Day: December 4, 2013

Lieutenant Colonel Zubair “forced” to retire from MNDF

A high ranking Maldives National Defense Forces (MNDF) officer has said he was forced to retire from service yesterday.

Lieutenant Colonel Zubair Ahmed who had served in the military for 34 years told opposition aligned private broadcaster Raajje TV he had been “given no choice” but to resign.

An army officer summoned Zubair and told him if he did not resign of his own volition he would be dismissed, Zubair said.

Last week the MNDF dismissed nine senior officers in an ongoing firing spree claiming the nine had violated MNDF’s regulations and sowed discord within the military

According to Zubair, the army officer further said the military was reducing staff and Zubair was among the soldiers the military wanted to dismiss. Zubair said he wanted to remain in service, but believed the best option was to retire with the ensuing benefits.

MNDF Spokesperson Major Hussain Ali rejected Zubair’s claims, telling local media that Zubair had submitted a letter of resignation of his own volition.

Zubair is uncle to ousted President Mohamed Nasheed.

Colonel Ahmed Jihad who had served in the military for 31 years also retired with honors yesterday. Jihad is husband of Nasheed’s Education Minister Shifa Mohamed.

The military on Tuesday also announced a recruitment drive for an unspecified number of soldiers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense had threatened to take action against any media outlets that criticized its “routine” disciplinary actions against soldiers who violate the law.

The Maldives Media Council (MMC) and Maldives Broadcasting Commission have expressed concern over the Defense Ministry’s statement and said it is the MMC and MBC who are authorized to investigate and penalize the media.

Dissent within the military ranks grew in the last days of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s government, with the Supreme Court’s annulment of  and order to delay presidential polls.

A letter signed by 17 high-ranking officers – which expressed concern over possible repercussions in the absence of a president elect by the end of the presidential term on November 11 – was leaked on social media.

Several officers were suspended, demoted and transferred following the letter and the MNDF amended its regulations to punish any soldier who “incited upheaval and chaos.”

In mid-November, 73 mid-ranking officers circulated an appeal calling on fellow soldiers not to obey any “unlawful” orders issued by President Waheed or his political appointees.

Former Brigadier General Ahmed Nilam has told local media that his dismissal was “irresponsible and prejudiced” and said he will appeal the case through the courts.

The opportunity to establish democracy as per the 2008 constitution was “fraying and unraveling,” Nilam said.

Reappointed Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim has unveiled a new strategic action plan, pledging to strengthen the national security framework, establish a welfare system that does not rely on the state budget, develop infrastructure to enhance soldier’s living and working conditions and expand education and training facilities to further professionalise the army.

President Abdulla Yameen has reappointed State Minister of Defense Mohamed Muizz Adnan to his post today.

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Parliament to review constitutional amendment regarding religion

An amendment seeking to inhibit parliament’s scope to change the constitutional guarantee of Islam as the Maldivian state religion has been accepted by the parliament.

The proposal was submitted by Maldivian Development Alliance (MDA) MP Ahmed Amir, who argued that the relevant clauses must be protected from the legislature.

“I find it very disturbing that the constitutional requirement of holy Islam staying as the religion of the state is subject to being changed just by the parliament if they so wish. And thereby, with the belief that changing it so that MPs alone cannot bring any changes to this article will bring peace to the minds of the parliamentarians, I have taken the initiative to propose this,” he said.

Following heated arguments for and against the amendment, parliament voted to accept the bill after 29 members in attendance voted for, 13 voted against, and 6 abstained.

The proposed amendment asks for Article 10 to be included as the first point in Article 262(b) of the Constitution of the Maldives.

Article 10 states that “(a) The religion of the State of the Maldives is Islam. Islam shall be the one of the basis of all the laws of the Maldives” and “(b) No law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives”.

Article 262 (b) states that the president must accept any constitutional amendments made by the Majlis after a public referendum.

“Even if one citizen does not want to allow other religions, it must remain so”: MP Amir

“The rhetoric that this bill calls for a public referendum where citizens are to be asked whether or not they want Islam to be here is, I believe, a further attempt to create resentment and dishearten people through misinformation,” he alleged.

“The best way that an amendment like this can be framed, even I believe, is to ensure that once it is reviewed in committee stage, it comes out in such a way that this article is made strong enough to not allow any changes to it at all as long as there is even one single citizen in the country who wishes it to remain the same, without allowing other religions,” he continued.

“Even we are aware that it is not necessary to include Islam in this, our constitution. Islam itself has given us a divine law to follow. As long as we are abiding by this divine law, there is in reality no need for it to be included in our man-made laws,” Amir said.

“However, because there is a fear that such an article in our constitution may be tampered with, we are obligated to protect it,” he stated.

“Instead of a referendum, mandate Supreme Court approval”: MP Muhthalib

Some of the MPs stated that while they supported the intentions behind its submission, they would choose to bring ‘minor changes’ to the proposed implementation.

Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Ibrahim Muhthalib stated that, “As things are in this world today, if even 50 people vote to say they want to adopt a religion other than Islam, foreign governments will back them up and soon start advocating for these people’s rights. They will then start harassing us. They will interfere with the internal matters of this country.”

“My suggestion is that instead of a public referendum, we change the amendment to read that such a change cannot be brought about unless it is passed by the parliament, then approved by the seven judges sitting on the Supreme Court bench, and after which it will still need to be ratified by the president,” he proposed.

“Then, god willing, there is no way that it can ever be changed. My wish is that the amendment is passed in such a way that neither Article 9 or 10 can ever be changed, even by any future parliament,” he said.

Article 9 concerns the qualifications for citizenship, which includes a clause stating that non-Muslims cannot become citizens of the Maldives.

Opposing the amendment

According to some other MPs, Article 10 of the Constitution cannot be amended or debated anywhere, including the parliament floor. Many added that they did not believe the article could be changed even after a public referendum.

Some MPs claimed that if the current parliament was to amend the article, there might be a time in the future when another composition of MPs decide to annul it altogether, insisting it was inadvisable to begin something that may lead to “serious unpredictable implications” in future.

MDP MP Ali Waheed was removed from the premises after he protested against the holding of a debate on the amendment, claiming “while there is life in this body, and I am sitting here in parliament, I will not allow such a debate to be carried out here.”

After initially taking up procedural points, he later stood in front of the speaker’s seat to express disapproval until the speaker ordered the Sergeant at Arms to remove him from the premises.

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President Yameen to depart on “private visit” to Singapore tonight

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom will depart to Singapore on a private visit tonight, local media has reported.

Officials from the President’s Office said the visit will be short, but declined to reveal when Yameen is expected to return.

Yameen will depart to India on December 22 on the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

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Condition of five Maldivians injured in India improving

The condition of five Maldivians injured in an accident while en route to Trivandrum from Agra, India is now improving reports local media.

According to local newspapers, the five Maldivians were traveling in a bus after visiting the Taj Mahal when it crashed into a gas tractor.

The Indian tour agent of the Maldivian family died in the accident.

The newspapers reported that they were all severely injured in the accident and required financial assistance to transfer them to a Trivandrum hospital in order to provide treatment under the ‘Asandha’ health insurance scheme.

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40 Somali castaways sent back home after four years

Police have said that 40 Somali castaways that were found in the Maldivian EEZ on different occasions since December 2009 have been sent back to their country.

The police said that all these people were accommodated in Dhoonidhoo Police Custodial remand centre under police charge during their time in the Maldives.

Police said that the Somalis were successfully sent back after cooperation between the government and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

A joint operation was conducted with police Serious and Organized Crime Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Aviation Security to send them back, police said.

According to police, the Somalis were sent in a chartered flight and were accompanied with security officers.

The police said that the 40 Somalis included seven castaways rescued on December 2009, another five castaways rescued in the same month.

In 2010, authorities rescued seven Somali nationals on May 26, six were rescued on June 5, two on July 2, seven on November 28. Three more were rescued on 30 November 2010 and another three castaways rescued on December 2011.

In March 2012, a then-senior government official told Minivan News that the castaways under the custody of Maldivian authorities had refused to return home despite arrangements that were made for their safe repatriation.

According to the government official, who spoke to Minivan News on condition of total anonymity, the government had devoted “immeasurable amount of time and effort” over the past three years to safely repatriate several Somali nationals who have been discovered in Maldivian waters in dinghies lost at sea.

A delegation from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) delegation arrived in the Maldives in 2012 to confirm the Somali’s preferences as no refugee can be repatriated without consent under the international conventions.

The Maldives cannot resort to the option of forced repatriation as Somalia is recognised as an unsafe state.

Maldives has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol citing “financial and technical capacity constraints” but the convention prohibits all states, regardless of whether they have acceded it, from returning a “refugee to a territory where his or her life or freedom is threatened”.

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Supreme Court Judge’s sex-tape probe stalled as Criminal Court fails to provide warrants

The police have been unable to proceed with the investigation into the alleged sex-tape scandal of the Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed, after the  Criminal Court failed to respond to police requests for warrants, reports local newspaper Haveeru.

An official from the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) – which is constitutionally mandated to oversee the judiciary – was quoted in the paper as stating that it had received a letter from the police noting that the Criminal Court’s failure to respond to requests for two warrants – made three months ago – had forced them to halt the investigation.

According to the unnamed official, the warrants sought by the police included authorisation for the police to take a facial photograph of Judge Hameed for comparative analysis with the videos relating to him, and a second warrant requesting the court’s permission to search his residence.

In a bid to verify the claim, Minivan News contacted the Criminal Court’s Media Official Mohamed Manik. When asked about the case, Manik told Minivan News that he would call back after reading the Haveeru article, though he not responding to further calls at the time of press.

Spy-cam footage allegedly depicting the Supreme Court Judge indulging in different sexual acts with multiple foreign women surfaced on local media last July.

The case rose to prominence once more after the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the first round of the presidential elections in October. Images and symbols depicting scenes from the sex-tape formed a prominent part of protests against the court’s repeated interference in the election.

The videos appeared shortly after a film – also involving Judge Hameed – began circulating on social media in which the Supreme Court Judge appeared to be discussing political influence in the judiciary with a local businessman.

The videos came after the arrest of Ahmed Faiz – a council member of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP) and the then-Project Advisor at the Housing Ministry – while he was allegedly trying to sell a sex-tape of the judge.

The public circulation of the videos and widespread media coverage on the scandal prompted both a police and a JSC investigation into the matter.

The then-Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has previously confirmed to local media that the police had been probing the case.

Police subsequently summoned Judge Hameed for questioning in the same month as part of its investigation into the video.

“We are currently investigating two cases concerning the video. One is the case of those who had been using the video to blackmail the people in it, and the other concerns the content of the video,” the spokesperson said at the time.

However, apart from the summoning the police remained largely silent on the matter.

The JSC – whose mandate includes looking into the disciplinary issues and ethical conduct of Judges – also formulated a five member sub-committee to probe into the matter.

The initial members of the committee included JSC Vice-Chair Abdulla Didi, commission members Latheefa Gasim, Ahmed Rasheed and two lawyers outside the JSC – Mohamed Anil and Hussain Siraj.

However, following Anil’s appointment to cabinet as the new Attorney General, he was promptly replaced by veteran lawyer and President of Maldives Bar Association Husnu Al Suood.

Minivan News attempted to contact Police Media officials and the JSC Spokesperson but they were not responding to calls at time of press.

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Fairoosh removed from Head of Police Intelligence

Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdulla Fairoosh has been removed from his position as head of the police’s intelligence directorate.

The dismissal is part of a “routine” change to police management, police told local media.

Fairoosh has been transferred to the position of Head of the Services Development Directorate. Fairoosh held the position of acting Commissioner of Police until a new CP was appointed in the aftermath of the ousting of former President Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Ahmed Areef is now the head of intelligence.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Department Chief Superintendent Mohamed Riyaz has been dismissed from his position and transferred to the Divisional Operation Command.

The head of intelligence under Mohamed Nasheed, Mohamed ‘MC’ Hameed, was removed from his position after Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan assumed the presidency.

He was then dismissed from the Police Services in August 2012, but the Civil Court ordered reinstatement in September this year. The police have said they will appeal the Civil Court verdict.

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Supreme Court accepts case to disqualify MP Thasmeen

The Supreme Court has accepted a case filed by Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) council member and prominent lawyer Mohamed ‘Wadde’ Waheed regarding the disqualification of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader and MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali from parliament.

Waheed claims Thasmeen had not paid back a MVR 1.9million (US$124,513) loan to Parliament Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim in accordance with a Civil Court ruling.

The Civil Court ruling required the repayment of MVR320,000 (US$20,779) each month for six consecutive months to clear the debt by April 2012, but Thasmeen only settled the debt in July 2012 after the High Court upheld the Civil Court’s ruling.

The Supreme Court in October stripped opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ali Azim and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Mohamed Nashiz over decreed debt. The pair were guarantors for five credit facilities worth MVR117 million (US$9 million) issued to Funadoo Tuna Products by the Bank of Maldives (BML).

The Civil Court in 2012 authorised BML to seize the assets mortgaged for the loans, which included Funadoo island, a yacht, and the Reethi Beach Resort following non-payment of the loan.

Supreme Court Justices Abdulla Saeed, Adam Mohamed Abdulla, Ali Hameed Mohamed and Dr Ahmed Abdulla Didi voted to strip Azim and Nashiz of their seats citing Article 73(c) of the constitution which states: “A person shall be disqualified from election as, a member of the People’s Majlis, or a member of the People’s Majlis immediately becomes disqualified, if he has a decreed debt which is not being paid as provided in the judgment.”

However, Chief Justice Faiz and Justice Abdulla Areef ruled that the guarantors would only have to bear responsibility if the debt could not be settled by selling the mortgaged assets.

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PPM allocates JP 30 parliament seats in upcoming race: media reports

The Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has allocated coalition partner Jumhooree Party (JP) 30 of the 85 parliament seats for May’s parliamentary elections, local media have reported.

According to Raajje TV and Channel News Maldives (CNM), leaders of the the two parties in a meeting on Sunday night agreed that the PPM will support any candidate put forth by the JP for 30 constituencies. The parties have not yet decided on the specific constituencies.

The PPM won the second round of the presidential elections held on November 16 with the JP’s backing. PPM offered JP 33 percent of government and a reported 35 percent of seats in local council and parliamentary elections.

On November 26, JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim stated in a party rally that they had sent a letter to the PPM’s leader and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom asking for clarification of which constituencies the party can contest in for the local council election.

Gasim had further said then that the government had thus far failed to allocate the promised state positions to the party, adding that he believed this could be due to the government being “hectically engaged in other governance matters”.

He said that in addition to parliament and local council seats, the party had asked the PPM leader about what other state positions would be granted to them.

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