March 25, 2015 – Minivan News

Ex-defence minister’s final hearing on illegal weapons pushed back to Thursday evening

The Criminal Court has pushed back the last hearing in former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim’s illegal weapons charge to Thursday evening.

Defence lawyers today requested additional time to listen to recordings of witness testimony from previous hearings before they issued concluding statements.

The three-judge panel gave lawyers until 4:00pm on Thursday to prepare. Judges could deliver a verdict at their discretion afterwards.

Defence lawyers once again requested the three-judge panel to allow Nazim to leave the country, claiming doctors had said the retired colonel faced a potentially life-threatening condition, and had recommended he be flown abroad as soon as possible for medical tests that are not available in the Maldives.

But presiding Judge Abdul Bari Yoosuf contended the phrase ‘as soon as possible’ could be interpreted in various ways, and said the Criminal Court was working to expedite a verdict in the case.

Nazim was charged with illegal weapons possession after police discovered a pistol and three bullets at his home during a controversial midnight raid on January 18. He was subsequently dismissed from the cabinet, and arrested on February 10 on additional charges of terrorism and treason.

Nazim, in his defense, claims rogue police officers planted the weapons at his home on Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb’s orders after the pair fell out over Adeeb’s alleged use of SWAT officers for criminal activities, including the chopping down of all of Malé City’s areca palms in October last year.

Both Adeeb and the Maldives Police Services have dismissed the allegations.

In the last hearing on Monday, judges summoned only two of Nazim’s 37 defence witnesses.

Fabricated evidence?

State prosecutors also claim documents in a pen drive confiscated along with the weapons suggested Nazim was plotting a coup d’état and planning to harm President Abdulla Yameen, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed and the Tourism Minister.

Defence lawyer Maumoon Hameed once again claimed police officers had tampered with and fabricated evidence against Nazim, suggesting coup plans were in fact not even contained in the allegedly planted pen drive.

Hameed, who is also President Yameen’s nephew, said a forensic digital expert, Ameen Abdul Gayoom, in a closed hearing on March 19 said the pen drive had last been accessed in February 2014.

But the alleged plans to harm President Yameen – which were only revealed to judges and lawyers in the closed hearing – were supposedly to be carried out in November or December 2014, he said.

He went on to claim that the then-Assistant Commissioner of Police Hassan Habeeb had printed out the documents in the pen drive and questioned Nazim soon after the raid. He questioned how Habeeb had accessed the pen drive without resulting in the change of date of last access and noted Habeeb’s name was not listed on the pen drive’s chain of custody.

Habeeb was recently promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Police, and according to witness testimony in previous hearings, had commanded the raid on Nazim’s apartment.

State prosecutor Adam Arif denied that the forensic digital expert had made any comments on the date of last access, and said the chain of custody recorded the officers who had handled the physical pen drive, and not the electronic documents contained in it.

Hameed also noted several empty slots on the chain of custody record, saying the broken record suggested possible tampering.

Chain of custody is the record of all individuals who maintained unbroken control over the items of evidence, to establish proof that the items of evidence collected at the crime scene is the same evidence presented in a court of law.

Hameed also said there were gaps of between six and nine hours between when investigating officers had received the evidence and when they had handed evidence over to the forensic departments, arguing the delay amounted to officers flouting police regulations.

Further, while a Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) officer had testified in a previous hearing to having fired the pistol to test if it was functioning, Hameed said the chain of custody record indicated the MNDF only had the weapons for just 15 minutes.

In response, Arif said the empty slots on chain of custody do not mean an unauthorised individual had handled the evidence, and said it did not affect the credibility of evidence presented at court.

Arif claimed the MNDF had possessed the evidence for over an hour, ample time to test the authenticity of the pistol and three bullets.

He also said the long delay in investigating officers handing over evidence to the forensics department did not necessarily mean officers had tampered with the evidence.

If convicted, Nazim faces a jail term between ten and 15 years.

The three judge panel overseeing Nazim’s case are the same judges who convicted former President Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism and sentenced him to 13 years in jail in a trial many observers have called a “travesty of justice.”

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Maldives bans migrant worker protests, threatens to cancel visas

The Department of Immigration and Emigration today warned migrant workers against participating in protests and threatened to cancel work visas for protesting expatriates.

The warning came after local media today announced migrant workers had called for a mass protest on Friday against entrenched discrimination and a recent spike in violence which saw two Bangladeshi nationals murdered and three stabbed in Malé.

A 25-year old Bangladeshi, Shaheen Mia, was stabbed to death in a Malé café in the early hours of the morning on Sunday (March 22), while a Bangladeshi national identified as Bilal was found dead in Alif Alif Atoll Thoddoo Island on Monday night.

Meanwhile, three expatriate workers were stabbed on Tuesday between 7:20pm and 7:40pm in three different locations in Malé.

But the Controller of Immigration and Emigration Mohamed Anwar in a statement today said expatriates protesting for their rights was against the terms of their work permits, and threatened to cancel visas without a second warning.

If action was taken against an expatriate worker for protesting, Anwar said the Immigration Department would also suspend services to their employers.

He called on employers to remind migrant workers to respect Maldivian laws and stay away from protests.

“The immigration department will not hesitate in penalising those who participate in protests,” he added.

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives’ (HRCM) Vice President Ahmed Tholal said the ban on migrant worker protests was unconstitutional.

“The constitution guarantees every person on Maldivian soil the right to protest. A clause in a migrant worker’s contract cannot override the constitution,” he told Minivan News.

Expressing grave concern, Tholal said the recent fatal attacks amount to hate crimes as the violence appears to be targeted against migrant workers.

He noted discrimination and inhumane treatment of migrant workers were entrenched issues in the Maldives, and said this week’s violence further marginalised an already vulnerable group.

Tholal called on the Maldives to immediately initiate discussions with diplomatic missions and take urgent action to ensure the safety of migrant workers.

According to the 2014 national census, there are 58,683 migrant workers in the Maldives. However, the department of national planning said the figure was much lower than the official figure recorded by the Immigration Department.

The US State Department in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons report described the Maldives as a “destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.”

Migrant workers – primarily Bangladeshi and Indian men in the construction and service sectors – experienced forced labor, including fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of identity and travel documents, withholding and nonpayment of wages, and debt bondage, the report said.

The State Department welcomed the Maldives passing its first anti-trafficking law in 2013, but decried “serious problems in anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim protection.”

“The government did not adequately train police and other officials on trafficking, nor did it provide authorities with procedures to identify victims among vulnerable populations and refer those victims to protective services. Consequently, the government penalised some victims for offences committed as a result of being trafficked and also deported thousands of migrants without adequately screening for indications of forced labor,” the report said.

Following the enactment of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act in 2013, the Maldives avoided relegation to Tier 3 and possible international sanctions.

Human rights group Transparency Maldives (TM) has also described the Immigration Department’s protest ban as unconstitutional and called on the government to listen to worker’s concerns.

TM also urged law enforcement agencies to expedite investigations into migrant worker murders and called on the government to sign the International Covenant on Migrant Workers immediately.

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Opposition parties deny signing agreement to topple government

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Jumhooree Party (JP), and Adhaalath Party (AP) have denied signing an agreement to topple the government.

A document was leaked to local media today purporting to be an agreement signed by leaders of the three parties to overthrow President Abdulla Yameen’s administration with the help of foreign benefactors.

“It is blatantly a big lie,” said MDP Chairperson Ali Waheed at a press conference of the ‘Maldivians against brutality’ alliance this afternoon.

Referring to an agreement signed between the MDP and JP last month, Waheed said the MDP would only sign an agreement “in front of the Maldivian people and the media” after seeking approval from the national council.

Waheed reiterated calls for President Yameen to initiate inter-party dialogue to resolve the current political crisis.

AP President Imran Abdulla said a “charter” for the opposition alliance has been drafted and was ready to be signed, insisting that an agreement has not been signed to date.

On the leaked documents, Imran suggested the government was trying “a different version” of the “pen drive philosophy” following public incredulity over confidential documents allegedly leaked from a pen drive confiscated from former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim’s apartment.

The documents published by online news outlet Vaguthu yesterday contained alleged plans by Nazim to assassinate President Abdulla Yameen and Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb.

Accusing the government of leaking the false agreement to the media, Imran facetiously said the documents should have been discovered in bedside drawers of the opposition party leaders, referring to police allegedly discovering the pen drive along with a pistol and three bullets during a midnight raid on Nazim’s apartment on January 18.

The opposition maintains that Nazim was “framed” after rogue police officers planted the weapon, whilst the police chief has denied the allegations.

Imran suggested that the government’s intention with the leaked agreement was to “create doubts among the public towards us,” adding that such efforts were instead backfiring.

The government was losing public confidence and “exposing” themselves whilst the opposition was gaining strength and momentum, Imran contended.

JP Deputy Leader Ameen Ibrahim meanwhile noted that the party’s council has not officially decided to participate in the new alliance and insisted that JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim would not sign such an agreement.

Ameen referred to a similar “fake document” purporting to be an agreement between the MDP and JP ahead of the parties officially forming an alliance.

The alliance agreement was signed at a joint rally and made publicly available, he noted.

MP Ahmed Mahloof – who allegedly signed as a witness – said the leaked document was a sign of the government’s growing “desperation.”

Sheikh Imran, at the alliance’s street protest last night, said the opposition would bring an end to the government’s “brutality” through street protests.

Leaked agreement

According to newspaper Haveeru, several sources have confirmed the authenticity of the leaked agreement.

“The agreement – signed at Qasim Ibrahim’s Paradise Island Resort – highlights five key points. Said points are: to tackle, at any cost, President Yameen and his allies’ unconstitutional actions, to put an end to their gang-utilised harassment of citizens, politicians, and journalists, to bring the government’s unlawful actions to the attention of the international community and have international actors pressure the government, to increase support from parliamentarians and other organisations,” reads the Haveeru article.

The alliance was to form a steering committee both to oversee street protests and travel across the country to seek public support.

Moreover, the alliance would topple the government if President Yameen’s administration fails to heed its demands, the agreement stated, after which the parties would back Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed as the new president until the next presidential election.

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PPM calls on Adhaalath Party members to take action against Sheikh Imran

The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has called upon members and religious scholars of the Adhaalath Party (AP) to take action against the party’s president, Sheikh Imran Abdulla.

In a press statement yesterday, the PPM condemned Imran’s alleged efforts to “defame the government” and contended that he was acting “dictatorially” without consulting either the party’s members or its council of religious scholars.

“The party’s members and scholars are revealing that [Imran’s] efforts are being carried out dictatorially after gathering all of the party’s powers in his fist,” the press release stated.

Imran advocating on behalf of a person who has “openly ridiculed” Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) and insulted Islam was “unacceptable,” the statement added, referring to former President Mohamed Nasheed’s alleged anti-Islamic remarks.

While the AP was founded for the purpose of protecting Islamic values, the PPM argued that Imran’s actions were contrary to the party’s founding principles.

After officially withdrawing support for President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, the AP formed an alliance dubbed “Maldivians against brutality” with the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) on March 17. The alliance was formed in the wake of the sentencing of former President Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism and the arrest and prosecution of former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim on illegal weapons smuggling.

At the time, Imran said 80 percent of the party’s council members voted in favour of the decision to withdraw support for the government. The AP leader has since been leading nightly protests against the government.

On March 16, the Adhaalath Party’s council in a statement said it had decided to bring an “end to all this brutality within the boundaries of Islamic Sharia, the constitution and laws of the Maldives.”

The party accused the government of corruption, misusing the police and military, undoing separation of powers, undermining independent institutions, encouraging drug use, undue influence over the judiciary and illicit connections with gangs.

The PPM meanwhile reiterated its argument that the opposition alliance has not been able to substantiate claims of unlawful acts or anti-Islamic behaviour on the part of the government.

Such “uncivilised” and “slanderous” allegations were intended to undermine public interest and threaten order and security, the ruling party insisted.

The PPM called on AP members and religious scholars to stand up against Imran’s “irresponsible” actions and allegations.

“While a person in the post of the party’s president is working to muddy the party’s name without showing any legal evidence, [the PPM] believes that the party’s common members and scholars have a responsibility to take action against him,” the statement read.

Asked about the PPM statement at an opposition alliance press conference this afternoon, Imran declined to comment and said the AP would issue a response.

However, in a tweet last night, Imran suggested that the PPM statement was an “omen” indicating the success of the opposition protests.

In his speech at the protest last night, Imran also said President Abdulla Yameen’s statement denying the opposition’s allegations of police “framing” former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim and rampant corruption in the government indicated progress was being achieved through the anti-government demonstrations.

President Yameen had not issued a statement despite a month of opposition protests, he said, “but today the president has started talking.”

“Tomorrow he will come out with you to these streets to sign a peace agreement,” he said.

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First batch of Faaragema dogs arrive in Maldives

Five of the 16 sniffer dogs for the newly established “Faaragema” dog squad arrived in the Maldives last night.

According to the Maldives Police Services, a Dutch and a British dog trainer accompanied the first batch of dogs and will train police officers in handling the dogs.

The dogs were due to arrive the previous night, but their arrival was delayed after the handlers deemed the journey from the Netherlands was too long for the puppies. They were then quarantined in Malaysia.

Five more puppies will arrive tonight and the remaining six are to arrive tomorrow night.

The dogs were brought in to tackle drug trafficking in the Maldives, and are going to be kept in custom made kennels at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

Speaking to local media, Home Ministry’s spokersperson Thazmeel Abdul Samad said that the dogs and the kennel had cost the government US$ 80,000.

The Home Ministry has meanwhile requested the Dhivehi Language Academy to come up with 16 Dhivehi names for the puppies.

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“We will secure our rights from the street,” says Sheikh Imran

The opposition alliance will bring an end to the government’s “brutality” through street protests, Adhaalath Party (AP) President Sheikh Imran Abdulla declared last night.

Speaking at last night’s protest by the “Maldivians against brutality” alliance, Imran referred to President Abdulla Yameen urging the opposition to prove allegations of the government’s unlawful actions at court and to file complaints of alleged rampant corruption at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

“After buying people at high prices to gain a majority of the People’s Majlis, after changing the judiciary, and bringing all independent institutions under his fist, when he says ‘go to the institutions,’ the Maldivian people are not fools,” Imran said.

“We will end this from the street. We will secure our rights from the street.”

In a statement issued yesterday, President Yameen denied any knowledge of former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim being “framed” and advised the AP leader to prove Nazim’s innocence at court.

Imran said President Yameen’s statement indicated progress in the opposition efforts, urging protesters to remain steadfast as the government would soon “sign a peace agreement”.

He also claimed that former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had pleaded with Yameen to release Nazim but was rebuffed.

Imran compared President Yameen to Hitler, who “never did anything against the law” as he had used the German parliament to change laws at will.

Calling on the government to end its “brutality” against former President Mohamed Nasheed, Colonel (Retired) Nazim, and Jumhooree Party (JP) Leader Gasim Ibrahim, Imran warned that the alliance would expose the truth of murders that have occurred in the country.

“First we will free these three leaders, then we start talking about the murders,” he said.

Protest march

Thousands of supporters took to the streets in the second consecutive night of the alliance’s protests, starting from the artifical beach area and marching down the capital’s main thoroughfare Majeedhee Magu.

Around 11:15pm, clashes occurred between protesters and riot police after Specialist Operations (SO) officers attempted to confiscate loudspeakers from the ‘sound lorry.’

With SO officers blocking their path, protesters split into two groups near the Maafanu cemetery, with one group marching into side streets led by MP Ahmed Mahloof – recently expelled from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives – and the other gathered near the cemetery.

The protest was officially called off for the night near the MDP’s main office on Sosun Magu around 12:15am.

A police media official told Minivan News today that three individuals were arrested at time, with two accused of disobeying police orders and one accused of attempting to harm a police officer. Among them was a journalist from Channel One.

Invoking powers granted by Article 41 of the Freedom of Assembly Act, police issued a statement earlier in the day ordering protest organisers not to use loudspeakers or megaphones after 11:00pm and to end the protest at 12:00am.

Moreover, police warned protesters against repeatedly gathering in one location or street.

Police claimed to have received numerous complaints from the public and businesses about disruptions caused by the nightly protests.

Police said businesses were adversely affected when roads had to be closed to traffic, causing “irreparable economic damage”.

Photos from Ranreendhoo Maldives

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Nasheed to wait on appeal until Criminal Court provides full case report

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has decided to wait on appealing a 13-year jail term until the Criminal Court provides both a full transcript of court proceedings and sufficient time to prepare, despite a looming appeal deadline of Thursday (March 26).

The Criminal Court has so far only provided a judgment summary, and not a full case report as requested by lawyers.

The court today blamed the delay in issuing the full report on Nasheed and his lawyers’ alleged refusal to sign statements they had made during court hearings.

Another unnamed individual had also failed to sign off their statements, the Criminal Court said, adding that it could not release full proceedings without the required signatures.

“We hereby publicly announce that if there is a delay in releasing the detailed case report, it is not because this court has failed in its duty, but because Mohamed Nasheed and his lawyers have not cooperated with the court,” the court said in a statement.

But Nasheed’s lawyers said the former president had refused to sign the statements only because they contained serious errors, which they say the Criminal Court has so far refused to correct.

“For example, the statement of witness testimony from the Chief of Defence Force contains statements he did not make in court. Further, the Criminal Court omitted President Nasheed’s request for medical attention at the first hearing on February 23,” lawyer Hisaan Hussein told Minivan News.

She also noted the statements were not a transcript of all that was said at court, but a summary, which had resulted in omissions and paraphrasing of the actual comments.

In a statement issued today, Nasheed’s lawyers said the Criminal Court has been “repeatedly obstructing President Nasheed’s constitutional right to appeal and imposing administrative restrictions by failing to provide the court report to date.”

“The full case report would include the testimonies of prosecutor’s witness which was recounted by the Judge wrongly, submissions made regarding documentary evidence, closing statement submitted by the prosecution, detailed findings of the judges with reference to the evidences and conflicting rulings made on many aspects of procedural law which was contended during the trial.

“Additionally, since the first and last three hearings were conducted in the absence of legal representation, the arguments and submissions made by the prosecution regarding witness testimonies, documentary evidence and closing statement will be known only after we receive the full case report,” lawyers said.

A High Court appeal could be filed solely based on the judgment summary, but Nasheed’s lawyers said they would then only have the opportunity to argue within the parameters raised in the initial submission.

As issues contended in subsequent hearings would only be considered at the discretion of judges, it is imperative that Nasheed receives the case report to prepare his appeal, lawyers said.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor claimed the Criminal Court is “using every procedural trick in the book to deny President Nasheed’s right to appeal.”

“The Criminal Court conducted a disgraceful and blatantly politicized trial, and now they are busy trying to hamper the appeal,” he added.

Nasheed was convicted of terrorism on March 13 over the January 2012 military detention of Judge Abdulla in a trial many international and domestic observers called a “travesty of justice.”

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and the UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Lawyers and Judges Gabriela Knaul last week urged the Maldives to guarantee that Nasheed’s appeal would respect the most stringent fair trial standards and observe due process, including adequate time for preparation.

The surprise trial began one day after Nasheed was arrested on February 22, and was completed after 11 hearings in 19 days.

“It is hard to see how such hasty proceedings, which are far from the norm in the Maldives, can be compatible with the authorities’ obligations under international law to conduct a fair trial,” Zeid said.

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