Month: August 2013

Criminal Court cancels hearing into Afrasheem murder after prison authorities fail to produce suspect

The Criminal Court yesterday cancelled a high-profile hearing into the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, after the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) failed to produce the suspect to the court on time.

Minivan News contacted Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed to query about the case, however he had not responded at time of press.

Criminal Court Spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Manik also did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Local media reported they had been unable to clarify as to why he was not produced to court on time. Neither Criminal Court or the DPRS have said anything on the matter so far.

Dr Afrasheem Ali was stabbed to death on the night of October 1, on the staircase of his home.

State prosecutors have accused Hussain Humam, along with Ali Shan – who is also facing the same charges – and a minor identified as ‘Nangi’, of going to the residence of Dr Afrasheem and murdering him with a machete and a bayonet knife.

Humam initially confessed to the murder, but later withdrew his statement claiming it had been extracted under police duress.

During the last hearing, held on July 11, a forensic expert told the judge that one of the DNA samples taken from Humam’s jeans matched a DNA sample taken from Dr Afrasheem.

Humam’s lawyer challenged the forensic evidence, contending that while Dr Afrasheem was murdered between 12:00am to 1:00am on October 1, and Humam was arrested at 1:45am the same night, there was a window for police to put Dr Afrasheem’s DNA sample on Humam’s jeans. and asked the expert if he was able to determine at what time Humam’s jeans received the sample.

The expert stated that Humam’s jeans were received for testing the following day, on October 2.

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Court releases 47 year-old arrested for molesting two minors

The island court of Thimarafushi in Thaa Atoll has released a 47 year-old man arrested on charges of molesting two minors aged 13 and 17.

Police confirmed that the man had been released by the court after he was taken to court for the extension of his detention period

The local media reports state that the 47 year-old man was the manager of the state-owned utilities company, Fenaka, on Guraidhoo in Thaa Atoll.

Newspaper ‘Sun’ Online reported police as telling the paper that the two minors had testified against the accused.

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Four arrested on charges of raping and filming a minor

Police have arrested two minors and two men in connection with the rape and filming of an underage girl in a house in Male’.

In a video interview, Family and Child Protection Department Head, Chief Inspector, Hassan Shifau, said that the incident occurred on July 27. Police were called the same morning at about 12:50am.

Shifau said that when police investigators queried the victim about the incident she said had gone into a house in Male’ to meet a friend, but when she arrived there were three males inside the room waiting for her.

According to Shifau, the victim said the three men inside the room threatened her and forced her to smoke cigarettes, and later forced her to have sex with them and filmed the incident.

Shifau said the girl was taken to hospital after the incident. Police searched the crime scene and collected evidence.

The four were arrested within 72 hours from the time the incident occurred, police added.

Police identified the two men arrested in the case as Ismail Nazim, 27 of Alifushi in Raa Atoll and Asnaf Mohamed, 20 of Fuvamulah.

Shifau appealed to the public to inform police about such crimes as soon as they occurred, stating that it was easier for police to collect evidence and arrest people involved if crimes were reported quickly.

The incident is the third rape to be reported in less than a week.

Police have appealed for public assistance in locating an expat suspected of abducting and raping a 19 year-old girl on Hulhumale on Saturday while she was on her way to an office.

The man allegedly snatched the girl from the street and raped her in some bushes near Reethi Gas Magu Road.

Meanwhile on July 30, police arrested four men and one minor in connection with the gang rape of a 17 year-old girl on the island of Milandhoo in Shaviyani Atoll.

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Leaked recording of Yameen admitting poor election chances a fake: PPM

The Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and its presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen have dismissed as fake a leaked audio clip circulating on social media, in which Yameen admits to a “poor chance” of winning the upcoming 2013 presidential election.

The audio clip appears to be part of a telephone conversation uploaded on video sharing website YouTube, and was picked up by local media today. In the audio, a voice supposedly belonging to Yameen refers to an unnamed political party and concedes that his party does not stand a chance in an election against it.

“2013 [Presidential Election] is something which they already have in their bag. They already have won it. Therefore I don’t think we have a chance of  any success in the 2013 presidential elections. I think we should now focus on 2018 [presidential elections],” the voice states, in the 19 second recording.

Speaking to local media outlet Sun Online, Yameen dismissed the audio clip describing as “completely fake”.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson for PPM’s Presidential Campaign Ibrahim Muaz told Minivan News he believed the clip was most likely to be a “compilation made by mixing several voice clips of Yameen taken from speeches given by him in various press conferences and interviews”.

“The audio clip which has been reported in local media as an audio clip of Yameen is not real,” Muaz said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PleWqNAOCJI

Rise of party’s presidential candidate

Yameen – who is the half brother of Maldives former autocratic ruler for 30 years, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – was made the party’s official presidential candidate after he won the party’s presidential primaries by a landslide victory, defeating his rival Umar Naseer.

Umar Naseer during the primary accused Yameen of involvement in drug trafficking, commissioning gangs to destroy political opponents, and corruption.  Following the defeat Naseer alleged that the PPM’s presidential primary was rigged and that his rival Yameen had intimidated his supporters.

Naseer was subsequently dismissed from the party after he refused to apologise to Yameen for the allegations.

He later joined the ‘Jumhoree Coalition’ led by resort tycoon and Leader of Jumhoree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim – himself a presidential candidate for the forthcoming elections. During Naseer’s maiden speech at the JP podium, he claimed that Yameen was the “root of all the problems” faced in the Maldives.

“The 40,000 illegal immigrants who have entered the country are people brought in under [Yameen’s] nose. People say that there is a connection between Yameen and the illicit drugs that are sold on the streets of Maldives,” Naseer alleged at the time. “If Yameen comes to power, nothing but an empty pit will remain where the country’s safe deposit ought to be.”

Economy and youth

Meanwhile Yameen launched his presidential bid primarily on the “economy” and the “youth”. He claimed that a future government led by him would focus on securing foreign investment and the creation of job opportunities for young people.

“Given the current economic situation, local businessmen alone cannot create enough job opportunities. We must welcome foreign investors for the benefit of our nation,” he said at the time.

Yameen also announced that should he be sworn in as president, he would initiate an expedition to find oil within the Maldives.

“It is very possible oil might be found,” he declared.

Money laundering racket

In 2011, Singaporean police reportedly investigated Yameen for alleged involvement in an international money laundering racket thought to be worth up to US$800 million.

The oil trade first came into the limelight following an explosive article in India’s The Week magazine by Sumon K Chakrabarti, Chief National Correspondent of CNN-IBN, which accused Yameen –who was the head of State Trading Organisation (STO) at the time –  of being “the kingpin” of a scheme to buy subsidised oil through the State Trading Organisation’s branch in Singapore and sell it on through an entity called ‘Mocom Trading’ to the Burmese military junta, at a black market premium.

“The Maldives receives subsidised oil from OPEC nations, thanks to its 100 percent Sunni Muslim population. The Gayooms bought oil, saying it was for the Maldives, and sold it to Myanmar on the international black market. As Myanmar is facing international sanctions, the junta secretly sold the Burmese and ‘Maldivian’ oil to certain Asian countries, including a wannabe superpower,” Chakrabarti wrote.

The article drew heavily on the investigation report by Grant Thorton, commissioned by the Maldives government in March 2010, which obtained three hard drives containing financial information detailing transactions from 2002 to 2008. No digital data was available before 2002, and the paper trail “was hazy”.

According to The Week, Grant Thorton’s report identifies Myanmar businessman and head of the Kanbawza Bank and Kanbawza Football Club, Aung Ko Win, as the middleman acting between the Maldivian connection and Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, then the second highest-ranking member of the Burmese junta.

Yameen has previously dismissed the allegations as baseless and unfounded.

Besides Yameen and Gasim, incumbent President Mohamed Waheed and former President Mohamed Nasheed are also contesting the election on September 7.

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India needs Nasheed win in September: First Post

India may pat itself on the back as former President of Maldives Mohammed Nasheed has been confirmed as a candidate in the 7 September presidential elections by the Election Commission of Maldives, writes Rajeev Sharma for First Post.

Nasheed came calling in New Delhi this week on a two-pronged mission: (i) to thank his Indian friends without whose support he won’t have made it to the Presidential race; and (ii) to once again sensitise his Indian interlocutors to prevent “many a slip between the cup and the lip” kind of situation in his case.

Let’s be clear about Nasheed’s India mission.

He was here primarily centered on the ‘take’ part as he is not in a position to ‘give’ anything to India. His ‘give’ quotient, however, should not be underestimated as the first concrete deliverable he can give to India, particularly to the poll-bound UPA government, is to reverse the executive decision of the Maldives government to terminate the US$500 million GMR contract for the development and upgrade of the Male International Airport, the single largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Maldives ever got.

The GMR deal continues to be the single biggest obsession for the Congress-led UPA government, which if reversed, will inevitably yield the necessary electoral fire-power to the present Indian government. Such a development will allow the UPA government to tell the foreign policy-savvy electorate (though a small number) that Maldives is not lost to India!

Read more

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Met Office issues weather warning, advises against sea travel for next 24 hours

The Maldives Department of Meteorology (Met Office) has issued a ‘yellow warning’ advising the public against travelling by sea where possible, due to concerns about adverse weather conditions expected across the country for at least the next 24 hours.

The notice, posted on the Met Office website, stated that showers and thunderstorms were expected throughout the day – with average wind speeds of between 30 to 37 miles per hour. Stronger winds are also predicted as between Lhaviyani Atoll and Thaa Atoll, according to authorities.

With the Met Office predicting wind speeds could reach up to 55 miles per hour in parts of the country over the next 24 hours, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has urged anyone considering sea travel to notify the coastguard before embarking on their journey.

MNDF Spokesperson Colonel Abdul Raheem today told Minivan News that authorities had not been notified of any major incidents at sea resulting from the current weather conditions. However, Colonel Raheem urged everyone travelling by boat to take precautions nonetheless.

“We would ask anyone planning on travelling to check conditions with the coast guard as the sea is rough right now,” he added.

The MNDF Coast Guard has also encouraged members of the public to contact its toll-free number by calling 191 to get more information on suitable times for their journey.

Authorities have previously requested that vessels also contact the coastguard when embarking or returning from longer distance journeys during adverse weather conditions.

Local media reported that the MNDF has asked the public to pay attention to ensure cargo ships carry lighter loads under the current conditions, while checking vessels are equipped with sufficient life jackets and drainage facilities.

Met Office spokesperson Hussein Waheed was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

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JSC lifts suspension of magistrate for Villingili, Gaaf Alif Atoll

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has lifted its indefinite suspension of the magistrate of Villingili Court in Gaaf Alif Atoll, almost four years since his suspension over alleged corruption.

According to local media, Magistrate Hassan Najeeb was indefinitely suspended in November 2009 after he was prosecuted for embezzlement of state funds.

Najeeb had allegedly approved payments for a set of bills submitted by three people for ferry trips between Villingili Island and Dhevvadhoo Island, which later turned out to be fake.

The JSC claimed on Sunday that the suspension was lifted after the High Court upheld the not-guilty verdict issued by the Criminal Court. It also claimed that the Prosecutor General had decided not to appeal the High Court decision in the Supreme Court.

Suspended judges

Currently, Chief Judge of the High Court Ahmed Shareef and Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baari Yusuf are serving indefinite suspensions issued by the state’s judicial watchdog.

Chief Judge Shareef was indefinitely suspended over a complaint filed against him a year ago. The suspension coincided with the Chief Judge’s decision to temporarily suspend the appeal case of former President Mohamed Nasheed – who is currently campaigning for re-election as the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s presidential candidate.

JSC Chair and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed in a press conference held to announce that decision claimed the suspension was a “precautionary” measure while investigation of the complaint was proceeding.

“There are no legal grounds to stop looking into a complaint submitted [to the commission] or halt proceedings,” he said at the time.

The Chief Judge’s legal team subsequently challenged the JSC’s decision in the Civil Court, claiming that the decision contrasted with existing laws and had undermined the independence that a judge required in executing his legal duties.

Chief Judge Shareef’s lawyer Husnu Al Suood – who is currently the President of Maldives Bar Association and a former Attorney General – also pleaded the court to issue an injunction halting his suspension.

The Civil Court gave the injunction on July 11, ordering the JSC not to take any action against the suspended Chief Judge until it decided on the legality of his suspension.

Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baari Yusuf was meanwhile suspended by the JSC in February following a case filed by a female lawyer from the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office, who alleged Baari Yoosuf had sexually assaulted her.

More recently, the JSC decided not to suspend Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed, who is currently under both police and JSC investigation following the circulation of sex videos apparently depicting the judge fornicating with unidentified foreign women.

Four members of the JSC voted in support of a motion to not suspend the Supreme Court Justice, due to “lack of evidence”.

Then JSC members including Gasim Ibrahim – the presidential candidate of the Jumhoree Party (JP) – and Attorney General Azima Shukoor raised doubts over the accuracy of the claims, in which Gasim contended that the sex-tape was “fake” while Shukoor maintained the case “needed more details”.

Following the inconsistencies within the JSC, commission member Shuaib Abdul Rahmaan alleged the JSC was discriminating between lower court judges and higher court judges and blasted the commission’s lack of consistency.

The country’s judiciary is currently being subjected to questions over its lack of impartiality and failure to deliver justice. A substantial amount of criticism is being levied against the JSC, which is mandated to oversee the functioning of the judiciary.

Several international experts and organisations including the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) have expressed concern over the state of the judiciary and the JSC.

In February 2011, the ICJ claimed that the Maldives legal system is failing to serve its citizens despite many “positive developments” that have been made in an effort to de-politicise the courts, with many judges found to be lacking qualifications and independence.

Former director of the ICJ’s Asia Pacific operation’s Roger Normand at the time said he did not believe that the Maldives had an “independent judiciary capable of resolving problems”.

A similar report by Professor Paul H Robinson observed that “persons with little or no legal training can hardly be expected to know how to conduct a fair and effective trial.”

“Serious efforts must be made to provide substantial training to current judges in order to insure that all have the background they need in both law and Sharia. Perhaps more importantly, no judge should be hired who does not already have the needed training,” he wrote.

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No extension of August 7 voter re-registration deadline: Elections Commission

The Elections Commission has ruled out any extension of the August 7 deadline for voters to re-register at a polling station other than their permanent residence.

Re-registration is necessary for those intending to vote at a polling station other than that listed with the Elections Commission (EC), such as a worker based on a resort island or student in Male.
Registration can be easily checked using a national ID number and the EC’s 1414 SMS system (text 1414 in the format ‘VIS [National ID #]’.

Registration details can also be determined online for Maldivian nationals overseas.

According to the commission, 40,000 of the 65,000 voters expected to re-register have done so with just two days left for the remaining 25,000.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek told local media the commission had received many requests to extend the deadline, but said the EC needed time to prepare the lists.

“Many re-registration forms will come in on the last day. That’s something we know from experience,” Thowfeek told Haveeru.

Minivan News reported last week reported low rates of re-registration among Maldivians overseas, with several polling stations such as the UK and Delhi in danger of not reaching the minimum 100 registrations needed for votes to be valid.

The EC has declared that 240,302 voters are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, 31,008 more than the number of eligible voters in the 2008 presidential elections (209,294). Voter turnout in the 2008 elections was 85 percent in the first round, and 86 percent in the second round.

Check the voter registry and registered place of voting

Download registration form (Dhivehi)

In the Maldives? Check your details via SMS

To check where/if you are registered to vote, SMS 1414 ‘VIS(space)(National ID#)’

To check political party registration, SMS 1414 ‘PPR(space)(National ID#)’

Elections Commission hotline: 1414

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Police arrest man for sexual abuse of two minors

Police have arrested a 47 year-old on multiple charges of sexual abuse against two minors over several days on Guraidhoo in Thaa Atoll.

Police said the man was arrested last night at around 9:30pm, under an arrest warrant.

According to the police investigation, the man was alleged to have been sexually abusing two girls aged 17 and 13 years-old.

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