President Nasheed meets with Chief Director of German Police

President Mohamed Nasheed met yesterday with Chief Director of German Police, Günther Freisleben, as part of his European tour.

In the meeting, President Nasheed highlighted the need to rebuild and train qualified police force in the Maldives.

He sought assistance from the German police force for training, saying the German’s experience could help the Maldives in building a qualified police force.

The president noted the importance of making the Maldives police force more “people and community friendly.”

He noted that the main areas of concern in the Maldives were religious radicalism and drug-related offenses, as well as juvenile delinquency.

The two parties discussed how German police can provide assistance to the Maldives.

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President Nasheed meets German Chancellor Merkel

After his arrival in Berlin early yesterday morning, President Mohamed Nasheed met with German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel yesterday at the Federal Chancellery.

President Nasheed was welcomed with military honours.

The meeting was focused on bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them.

President Nasheed thanked the German government and people for their support to the Maldives through the democratic reform process. He said he hoped Germany’s assistance would continue in helping to strengthen and consolidate democracy in the country.

The president also commended Chancellor Merkel for her role in helping reach an agreement at COP15 in Copenhagen last year.

Chancellor Merkel congratulated President Nasheed for the transition of democratic reform in the Maldives.

The president and his delegation were given a guided tour of Berlin, which included a visit to Hohenscönhausen Memorial, a former political prison.

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MDP proposes primary elections

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has opted to hold primary elections open to all members during the party’s congress on 26 June, its anniversary.

During a meeting of the party’s national council held at Bandos Island Resort, the party decided to amend its structure towards a presidential rather than a parliamentary system of government.

The main change proposed will be the abolition of the post of party president and vice-president, to be replaced by two vice-chairpersons.

The decision contrasts that take by the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), which voted against holding primaries during its congress held last month. The proposal was made by the party’s vice president Umar Naseer, who left his role as president of the Islamic Democratic Party to pursue political ambitions.

However the party elected to retain its original charter, which states that the party’s leader will automatically be put forward as its presidential candidate.

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Government approves project for floating golf course

The Maldivian government has signed a contract with Dutch Docklands of the Netherlands to develop a floating golf course and hotel in the Maldives.

Minister of Trade and Economy Mohamed Rasheed signed the contract on behalf of the Maldives, and Chief Executive Officer Wen Di Cam signed on behalf of Dutch Docklands.

President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed and Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Maldives Leoni Margaretha Cuelenaere attended the ceremony held at the President’s Office on 4 March when the agreement was signed.

Cam said the Docklands was proud to develop the floating centres in the Maldives and the company would seek a good location for the development.

He said the company would start the project as soon as possible after doing the necessary studies.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said the project would be “very beneficial for the country.”

He added that it would increase the number of tourists visiting the country.

”Most of our resorts do not have a golf centre due to lack of space,” Press Secretary Zuhair said, noting that ”Golf has a good market in the world.”

Deputy Minister for Environment Mohamed Shareef said the floating golf centres would be “much better and more environmentally friendly than reclaiming land.”

Shareef noted the floating developments would be stabilised by anchoring.

dutch docklands2
Proposed golf course in the Maldives

”It would not be very harmful for the environment,” he said, ”the only damage is that it will block the sunlight from the stones and corals.”

He added that there were showcases of floating centres made by the same company in Australia.

”They are now developing such centres in the Middle East,” said Shareef. ”We would not compromise our environment for anything.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for conducting environmental impact assessments, has not yet been consulted on the project according to its director Mohamed Zuhair.

The project would “definitely have negative environmental impacts”, he said, but added that “it is not for the EPA to assess the risks of this project at this stage. The contractor [Dutch Docklands] is responsible for finding a suitable consultant to assess the risks.”

Zuhair said once project proposal by Dutch Docklands’ is finished, it will be submitted to the EPA who will then screen the project. The EPA will then provide an environmental assessment report.

“They can only start actual work once they have EPA approval,” he noted.

Director of environmental NGO Bluepeace, Ali Rilwan, said as long as the project was conducted in an environmentally friendly manner he thought it was “very exciting” and “innovative and weird”.

“I don’t think there should be a problem,” he said, “but it depends on how they do it.”

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Three men arrested for attack on Habib Bank manager

Police have arrested three men in connection with the armed robbery of Habib Bank’s country manager, Mohamed Anjul Jameel.

Chief inspector of police Mohamed Jamsheed identified the three men as Ali Shuaib (19) of Kumundhu in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, Abdulla Aseel (20) of Galolhu Coralsea and Ibrahim Abdulla (20) of Galolhu Fehima.

Jamsheed suggested that there was one more man involved in the case, but he had not yet been arrested.

He said the gang attacked the bank manager “after collecting a lot of information about him.”

”It was well planned and organised,” Jamsheed said. ”Two of them followed the manager when he was coming home after work that day.”

He said Ali Shuaib was arrested in connection with a murder case last year, “on suspicion of killing a Bangladeshi man by hitting him with a three-foot long log,” he said.

Shuaib was ultimately acquitted by the criminal court, Jamsheed added.

Police sergeant Abdul Muhsin said the three men had police records of assault, drug related cases and robbery.

In an interview with Haveeru, the manager of Habib Bank said that while he had always described the Maldives to his friends as a “harmonious country”, the attack had changed his view completely.

“I am leaving, never to return,” he said.

The 56 year old was stabbed when four men broke into his apartment on the sixth floor of Machangolhi Uraha in Male’.

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Former island chief arrested for attacking island councillor in DRP meeting

A fight between the former Island Chief of Miladhu in Noonu Atoll Abdul Sattar Mohamed and Island Councillor Hassan Moosa escalated into a brawl on Saturday night.

Moosa told Minivan News that Sattar, also the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) President for the island, “defamed my character” during a speech he gave to a DRP meeting that evening

“So I went and asked him about it,” Moosa said, claiming DRP supporters broke the windows of the island office and damaged some of its property in the subsequent scuffle.

”He claimed that I am in debt,” Moosa said, ”and that I built my house using his money, so I went there and asked him why he was spreading untrue information.”

Moosa alleged that Sattar hit him in the face in full view of the police when he asked him “why he was misleading the people.”

Senior member of DRP at Miladhu, Ahmed Hassan, said the councilor broke into the DRP meeting with the intention of disrupting it.

”Moosa could not digest what Sattar said,” Hassan claimed, explaining that the island councillor and four others had appeared at the meeting to scold Sattar.

”Our supporters started shouting at him, so we told him to leave the place immediately.”

Hassan claimed Moosa kicked Sattar in the stomach, and described him as “a person who used to fight very often.”

Moosa claimed he did not hit anybody.

Head of Noonu Atoll police station Ibrahim Fayaz said Sattar was under arrest for hitting the island councillor, and that one other man was under arrest in connection with vandalism of the island office.

He said the police were currently investigating the case.

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High Court freezes accounts belonging to Adam Naseer

The High Court today ruled that Adam Naseer’s bank accounts would remain frozen until the appeal process launched by the Prosecutor General’s Office is complete.

Naseer was arrested on charges of drug trafficking in July 2009, and was acquitted by Judge Abdul Baary Yousuf on 28 February, who noted there was a lack of evidence against Naseer.

The government has previously identified Naseer as one the country’s top six drug dealers, and his acquittal has raised concern among many about the integrity of the judicial system.

The High Court’s decision to freeze Naseer’s accounts follows a decision yesterday by the Criminal Court ruling that police were to return the Rf6 million (US$467,000) in cash found in Naseer’s house when he was arrested.

Police Sub Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that the police had requested the High Court suspend the order to return the money to Naseer, and to freeze his bank accounts, until the appeal process from the PG’s office was complete.

Shiyam called the court’s speedy ruling “a success” and said the police “hope future cases will be treated in the same manner.”

President’s Office Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said “I don’t think [Naseer] is under arrest” but noted that he was unable to leave the country.

“Immigration has a black list of all individuals with pending judicial matters,” he said.

Shiyam confirmed Naseer was “at home” but not under house arrest.

High Court decision

Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem confirmed the PG’s office submitted an appeal to the High Court yesterday for Naseer’s bank accounts to remain frozen while the appeal to his drug charges is in process.

Shameem explained that it was very important for Naseer’s money to remain frozen through the appeal process because “if he gets a hold of it, he could send it abroad or launder it.”

Under the Narcotics Law, any money obtained through illegal activities “shall be confiscated by the state.”

“We have asked the court to confiscate the money in case he is later convicted,” Shameem added.

Shameem said he thought the High Court’s ruling to freeze Naseer’s assets was “a good decision” but the noted that the case would not yet be heard in the High Court.

“They will send a summon in time. We still have to wait,” he said.

Shameem noted that the case cannot be heard at the High Court until the Criminal Court sends a formal report on the original ruling, which includes the documents that were submitted and the witness statement.

“We are still waiting on the full report from the Criminal Court, hopefully [we will get it] by the end of this week” he said. “We still need to get things started.”

Shiyam suggested “there are more charges to come” in the Naseer case,  although he would not comment on whether there will be new evidence submitted in the High Court’s hearing.

Judicial reform

There has been much public outcry about the performance of the judicial system, sparked by Adam Naseer’s acquittal.

Even President Mohamed Nasheed said at a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally on Sunday 28 February, “When there’s Rf5 million in a bag underneath the bed and the judge doesn’t think it raises any kind of doubt, I wonder how they perform their duties as a judge.”

A source familiar with the judicial reform process said the judge’s conduct needed to be “looked into”.

The source noted that 75 per cent of the country’s judges had not finished primary-level education, and had simply acquired a ‘judge’s certificate’ or been appointed by the previous regime. Historically, “a few people” instructed the judges on the law “and verdicts”.

Secretary General at the Judiciary Service Commission (JSC), Muna Mohamed, meanwhile confirmed that only 35 out of 202 judges have a degree in law, and only one has a diploma in Shari’a law. The remaining 166 have local trainee certificates.

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President establishes Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation

President Mohamed Nasheed has established a company called the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, which will coordinate the marketing and advertising activities of the government.

Nasheed said this was in line with the government’s policy to have similar tasks conducted by a single office, rather than risk duplicating the workload.

The MMPRC will function as a limited government company with one hundred percent government shares.

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Alhan says DRP win in provinces would be “a disaster”

MDP MP Alhan Fahmy has said if his former party the DRP win the provinical elections, it would be a “disaster”.

Miadhu reported Fahmy’s claims at an MDP rally in Kolamafushi that such a win would represent a “major economic and political setback for the country”.

He accused DRP of trying to block the implementation of the MDP manifesto at the provincial level for political reasons.

Fahmy joined MDP last month after he was suspended from the DRP for voting against the party line in a no-confidence motion against Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed. His decision to switch parties was met with glee by the MDP, and was viewed as betrayal by sectors of the DRP.

Alhaan said at Kolamafushi that he was proud to join the MDP and “believed in the vision which President Nasheed has for the country.”

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