The Judicial Administration Department completed 29 percent fewer cases in 2010 than in 2009, in spite of a decrease in cases submitted to the court.
Only 2,484 out of the 3,057 cases submitted last year were concluded. In 2009, 3,488 were completed.
Meanwhile, magistrate courts in the islands closed 840 criminal cases while 1,644 cases were completed by the superior courts, reported Haveeru.
Nearly 1000 fewer criminal cases were reported to the courts in 2010 than in 2009.
The magistrate courts in the islands received 900 criminal cases in 2010 compared to the 1,433 cases received the previous year while 2,157 cases were filed at the superior courts in capital Male.
Phone calls made to the Criminal Court were dismissed at reception, and media personnel were unavailable at designated times and phone numbers. One media contact would not address the issue.
Chief Judge Abdullah Mohamed refused to comment on the matter, and forwarded the phone call to a media officer who had previously refused to comment as well.
Registrar Ali Adam also said he was unable to discuss the matter.
The pre-release premiere of the Island President opened last night in Dharubaarge to packed audiences.
Tickets that had originally been sold for Rf 80 (US$5) were selling for Rf 150 (US$10) on the black market yesterday afternoon. Such was the demand that organisers squeezed an extra 50 chairs into the auditorium at the last minute for on-the-door sales.
The film details the lead up to President Mohamed Nasheed’s election and the introduction of multi-party democracy. This is by no means an objective film: former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is treated harshly by the filmmakers and portrayed as thoroughly creepy, as in one scene where he stares unblinking at the camera while soldiers goose step past and a tinny patriotic song plays in the background.
Neither is it propaganda – rare archival footage of brutal military crackdowns and photos of the battered body of Evan Naseem lead up to one of the film’s strongest moments: time-lapse footage of the tin shed in which Nasheed was incarcerated in solitary confinement for 18 months.
“You walk in your mind,” he explains. “Even if you can only take 4-5 steps, you walk it over and over again.”
Nasheed’s seriousness on the subjects of democracy and climate change is given contrast as the filmmakers home in on endearing personal touches – the President’s assistant struggling to do up his tie, Nasheed’s request that the Muleaage staff fetch his mother’s spicy fish recipe, his bitter asides expressing frustration with diplomatic bureaucracy, his phone call home to tell his mother he had secured a deal in Copenhagen, and photos from the days he sported an afro.
The film portrays him as a very human and accessible leader, qualities which are sure to make the film a success among the liberal university student demographic when it is released to cinemas in the US in February.
Foreign audiences with more interest in global climate politics than in the Maldives will find much to take from the film. Nasheed serves as a fascinating behind-the-scenes ticket to the Copenhagen Summit and the diplomatic wrangling of 192 world leaders. In one scene he bullies the President of Grenada into rewriting a document on the climate change ambitions of small island states, in another he disappears behind a palm tree to speak to the Australian Prime Minister over the phone – the filmmakers follow.
Descriptions of The Island President as ‘the West Wing of climate change’ are apt – in one scene, a Chinese diplomat is filmed asking a protocol officer to identify the Maldivian President. “Your government should know this,” she snaps.
The impact of the film locally will be hard to predict. Whatever the politics of the viewer, there is a great deal for Maldivians to be proud about in The Island President. In one scene, Nasheed and Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam argue bitterly about whether to compromise on 1.5 degrees in order to at least secure an adaptation deal.
“People listen to you. We don’t want to look like we’ve been bought,” Aslam insists. Nasheed’s explosive reaction quickly dispels any doubt that his is a calculated attempt to milk foreign aid – he is clearly convinced the threat is existential, but is forced to come to terms with compromising his global ambitions for the sake of his country.
The first screening last night was predictably brimming with Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters, but the second session was a mixed – and younger – crowd. With 40 percent of the population aged between 15-24 and many disenfranchised by the ‘he said, she said’ nature of Maldivian politics, the film could well have political ramifications in 2013 if it proves popular with this set.
Eleanor Johnstone:
“The Island President” sets a mood of gravity and hope. Using footage and interviews original and historic, television broadcasts, and moments intimate as well as highly public, the film offers a cinematic collage of President Nasheed’s pursuit of democracy and in putting, and keeping, the Maldives on the map.
A combined sense of crisis and action dominates the film, particularly on the environmental issue. But threads of hope are strung throughout, most notably in the Maldivian government’s negotiating style. Regularly confronted with the baby-step methods of many foreign powers, Nasheed’s strident style may unnerve his own delegation but it presents him as a man of action, keen to keep his word.
Everyone knows someone who disdains politics as a sport of chatter and show. Nasheed is one of them. At Copenhagen he regularly vents of the slow-moving discussions and hesitant delegations to his own group of ministers. The Island President might leave Maldivians in fear for their homeland. But with a leader who speaks his mind without reservation, the country has more than many world powers can boast.
Extra showings of The Island President will be held at Athena Cinema on Friday
and Saturday, following unprecedented demand.
Friday 25 November at Athena Cinema: 14:30; 17:30; 20:30; 23:30.
Saturday 26 November at Athena Cinema: 17:30; 20:00.
Tickets can be bought from Athena Cinema between 16:30 – 23:00. Planned screenings for Dharubaarge on Thursday will be moved to Athena Cinema to meet demand. Ticket hotline: 9797356.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have issued a statement urging the government “not to give in to the fanatical minority” and to do “all it can to ensure the media are free to tackle any subjects they choose.”
The statement came in response to the Islamic Ministry’s ordering of the Communications Authority of the Maldives (CAM) to block the website of controversial blogger, Ismail Khilath “Hilath” Rasheed, on the grounds that it contained anti-Islamic material.
“The increase in acts of religious intolerance is a threat to the Maldives’ young democracy”, RSF said its statement, requesting the “immediate reopening of [Hilath’s] blog.”
RSF noted that there were harsh penalties for blasphemy under Maldivian law following new regulations enforcing the 1994 Religious Unity Act, which bans the media from circulating any material that “humiliates Allah, his prophets, the Koran, the Sunnah or the Islamic faith”.
Incidents involving media workers are rare in the Maldives, RSF observed, “but that is only because most of them prefer to censor themselves and stay away from subjects relating to Islam, unlike Ismail Khilath Rasheed.”
“According to Rasheed, the Islamic Affairs Ministry had his blog in its sights because he is a Sufi Muslim, not a Sunni like most Maldivians, and has always been highly critical of religious fundamentalism.”
RSF compiles the annual Press Freedom Index. The Maldives is currently ranked 52nd out of 178 countries.
President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair, acknowledged that the decision would affect the Maldives’ reputation for press freedom.
“The government has a responsibility to protect the tenets of Islam,” Zuhair said, but urged Hilath to appeal the decision: “I believe there should be more dialogue and discussion before action is taken.”
“Blocking a website containing undesirable material is not an option for the Maldivian government. The Internet is larger than 1-2 Maldivian bloggers. Should we shut out all content deemed undesirable by Islamic scholars, and is it even technically possible with filtering?”
Zuhair noted that the Maldives had benefited from having one the highest rates of Internet penetration in the region.
According to Facebook statistics, one third of the Maldives population have accounts on the social network, the vast majority of them aged between 18-35.
Haa Alif Atoll councillors were allegedly attacked yesterday by island councillors of Dhidhoo together with a few young men from the island, following a vote of no-confidence against the chair of the atoll council.
An atoll councillor told Minivan News on condition of anonymity that the dispute between the island and atoll councils centered around the vacant residence used by the former Atoll Chiefs.
“The Haa Alif Atoll Province Office gave us the building to stay in because atoll council members were elected from different islands, and we all had to move to Dhidhoo because that is where the atoll council has to hold meetings,” he explained.
The dispute began after island councillors claimed the building for their purposes but were overruled by the Province Office, he said.
“This has been going on for a while,” he said. “While we were staying there with the authorisation of the state, the island councilors broke in and threw us out, and they changed the locks on the doors. Then we had to wait two days without proper sleep, shelter or food.”
The incident led the atoll councillors to move a motion of no-confidence against the chair of the council, who is from Dhidhoo.
“We passed the no-confidence motion and the island councilors came with eight or nine young people in the island and attacked us,” he claimed. “Three of the atoll councillors were injured, but no major injuries were caused.”
Following the incident, he added, atoll councilors were told by the government to move back to their islands until further notice.
“Now all the councilors have moved back to their own islands and we are thinking of ways to conduct our work even while staying in different islands,” he said.
A Dhidhoo island councillor, Abdulla Waheed, however dismissed the allegations and insisted none of the events took place.
Waheed said the atoll councilors were staying in the ‘Atoll House’ unlawfully and claimed that electricity bills had not been paid for the past eight months.
“It is the property of the island council and it has been a month since the atoll councillors were told to hand the building over to the island council because it does not have an adequate place to work,” he said.
The situation in Dhidhoo was “calm and normal” in the wake of the dispute between the councils, he said.
Finance Controller at the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Ahmed Assad, resigned yesterday after attempts were made by MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik to exert undue influence over the senior government official, claims Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Musthafa.
In a text message circulated to several media outlets, Musthafa alleged that several “capable professionals and technocrats” were quitting the MDP government in protest of acting chairperson Moosa’s outsize influence and “corrupt dealings” for personal gain.
Speaking to Minivan News today, Musthafa claimed Moosa had asked Assad for Rf5 to 6 million (US$320,000-390,000) to complete a project awarded to Moosa’s company Heavy Load Maldives to construct the jetty off the island of Kumundhu in Shaviyani Atoll.
Assad was unavailable for comment today as his mobile phone was switched off.
“Assad refused to issue the money and he went into a quarrel with Moosa and Moosa attempted to use his position and authority to exert influence over him,” Musthafa alleged. “He also tried to influence Abdulla Ziyadh, civil engineer of Works Corporation and tried to collect money for a Heavy Load project before it was completed. They completed 20 percent of the work and asked him to pay for 70 percent of work.”
Ziyadh had resigned from his post at the Works Corporation under the Housing Ministry in the wake of the incident, Musthafa claimed.
“Moosa has also taken Rf4 million (US$260,000) worth of oil for credit from Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM) and tried to get more oil for credit without paying for the oil he purchased earlier,” he alleged.
Musthafa said he planned to submit an amendment to the MDP charter to ensure that a businessman could not hold the post of chairperson.
Responding to remarks made by Moosa in the local media that Musthafa was “using my name to gain fame for himself,” Musthafa said: “,I ‘Seafood Musthafa’, was more famous and a millionaire in this country when Moosa was riding a bicycle around Henveiru.”
Contacted for a comment today, MP Moosa Manik said he did not wish to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said Assad had not divulged the reason for his decision to leave the government in his resignation letter.
“Unless he confirms the allegations, I would say that is just political speculation and theories,” said Zuhair, referring to Musthafa’s allegations.
Former member of the interim Elections Commission (EC), Ahmed ‘Saabe’ Shahid, has denied allegations of corruption made by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over the purchase of over 50 laptops without a public tender ahead of the October 2008 presidential election.
In a statement issued to the media yesterday, Saabe insisted that the procurement of the laptops was a necessary expense for the commission’s preparations for the historic multi-party elections in October.
The first 20 laptops were purchased after considering prices proposed on September 22 in response to a public announcement on September 16. The first round of the presidential election was held on October 8 and the second round run-off on October 28.
“To my recollection, additional laptops were bought on three further occasions,” reads the statement from Saabe. “Of these, the 10 laptops purchased on October 4 with my authorisation were bought on very short notice just four days before the 2008 presidential election.”
The former deputy chair of the EC explained that normal procurement procedures takes at least six days between the public announcement and the purchase.
The 10 laptops were therefore procured based on the September 16 announcement “after considering the period and [quoted] price of the previous transaction” and the company that could provide the notebook computers at the earliest possible date.
“A quotation was received from the company for this and the reason for the purchase was stated in that quotation,” he wrote.
Saabe noted that the EC was afforded a very short period of time to conduct the first multi-party presidential election and the first election where voters had to be registered.
In addition to considerable efforts in preparation, said Saabe, the commission had to make arrangements for Maldivians living abroad to participate in the election and register workers at resorts and industrial islands “to ensure the right to vote for every Maldivian citizen in a very short space of time.”
Saabe observed that while Rf99 million was allocated for the two rounds of the presidential election, the EC actually spent Rf65.1 million and “saved the state Rf30.9 million.”
The savings were the result of measures taken by the commission to reduce cost and wastage, he suggested.
“Section 18 of the Elections Commission Act states that the commission cannot be charged for actions taken with good intentions,” he said, adding that the transactions were made with the intention of doing “the best possible work in an extraordinarily short period of time.”
United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navenethem Pillay will deliver an address at parliament tomorrow, Speaker Abdulla Shahid announced today.
As there is no scheduled sitting of parliament tomorrow, the High Commissioner will give the speech at committee room number one.
Navenethem Pillay is a South African of Tamil descent and was appointed to the post on September 1, 2008.
According to the Office of the High Commissioner, “Ms. Pillay has served as a judge on two of the most important international criminal courts in the modern era, spending eight years with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, including four years as its President, and then the past five years on the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Both of these courts deal with the extreme end of the human rights spectrum — war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and are at the cutting edge of the development of international law in these areas.”
Today’s sitting of parliament was cancelled shortly after 1pm as enough MPs for a quorum were not in the chamber.
Announcing the cancellation, Speaker Abdulla Shahid said the quorum bell had been rung three times without any success.
The sitting was first adjourned at 9.33am after Minister’s Question Time when quorum was lost. The planned resumption at 10am was however delayed to 11am due to failure to meet a quorum.
After 11am restart, preliminary debate continued on amendments proposed by opposition MP Hassan Latheef to the Public Finance Act. MPs also debated a proposal by Thulusdhoo MP Rozaina Adam to create a new standing committee for women and children’s affairs.
Meanwhile, five committee meetings took place today, including a sub-committee meeting to review legislation on corporate profit taxes.
According to Majlis attendance records, of the 77 MPs in parliament, 10 MPs did not come to work today while two were on holiday and two had called in sick. The number of MPs required for a quorum is 26.
GMR will begin charging international passengers a US$25 (Rf385.5) Airport Development Charge (ADC) at the departure check-in counters of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport for all flights scheduled after 12 am on January 1, 2012.
The fee was previously approved by the government as part of its contract with GMR, said State Transport Minister Adil Saleem.
“This is supposed to be standard procedure in most airports, but I’m not sure that all airports do it. It may depend on their development status. Sometimes it’s collected with the ticket price,” said GMR Head of Corporate Communications Mahika Chandrasena.
To incorporate the fee into ticket prices, International Air Transport Association (IATA) must provide a specialised code to airlines. IATA has not provided these codes.
Local airline operators allegedly informed GMR last week that without IATA’s permission they could not charge the fee internally.
Administrative Manager for Maldivian Airlines Ali Nashad Ahmed said the airline was “still seeking advice from Civil Aviation on how to proceed” with fees and customer relations due to the change. The airline expects to receive further instructions within the next week.
According to Chandrasena, the mechanism to incorporate the fee into ticket prices will be installed in the near future. Until then, GMR will charge the fee separate from airline tickets as per government regulations.
Immigration and customs authorities have supported the move, said Chandrasena, although the public is disgruntled at the higher price. “The fee is actually low compared to other airports,” said Chandrasena. “In Indonesia the fee is somewhere around US$50.”
Deputy Director General of the Civil Aviation Department Hussein Jaleel today said he didn’t know why IATA had refused the code, but that the department was recommending that the fee be charged at point of sale.
“It is more convenient for the passengers,” he said. “Some airports charge the fee separately, so this not peculiar to the Maldives. But our recommendation is to include the fee in the ticket price itself, so passengers only have to make one payment,” Jaleel said.
All passengers except those holding Maldivian passports and work visas will be expected to pay the amount in US dollars. The boarding pass will be issued after payment.
(0)Dislikes
(0)