Day: February 17, 2014

Supreme Court uses Majlis testimony in EC contempt trial

Elections Commission (EC) testimony given during a People’s Majlis committee has been used in today’s Supreme Court trial to implicate the four commission members for contempt of court and disobedience to order.

The Supreme Court is prosecuting the EC under new ‘Sumoto’ or ‘Suo motu’ regulations that allow the apex court to initiate hearings and act as both plaintiff and judge in a trial.

Article 90 of the constitution says no person will be subject to any inquiry, arrest, detention, or prosecution with respect to anything said in the People’s Majlis or any of its committees if such a statement is not contrary to tenet of Islam.

But, claiming establishing justice to be a tenet of Islam, Supreme Court Judge Ahmed Abdulla Didi today said the EC’s testimony at the independent commissions oversight committee obstructed justice and could be used in a court.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek has denied the charges against the commission: “Testimony provided at the People’s Majlis committee was not given to hold the court in contempt, but to be held accountable to the EC’s actions – these testimonies are privileged information.”

The Supreme Court has said that no party has the authority to question or criticise its decisions as per Article 145 (c) of the constitution which states that the Supreme Court shall be the final authority on the interpretation of the constitution, the law, or any other matter dealt with by a court of law.

The Supreme Court has accused the EC of contempt, claiming it had criticised the verdict which annulled the first round of presidential elections held in September 2013, as well as disobeying a Supreme Court order by dissolving eight political parties earlier this month.

Surprise Trial

The four members of the EC were summoned to an unannounced trial on Wednesday. After being given case documents just minutes before the trial began, the commission was granted an opportunity to respond today.

Case documents included newspaper articles and testimonies provided at the Majlis, but did not include any documents outlining specific charges. The charge sheet was handed to the commission only minutes before today’s trial began.

At today’s hearing, EC lawyer Hussein Siraj asked the Supreme Court to specify charges, arguing that the commission could only respond if the court clarified which statement made – at which location, time, and date – amounted to contempt of court.

Siraj also asked the court to specify which of the commission’s actions constituted a disobedience to which order.

Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz then asked Siraj to respond to the charges to the extent that he understood them.

After a short break, all four members returned to the court room and separately denied the charges.

At today’s hearing, judges accused the EC of administrative failures and irresponsibility. They said the EC does not have the authority to raise doubts regarding the court’s decisions or to complain over the practicality of the electoral guideline.

Judge Abdulla Saeed also questioned whether the EC was now a legal entity, claiming the constitution stipulated that the committee must hold five members instead of four. The fifth member of the commission – ‘Ogaru’ Ibrahim Waheed – resigned in October 2013, citing health complications.

Four of the five judges who presided over today’s hearing are the four judges who voted to annul the election in October and strip two MPs of their Majlis membership in November. Among these four is Ali Hameed who has been implicated in a series of sex tapes last year.

EC response

Denying charges, Fuwad said any response given to questions posed by MPs in the People’s Majlis is privileged information. The EC is constitutionally bound to answer such questions, he said.

Vice President Ahmed Fayaz said there were only two things Muslims cannot challenge – the Qur’an and Prophet Mohamed’s Sunnah. Fayaz said he had not disobeyed the Supreme Court’s decisions, but had spoken to the media regarding the implications or outcomes of the court’s verdicts.

Meanwhile, Ali Mohamed Manik said the commission must answer questions posed by the media in order to be accountable to the public and said he was ready to swear on Allah’s name that he had not disobeyed a Supreme Court order.

Member Mohamed Farooq said he had never spoken to the media at a press conference because he had seen many individuals being prosecuted for speaking the truth before

“There are people ready to sacrifice themselves for democracy and freedom. I am not one of them,” he said.

However, he said he was obliged to provide truthful testimony at the People’s Majlis and that such a testimony must be held within the four walls of the parliament.

Contempt of court

Judge Didi said that labelling the Supreme Court’s electoral guideline to be onerous or suggesting a Supreme Court verdict should not be obeyed amounted to contempt of court.

Didi said the Supreme Court had in its possession a letter sent by the EC to the Attorney General (AG) “complaining” of the difficulties in implementing the court’s guidelines, and asking for advice on whether to abide by them.

Judge Ali Hameed said the EC had no authority to seek a second opinion on a Supreme Court verdict.

Judge Abdulla Saeed said the Supreme Court’s verdict could not be questioned, as it is the last word on any issue.  He said the Supreme Court’s verdicts are similar to a law passed by the People’s Majlis and members of the public cannot disobey or complain about the law.

The letter to the AG questioned the Supreme Court’s mandate in issuing a guideline, Saeed said. The guideline was imposed to uphold the constitution and enhance the electoral process, he claimed.

Fuwad said the EC had asked the AG for advice with good intentions and maintained the commission had always abided by the Supreme Court’s decisions. He pointed out laws are subject to review and argued Supreme Court decisions can be revised.

Saeed also censured the EC’s criticism of the evidence used by the Supreme Court to annul the verdict. In response, Fuwad said there were “glaring irregularities” in the police forensic report used to invalidate the election.

Analysis of the report showed that voters listed as dead were in fact alive and voters listed as minors were in fact eligible. But Saeed said the Supreme Court had also relied on witness statements in issuing the verdict.

The UN has dismissed the police forensic report after conducting an expert review with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco stating that the election was inclusive and met international standards.

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Observer Group who monitored all rounds of the presidential election said the Supreme Court guideline “appeared to undermine the authority of the Election Commission, were inconsistent with or contrary to electoral law, and were at odds with the Constitution,”

Dissolution of political parties

The EC is also being charged with violating a January 9 Supreme Court order, which invalidated an EC order to smaller political parties requiring them to raise their membership to 10,000.

The EC had sent the letter as per Article 27 of the Political Party Act that states that it must give political parties a three-month deadline to increase party membership to 10,000.

The Supreme Court on January 9, however, ruled that the letter was invalid as the apex court had in September struck down Article 11 of the act, which states that a political party must have 10,000 members for registration. The Supreme Court then stated that the EC must consider minimum requirement for membership to be 3,000 members as per previous political party regulations.

The Supreme Court today said any article referring to 10,000 members was no longer functional with the invalidation of Article 11.

Judge Adam Mohamed repeatedly questioned the EC over whether any court order or verdict allowed them to dissolve any party with less than 3000 members.

EC members argued the Supreme Court had not expressly forbidden the dissolution of political parties with membership less than 3,000 in any verdict or order, arguing that the Political Party Act afforded the EC the authority to dissolve political parties.

Manik said the EC had not dissolved any party with membership higher than 3,000. Some parties among the eight dissolved did not even have 500 or 600 members, and had not submitted audit or annual reports and were a financial drain on the state’s resources, he said.

Manik also pointed out none of the annulled parties had complained over the commission’s decision.

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President and cabinet members on scoresheet at opening of football pitch

A team including cabinet members and President Abdulla Yameen last night beat a team of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officials in a match held to inaugurate the opening of the Villimalé futsal pitch.

Chief of Defense Force Major General Ahmed Shiyam, and Managing Director of the State Trading Organisation Adam Azim officially handed over the pitch to the Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal before the game began.

Local media reported the final score as being 7-6 to the president’s team, with Home Minister Umar Naseer being named man of the match.

Naseer, President Yameen, and Tourism Minister were all on the scoresheet. The attorney general sustained a suspected sprained ankle in the second half, being replaced by the fisheries minister.

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JSC president attempts to remove parliament’s representative

President of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has attempted to remove the parliament’s representative – Bileiydhoo MP Ahmed Hamza – from the commission.

In a letter sent separately to MP Hamza and the President Abdulla Yameen, Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed stated that Hamza is no longer a member of JSC as he is running for parliament.

Commenting on the attempt to remove him, Hamza said that the decision was unlawful and unwarranted.

“For one thing, I believe it is an incorrect interpretation [of the JSC Act]. And the president of the commission cannot make such a decision sending a letter by himself,” Hamza said.

Article 10 of the JSC Act states that the post of a commission member shall be deemed vacant if a member is “contesting for a political
position elected under the constitution or a law”.

However, Article 14 (a) of the Act states that certain appointments to the commission, including the representative appointed by the parliament, can only be removed from office by the appointer – in this case, the People’s Majlis.

Stating that Article 10 of the act is not a general statement, he said that if the JSC president’s interpretation is to be followed, the Majlis speaker’s seat would also be vacant.

“There seems to be a contradiction, I believe parliament members or the speaker running for the parliament shall be an exception [under article 10]. Otherwise it creates a legal vacuum,” he said.

Following his decision to remove the MP, Judge Adam Mohamed today asked for the removal of Hamza from a JSC meeting. When Hamza refused to leave, the JSC member representing the public -Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman – proposed a motion requesting that no meetings be held until the matter had been settled. The motion was passed and the commission is expected to meet within the week.

Rahman has also criticised the JSC president’s decision:

“It is not his [Adam Mohamed’s] mandate, and it goes against article 20 [of the JSC Act]. He may have discussed it with certain members on the phone, but it should be decided by the commission.”

Accusing Judge Adam of trying to control all affairs of the commission, Rahman said that the judge “withholds any agenda item he wants, and prioritises and postpone cases at whim” – an accusation frequently made by former presidential appointment to commission Aishath Velezinee.

Rahman said that Judge Adam had sped up some cases and held back others without any regard to the urgency or importance of the matter in question.

The public’s member on the commission unsuccessfully attempted to file a no-confidence motion against Adam last August, later alleging that the commission’s president had refused to table the issue during meetings.

Rahman has accused Judge Adam of being responsible for the judicial watchdog‘s “state of limbo”, accusing him of failing to back the JSC’s investigation of Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed’s sex-tape scandal, and abusing power to release press statements on behalf of the commission.

MP Hamza today said that Judge Adam had not taken such an action in previous cases where questions had arisen regarding the validity of JSC membership.

“Even in Gasim Ibrahim’s case [when he ran for President while still as parliament’s representative at JSC], he did not act like this. Gasim stepped down by himself,” said Hamza.

Hamza was appointed to the commission in October, being approved after the narrow rejection of Jumhooree Party MP Ilham Ahmed.

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IMF delegation surprised by resilience of Maldivian economy

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed surprise at the “resilience” of the Maldivian economy in a meeting with MPs on the parliament’s public finance committee yesterday.

Dr Koshy Mathai, resident representative to Sri Lanka and Maldives, told MPs that the IMF was surprised that the economy has stayed afloat for years despite longstanding fiscal imbalances.

“For a long time we’ve been saying that reserves at the MMA [Maldives Monetary Authority] are very low and that the fiscal deficit is quite difficult and we expect the economy to run into some problems. But somehow the economy has shown resilience, a lot of resilience, and we’ve been surprised – happily surprised but surprised nonetheless,” he said.

The IMF was interested in “carefully studying” how the domestic economy has remained resilient in the face of soaring public debt and persisting budget deficits, Mathai said.

“Imports are on the shelf. If you go into a shop, you’ll find a wide range of imported goods there. You see people with motor scooters and cars and smartphones. You see people going on travel. All these are available, are done, even while the level of reserves at the MMA is quite low,” he observed.

In attendance at yesterday’s meeting were the committee’s chair, MP Abdulla Jabir, and MPs Abdul Ghafoor Moosa and Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed.

As the IMF delegation currently in the Maldives was on “fact-finding” or “exploratory mode” ahead of the organisation’s article IV consultation later this year, Mathai told the MPs that the team did not have “comprehensive policy recommendations” to share.

Fiscal consolidation

“One area where we have more clear ideas is an area where we’ve had discussions in the past, and that’s the need for fiscal consolidation,” Mathai continued.

Noting that “fiscal problems have been at the root of so many crises” in countries large and small, Mathai said that the the Maldives had “a government budget envelop that is very difficult to finance.”

“The deficit is quite large. Financing is difficult to find. Banks are not that willing to subscribe to treasury bills. We see treasury bill yields rising quite sharply. MMA external financing is difficult to mobilise as you all know. We’re left then with MMA printing money in order to finance expenditures,” he explained.

A second option was “running up arrears, unpaid bills to domestic suppliers,” he added.

Both methods posed serious challenges, Mathai continued, as the government’s failure to pay its bills “creates ripples effects throughout the entire economy.”

Moreover, printing money to finance deficit spending “puts a lot of pressure on prices” and central bank reserves, he said.

“Because in a small country like the Maldives, when the MMA prints money, that is an injection of purchasing power into the economy, it means more people can import things,” Mathai said.

Printing money therefore “creates increased demand for dollars, increased imports, pressure on reserves,” he noted.

“As I said, the system seems to work. The parallel market somehow is letting the economy work,” he observed.

Solutions

As new sources of financing the budget were not available in the short-term, Mathai suggested targeting subsidies to the poor and increasing tourism taxes.

“The electricity subsidy is one that goes to even the richest strata of society. Basic food subsidies are being enjoyed now by the resorts, and never mind the resorts, are being enjoyed by wealthy foreign visitors who stay at the resorts. That to us seems like a totally unnecessary policy,” he said.

He added that “substantial savings” could be made from the budget by targeting subsidies to those most in need of assistance.

Mathai also argued that the rates of taxation in the tourism sector were “quite low” compared to other tourist destinations.

Mathai said he paid “north of 20 percent” in taxes at a hotel in Fiji while the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (T-GST) in the Maldives was only recently raised to 12 percent.

It would not be “a tax on business” that would slow down the economy, Mathai added.

“Rather it is saying people are coming and enjoying all that the Maldives has to offer, so let them pay something for it,” he said.

As 70 to 80 percent of the Maldivian economy was “driven by tourism,” Mathai said that it was “only natural that the [tourism industry is] contributing resources for the economy to operate.”

He added that “rates of return on Maldivian resorts are among the highest in the world” with profitable payback periods.

However, compared to other tourism-dependent economies, Mathai said that government expenditure in the Maldives was comparatively “very high” due to the geographic dispersion of the population and the large public sector wage bill.

In the medium-term, Mathai recommended taking measures to reform the civil service, improve delivery of public services and increase efficiency by economising.

“Ultimately we need to do a structural adjustment to the budget so that it’s more sustainable,” he concluded.

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Convicted murderer retracts confession in High Court

Ahmed Murrath – the man sentenced to death by the Criminal Court after being found guilty of murdering a prominent lawyer in 2012 – has today retracted his confession given.

Newspaper Haveeru has reported that Murrath’s lawyer Abdul Hakeem Rashadh told the High Court his client’s hands were handcuffed behind his back when he made the confession and therefore it could not be considered a confession made without coercion.

Rashadh also told the court that Murrath did not willfully commit the murder because he was under the influence of illegal drugs, and also that his client had the opportunity to deny the confession as no witness had seen him committing the murder.

Haveeru reported that Murrath spoke inside the court today, telling judges that when he was in pretrial detention police had refused him access to a doctor.

Murrath acknowledged he is a drug addict and that he had experienced a pain in his body, in response to which police officers at the detention centre had given him a plastic bag containing tea.

Furthermore, it was reported that the Prosecutor General’s Office told the court there were two contradicting statements provided by Murrath, inquiring as to which one should respond.

The court told the PG’s lawyer to prepare his response at the next hearing, asking both parties to make it the final hearing.

Murrath’s girlfriend, Fathimath Hana of Rihab house in Shaviyani Goidhoo island, was also sentenced to life in the case after she confessed to “helping” her boyfriend kill Ahmed Najeeb.

The 65 year-old lawyer’s body was found stuffed inside a dustbin at Masroora house – Murrath’s residence – badly beaten with multiple stab wounds.

Speaking at the Criminal Court during the 2012 trial, Murrath’s girlfriend said that her boyfriend killed Najeeb after he became “sure” the lawyer had attempted to sexually assault her. She admitted to tying Najeeb’s hand, legs, and taped his mouth while Murrath threatened him with a knife.

“We thought he must have a lot of money as he is a lawyer,” she told the court, after declining representation from a lawyer.

Najeeb’s cash card was taken from him and the pair had used it to withdraw money.

According to Hanaa, she did not know that the victim had been killed until Murrath woke her up and told her at around 4:00am. At the time Hanaa said she was sleeping – intoxicated from drinking alcohol.

Murrath corroborated this course of events in his statement, saying that she was asleep when he killed the lawyer. He confessed to killing Najeeb out of anger and apologised to the family members.

On February 9, the cabinet advised President Abdulla Yameen that there was no legal obstruction to implementing death sentences, after the Home Minister Umar Naseer had ordered an end to the 60 year moratorium on executions.

The order closely followed the conclusion of the Dr Afrasheem Ali murder trial, in which Hussein Humam was sentenced to death. Similarly, Humam also claimed that his confession – currently being used as key evidence against his alleged accomplice – was given under duress.

Naseer stated that the order is applicable to all pending sentences, of which there are approximately 20.

In December 2012, the then-Attorney General Azima Shukoor drafted a bill outlining how the death sentence should be executed in the Maldives, with lethal injection being identified as the state’s preferred method of capital punishment.

The last person to be executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, who was executed by firing squad in 1953 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.

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EPA advises Majlis campaigners not to litter

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has advised all political parties from littering the streets as campaigning for March’s Majlis elections continues.

Assistant Director of EPA Ahmed Murthala told Sun Online that several complaints had been received, adding that the EPA could not currently monitor violations due to staff shortages. The EPA is discussing ways to tackle breaches with the police, Sun was told.

The streets of the capital Malé were frequently strewn with campaign material during last year’s presidential election.

Last week, the city council revealed plans to introduce 200 dustbins as part of new regulations on waste management.

The waste management regulation came into force on February 5 and imposes an MVR100 (US$6.5) for littering and a fine between MVR10,000 (US$ 648.5) – MVR100,000 (US$6,485) if any authority in charge of public spaces fails to place public dustbins.

The regulations also mandate boat owners to place dustbins on sea vessels and imposes a fine between MVR100 million (US$6.5 million) and MVR500 million (US$32.4 million) on boats that dump waste into the ocean.

Murthala told Sun, however, that certain parts of the regulations – including the transportation of exposed waste on bicycles – will be postponed for two months.

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Fuvamulah woman sentenced for forcing a child into sexual activity

Fuvamulak Magistrate court has found Saeeda Hassan, 30 to be guilty of forcing a child into sexual activities and sentenced her to 25 years imprisonment, Haveeru has reported.

G.A Villingili Ahmed Nazeer, was earlier this month found guilty of sexually abusing the child involved in this case and another girl repeatedly on several days between May 2012 and February 2013. He was sentenced for 18 years imprisonment.

Saeeda, 39 was found to have encouraged the child to engage in sexual activity with Nazeer on several occasions.

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Maldives – A Return to Religious Conservatism: The Diplomat

“As Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen completed three months in office on February 17, one could not help but notice the Indian Ocean archipelago’s return to religious conservatism and its growing engagement with China,” writes Vishal Arora for the diplomat.

“The Maldives, a string of 1,192 islands, has made several moves to cement the supremacy of Sunni Islam since Yameen was sworn in as president in November 2013.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has set its top priorities for 2014, which include blocking all religions except Islam in the nation, ensuring that all laws and regulations adhere to Islamic principles and developing and strengthening the Islamic Fiqh Academy to issue fatwas.

The ministry has also signed an agreement with the Saudi Arabian Muslim Scholars Association to receive a grant of MVR1.6 million, or $104,166, for the “mutual goal” of developing and improving the study of the Quran and religion.”

Read more

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