocacy group requests government “not delay” reform of child sex abuse laws

A child rights NGO has called on the Maldivian government to pass needed legislation concerning the treatment of sexual abuse victims, on the back of several high-profile court cases involving minors.

The Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC) NGO told Minivan News it was concerned about a lack of legislation in the country to protect victims of abuse. The NGO has also raised concerns over the potential impact on the state’s ability to prevent sexual offences following reductions to the state budget approved by parliament in December 2012.

The comments were made as the government reiterated a pledge over the last month to review and amend laws on sexual abuse that it has claimed, in certain cases, treat sexual abuse victims as perpetrators.

A spokesperson for the President’s Office confirmed Thursday (February 7) that authorities would be holding a one day seminar with the Islamic and gender ministries over the next two weeks on legal reform over concern at cases such as a 15 year-old girl being charged for fornication.

Acting Minister of Gender, Family and Human rights Dr Mariyam Shakeela was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Civil society concern

Addressing these commitments by the state, a spokesperson for ARC said it hoped the government would not delay in fulfilling its “pledge to try and review sexual abuse laws with regard to how victims are treated.”

“In addition, we also believe that further steps need to be taken to such a review. [These include] reviewing and strengthening the current institutions and existing services,” the NGO spokesperson said.

ARC has also called for reforms of the juvenile justice system and reform of the current protection mechanisms provided to minors who are kept in state run institutions, such as homes and foster programs.

A spokesperson for the NGO claimed such reviews would be vital to help ensure the protection measures are “gender sensitive, non-intimidating and safeguard children’s access to justice.”

“We concerned that the government budget for 2013 saw a huge decrease in the area of social protection, which will strongly impact work in this field,” the spokesperson added.

Legislative support

ARC identified a lack of specific legislation protecting rights for children and adults – despite the Special Measures Act 2009.

The spokesperson for ARC said a lack of a comprehensive laws on child’s rights, coupled with a general reluctance by witnesses and professional to testify in court, highlighted wider challenges affecting reforms to abuse cases.

“ARC believes that in the event that a need for testifying in a court of law is required, every person should make this a moral obligation/duty to give their full cooperation to the authorities/courts,” the spokesperson said.

According to the NGO, another important challenge urgently needing to be addressed was a perceived disparity between how child abuse cases were being investigated in the capital Male’ compared to the country’s outer atolls – particularly in regards to the use of evidence and psychological support.

In cases where the police or judiciary were dealing with minors, ARC said more training was needed to ensure children were being dealt with sensitively during investigations or trials.

“It is imperative that if the child has to be taken for questioning to a court or by police officers, it has to be ensured that the surroundings are child friendly and that all officials dealing with the child have received adequate training and experience to sensitively deal with children,” said the NGO spokesperson.

ARC said it hoped the government would provide greater room for civil society to play a role in shaping future legislation, adding that NGOs themselves needed to show greater cooperation on key issues.

“While it is encouraging that more civil society groups are being active on social issues such as this, there needs to be a stronger collaborative mechanism between them, particularly in efforts to raise awareness,” the NGO spokesperson added.

ARC said it had been conducting ongoing awareness campaigns to make the general public aware that child abuse was not just related to physical or sexual attacks, but also verbal and emotional torment that could have long terms impacts on the development of a minor.

“While child abuse cases have been increasing, it is also important to recognise the many numbers of unreported cases. We have placed billboards in Male’, and will soon air a public service awareness [advert] to emphasise that suspected child abuse must be reported and not overlooked, and also familiarise people with the reporting numbers of both the child helpline and police helpline,” stated the ARC spokesperson.

“We have also highlighted that people can maintain anonymity when reporting, which is often one of the reasons people hesitate to report such cases, particularly in a small society like the Maldives.”

High profile cases

Just last week, the Maldives high Court rejected a request to take a local man into custody over the alleged abuse of an 11-year old relative, despite the male suspect having previously been held under house arrest at the same property in which his alleged victim lived.

The Prosecutor General (PG’s) Office confirmed that following a remand hearing on Tuesday (February 5), the suspect had been released from house arrest – with no restrictions placed upon his movement ahead of his unscheduled trial.

The remand hearing took place at a time when the PG’s Office is already facing government criticism for pursuing a case against a 15 year-old minor on charges of having “consensual sexual relations”.

The 15 year-old presently facing charges of having “consensual sexual relations” has also been identified as the victim of child sex abuse in an unrelated criminal case also being pursued by authorities.

The two cases are the latest in a line of high profile sexual abuse trials concerning minors, which have been met with international condemnation.

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Parliament schedules first parliamentary session of 2013 for March 4

Parliament has announced that it will hold the first parliamentary session of the year on March 4.

The session will commence with the annual presidential address as per article 84 of the Constitution, where the President will highlight the state of the country, as well as measures taken to resolve the country’s difficulties.

Last year, the first Majlis opening session ended in turmoil, following rigorous protests by opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs.

A parliament spokesperson said parliament has made all the necessary preparations for the session.

Despite the chaos during the opening of last year’s session, the official said no additional security arrangements are being made.

MDP Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader MP Ali Waheed told local newspaper Haveeru that the parliamentary group had not decided on whether to allow or disallow President Waheed from giving his presidential address.

“We will hold a parliamentary group meeting on March. A decision on the matter will be made on that meeting,” he said.

Waheed was not responding to calls at time of press.

Last year in March, members of MDP parliamentary group sabotaged President Mohamed Waheed’s address, claiming his ascension to power was illegitimate.

The session had to be called off after MPs blocked Speaker of Parliament, Abdulla Shahid, from entering the parliament floor. MPs barricaded the doors and removed chairs intended for the Speaker and President Waheed.

In a press conference that followed, Speaker Shahid said he was unable enter the chamber despite several attempts, and on one occasion had fallen and injured himself.

Given the political tensions at the time, Shahid said he was unable to guarantee the safety of members and had decided to proceed through negotiation, rather than force.

Home Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed condemned the actions of MPs and described the event as a “dark day in constitutional and parliamentary history” of the Maldives, and acknowledged the patience and determination of the security forces in handling the situation.

“Security forces [police and MNDF] handled the situation with great patience and determination. Many officers sustained various degrees of injuries while controlling the protesters,” Jameel said at the time.

However on March 19, 2012 President Waheed gave a shortened speech after several unsuccessful attempts during a heated session. The MDP MPs continued their protests, heckling Waheed and labelling him a ‘traitor’ as he gave the speech.

Several MDP MPs were injured during minor scuffles that broke out in the Majlis chamber as protesters faced expulsion for continuing to block Waheed. MDP party members alleged that the MNDF was responsible, a claim refuted by military officials.

MDP Spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy told Minivan News at the time that the party did not take pride in obstructing parliament, but had felt forced to do so due to its dissatisfaction with the nature of Waheed’s accession to the presidency.

According to parliamentary regulations, the inaugural meeting of parliament’s first session each year should be held either on the first Monday or Thursday of March.

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Civil Court rejects case against Home Minister

The Civil Court has rejected a case accusing Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed of influencing the ongoing trial against former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The case was filed by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Rasheed, however it was rejected by the Civil Court on the grounds that Rasheed had no connection with the case involving the former president at Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court, local media reported.

The case filed by Rasheed against Jameel stated that remarks made by the home minister on January 29 could influence the judges in their ruling against Nasheed, local media reported.

Jameel – who was formerly Justice Minister under Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration – was reported in late January as stating that it was “crucial to conclude the case against Nasheed before the approaching presidential elections, in the interests of the nation and to maintain peace in it.”

He alleged the delay in Nasheed’s prosecution was due to “various reasons”, and would very likely have “adverse effects on the political and social fabric of the nation”.

“If things happen  this way, people will start believing that it was due to the failure to address some issues in the Maldives’ judicial system, which need to be looked into. And in my opinion, the courts will have to take responsibility for this,” Jameel said in an interview with news website Haveeru.

The MDP’s case requested the court to rule that Jameel should not make comments that could influence any ongoing trials.

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