Jumhoree Party (JP) Deputy Leader and MP Abdulla Jabir has challenged the legitimacy of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan and his current government, alleging the country is now run by the police and military.
His wife Dhiyana Saeed, President Waheed’s Minister for Gender and Human Rights, was subsequently sacked.
At a press conference regarding the police raid of arrests of himself, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, former President’s Special Envoy Ibrahim Hussain Zaki and other persons on charges of consuming alcohol, Jabir strongly criticized Waheed and the current government.
“They were so violent at first I thought they were some pirates or terrorists, they didn’t have badges or identification. Only after hours of brutality did they claim to be police and tell us we were arrested under charges of drug abuse,” Jabir said.
“I kept asking why theywere acting in such a violent manner, but no one provided a reply.”
He said that they had been handcuffed for close to 12 hours before they had been transferred to the Kulhudhuhfushi court.
Jabir, who had refused to provide urine samples to the police, explained his stand: “I repeated this to the judge too. I said I’m ready to give urine, or even shave off all the hair on my head and give it to them, or even blood,but that they had to follow laws and procedures when making arrests.”
The MP in the ruling coalition party further alleged that “some persons” in the executive had lately been finding it “hard to digest statements in Majlis which were made in the public interest” and had resorted to tactics such as phone tapping. He also said that since military vehicles were involved, it was “reason enough” to believe that Minister of Defence and National Security Mohamed Nazim were complicit.
Jabir said he had made a phone call to the Minister of Home Affairs Dr Mohamed Jameel right after he was released by the court.
“The Home Minister, Dr Jameel, said he had no knowledge [of the arrests]. So I have to say now that this country does not even have a home minister.”
“I am a JP MP who has supported Waheed and voted with his interests in parliament. I am also a deputy leader of JP, which is a coalition member of this government. Why did they then beat us up like this?” Jabir continued.
“Zaki nearly died. I almost died, too. I must say now the government is trying to kill off MPs.”
Speaking of the ministers, Jabir said: “No one has yet submitted a case on their cabinet posts to the courts, and the courts have not decided whether they are in their posts legitimately.”
“Even though the CNI said that this is not a coup, under what law does that CNI even qualify as a legal court?” Jabir said, questioning the legitimacy of the government – of which his own party is a coalition member.
“I see no reason why the President does not have to take the responsibility for this. That is, if there is a president. I now question whether there even is a president here. I guess the courts will provide us with an answer to that,” Jabir stated.
“I was giving Waheed my full support. But now I have been brutally beaten up for no reason at all. How can I support him after this? I can only describe the people behind this as devils disguised as humans,” he continued.
“I now see that what we have in the Maldives is a military dictatorship. We need to hold early elections as soon as possible. I will do everything I can in my capacity as a parliament member to facilitate early elections.”
“You were not even elected”: former HR Minister to President
Waheed administration’s Human Rights Minister, Dhiyana Saeed, also attended her husband Jabir’s press conference the previous day “as moral support to [her] husband who has been badly brutalised.”
She was subsequently dismissed from cabinet.
“In my career, I have always had to take the side of the police and defend their actions, although I have never found it easy to accept their brutality towards citizens,” Saeed said, adding, “But this time, I have seen too close the violence they dealt out. No one should be beaten up, regardless of what the charges for arrest are.”
Saeed then proceeded to demonstrate through role play the exact manner in which the police had brutalised her husband, acting out how and where the police had hit him.
“Police even hit Jabir on his private organs so hard that he is still bleeding. I would know, I have seen for myself,” Saeed said, sharing the doctor’s reports to support the point.
According to Saeed, she had sent a text message to Waheed upon learning of Jabir’s arrest: “I said to him that he would know very well which of the cabinet ministers have spouses who consume alcohol, and that I knew very well why Jabir was arrested. I was implying that it was politically motivated and had to do with Monday’s vote in parliament. If it honestly is about alcohol consumption, then I believe there’s a huge number of people that need to be arrested.”
“I also told him that I am very shocked to see the levels he is stooping to to hold on to his post, and said that he was not even elected by a public vote. I have quite a lot of things I can say under oath too.”
Saeed then claimed that Waheed had responded stating that he was unaware of the arrests, adding that he himself was questioning who could have done this and for what purpose. According to her, Waheed himself said that he suspected it had been done in connection to Monday’s vote, in order to create more hostility towards him among the MPs.
Dhiyana Saeed was terminated from her post as the Human Rights Minister on Monday, following her public criticism of the current administration.
Abbas quits JP over Jabir’s comments
Meanwhile, government spokesperson and council member of JP Abbas Adil Riza has quit the party today, stating as a reason that judging by the statements made by people in the party leadership, he did not like the direction the party seemed to be moving in.
“Jabir’s statements are not sentiments that I can agree with. I don’t accept that it is within my principles to stay with people who evade taxes and defame police and other people. That is why I am leaving the party,” Abbas said.
We acted professionally during the arrest: police
Police have made public their official video of the arrest on Monday. Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef denied that police had caused any physical harm to any of the arrested persons.
He however said that those who had restricted arrest had been pushed to the ground and handcuffed, adding that any damage caused through showing resistance was the responsibility of the arrested.
Haneef stated that police had followed normal procedures and acted professionally in the operation.
Abdulla Jabir and Dhiyana Saeed’s press conference:
Police footage of Jabir’s arrest:
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You reap what you sow. Maldives has not been a democracy since Feb 7, 2012.
Diyaana Was en M.P in Parliament fill a post as special M.P from the President Gayoom.Unelected M.P for President.this was the time that the constitution was on debate at the Parliament.She got sack or Kicked out of Parliament when she stated talking Proper things about Maldivians ther right, Diyaana is having a hard time in political filed
http://www.sun.mv/24306
please see link and verify your self about the dramas she made in public while being a minister of the state. is she saying that the law is bullshit!!!!
Diyana. RIP.
Amen
I guess Jabir is beginning to understand the kind of characters he is dealing with. What happened to Dr. Afrasheem could happen to anyone.
The GMR issue is going to get worse as the government cannot keep up with the payments due to them. All the thanks for this fiasco goes to Hassan Saeed.
Sheikh Imran is a nut case if he thinks the GOM is powerful enough to kick GMR out by force.
Why I bring up the GMR issue here is because it is the Damocles sword hanging over Waheed's head. GMR is powerful enough to obtain what is owed to them. When the GOM reaches the point when they can no longer afford to pay GMR, the civil service,the army and the police Waheed better pack and run. The other option is to continue squeezing funds from the Maldivian public already overburdened.
The Maldives has become a ticking time bomb.
1. A military dictatorship is 1000 times better and more predictable than a dictaorship run by gangs financed by resort owners - which is the case now. I commend the police and the military for being tough on crime.
2. If the Gov is illegal as Diyana claims, she should be prosecuted for being a part of it.
3. Actually Jabir and Dhiana are not smart people at all, just listen to the interview and you know. They get away by being shamelessly cocky and daring. But the police is proving to be more smarter now.
4. The whole thing shows Buruma Qasim's bad judgement for having these people in his party. Qasim can never be president of this country and hopefully today he must have realized it.
During Dhiyana's time as the Human Rights Minister, the only person she found with any human rights was her husband. She failed to defend him and lost her job in the process. She sided with some dirty politicians and she should have known better.
Its comical how she tried to spin for her husband. But being a minister, people expect impartial professional who speaks for everyone, not just her husband. This time she has proved with good drama that she is not fit for this job. she never was, her appointment was always more political than based on merit.
Benito Mussolini, seems to make me think of what might become of Waheed. Country is going broke, people will lose jobs which in turn will cut taxes. There will soon be a fire sale on scooters in Male due to payment default followed by repossession. Say good by to sunglasses and expensive mobile phones. Soon smoking will be banned in cafe's, putting more business out of business. On top of all this not one police officer has been held accountable for mutiny ??? CNI report was paid bribes, what a F'n joke, lol… Somehow the government still has time to blow cash with a big firework display and building a monument to show what a bunch of hero's there are in the Maldives, lol… Sorry but the real hero's where in WWI and II not in your ridiculous almost coupt by some tiger tables.
This country is so deep in it's own shit it's not even funny. The whole religious thing is out of control. Taliban are circling like vultures, waiting to pick up the scraps.
On one hand Anni is right, you people need to go out on the streets and raise serious hell. But we all know that aint going to happen.
RIP, Maldives tourism !
spelling correction, "tiger tamils", not that it matters, lol.
revise your dictionaries, people. 'acting professionally' now means kicking people in the nuts, according to police.
Minivan News failed to mention the press statement that Abbas Adil Riza gave when resigning from Jumhoory Party
"I dont believe that, my party should follow people who dont pay taxes and PEOPLE WHO CONSUME ALCOHOL (referring to Jabir)." Underline PEOPLE WHO CONSUME ALCOHOL.
Is it just a coincidence that Minivan news articles failed to mention the word consume alcohol ? And no-where in the article it is mentioned that the honourable MP's and politicians were captured with Alcohol bottles in their rooms, in their luggage, in boxes stashed in their toilets.
Of course not. When you try to portray a certain side of the story (Gungnam.... i mean ...Jabirs style ! ) you have to omit a lot of facts that a lot of people state.
Like the fact that in the Police Video shown today, Zaki was swaying and giggling giddily, and replied to questions asked in a state of intoxiation. Facts like the sheer quantities of alcohol that were found on the makeshift-bar in the beach of the honourable MP's, in their rooms inside foam boxes, inside the toilet stuffed inside boxes. Facts like the half - empty wine glasses and the opened drugs packets.
OF COURSE IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN PLANTED SILLY.... POLICE MUST HAVE BEEN RUNNING AROUND WITH HALF-EMPTY WINE BOTTLES WHEN THEY SWAM TO THE ISLAND (they swam with one -hand holding the wine glasses up while swimming with the other hand), AND OF COURSE THE MAJILIS MEMBERS AND HONOURABLE MDP POLITICIANS WERENT CONSUMING ALCHOL, THEY WERE JUST GIGGLING AND TALKING FUNNY BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY TALK THAT WAY.
Believing what you want is okay. But when you refuse to believe only the side of the story which you politically believe and ignore a TON of evidence, there is something very wrong with that. That suggests a level of maniac-ism in our country today .. the truth is the only truth that will portray the political party which i support in a positive light. Anything else is garbage.
Someone on twitter labelled Dhiyana the Husband Rights Minister. Quite appropriate I think.
Dear Lolly Gabir,
When is your next trip? I would like to join have some drinks with you, smoke pot and suck on a lolly with you.
Yours sincerely,
The Maldivian citizens.
This is very funny. Jabir was caught red handed violating the country's law with a bunch of other MPs. the police video clearly shows none of you have been tortured or beaten, there were no such signs. Only a bit of sand on your faces doesn't mean you were tortured, rather it means you resisted the arrest. Dhiyana should have used her common sense and honesty in this case by accepting that her husband was wrong this time. But why would she do that, it would her marriage and personal life in jepordy. Hence she started talking rubbish and ended up costing her job. I don't feel sorry for anyone. All those MPs guilty should be behind bars just like any other common man. Dhaiyana can think of selling pop corns on the road.
We have professional dogs as our police.
I drink and always fear I would get caught. There are some people in this country with fully stacked bars in their residences. Some people with resort money have their mansions with swimming pools and all the booze you could imagine under the roof. Our vice president knows a thing or two about living lavishly. I would like to live like them - to drink, enjoy and not worry. But as things stand now, I would like equality first. I get caught, they get caught. They drink freely and I drink freely.
We are a brutal dictatorship again.
Strange! All these commentators could only focus on "alcohol" and "Dhiyana" ...why could you not see that the situation is beyond those two factors? TWO public figures who supported the Waheed regime has lost confidence in them and is questioning the legitimacy his government that THEY helped bring in. Seems very clear that they are testifying publicly that this regime is illegal and what they have done to the previous government was wrong! As for those calling Dhiyana "not smart", have you ever seen the inside of a Law school much less a high-school? I certainly don't support her back-stabbing standards, but lets just say that she is smarter and educated than any of the police personnels in Maldives. When the Maldivian police are incapable of controlling what they are supposed to, they resort to brutalizing the people! So who exactly is smarter here? The one who managed to get into a Law school abroad and get public posts, or the policemen who just finished Grade 6 and enlist in the police and have no knowledge of the world? If Dhiyana said that the laws in Maldives are bullshit, why am I not surprised? She is simply calling a spade and spade and any reasonable person in Maldives and abroad can see that the laws and legal system in Maldives are CRAP! Too bad she supported the Puppet Waheed and his clowns. She is reaping what she sowed. So will the police in the end for the atrocities they committed against the public on the 7th. Too late...too late for all Maldivians.
Police had done a good job in arresting these MPs and some MDP leaders. All these people are known for thier addition yo Alcohol and was no secret to many Maldvian.
Zaki, and jabir were always buddies and Jabir joined the JP to spoil Gasim at the request of Anni.
Now Gasim is the victim here too.
Gasim wakeup and Anni is trying to infest you with the deadly virus of " Anni syndrome".
@Lubna Ali
I believe you belong to a gang. True, what we need are 'professional and real dogs' as the police to go after people like you.
Otherwise criminals rule. How dare you slander the police for doing their job.
Jabir, the insatiable wicked lolly, Dhiana;the husband licking folly and Maldive police;quite ingenious and savvy.
Anybody for Mdp, forget about them, they are history!
LOL!
Must be awful having to defend these people.
I sympathize with Minivan in this case.
Some spins are just impossible.
Kudos to Dhiyana and Minivan for making do with what little they had to go on.
Yet as several commentators have pointed out. The moral high-ground has been lost. What's left is weak propaganda. Hence the sudden flight of the Nasheeds and the Qasims. Can't have our image tarnished before 2013 now can we?
Police defame themselves by beating up people, Abbas "the ass" Adil Riza.
I have always been a critic of Waheed for the way he came to power. The events of the last week or so is starting to sway my balance of stance. If he shows himself to be strong enough to deal with people like Jabir, and the now exed transport minister, he may well win my vote at the next election...
The half empty glasses of wine, the sheer amount of alcohol stocked on the island raises a lot of questions. This wasn't a tourist resort, and therefore doesn't have a permit to either sell or even store alcohol.
Jabir is the legal guardian of the island, and carries full responsibility for all that goes on there.
To make a long story short, Jabir and his drinking pals were caught with their pants down! It wasn't supposed to happen that way, but the stupidity of the fools never ceases to amaze me. Indeed, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki appears to be pissed as a newt when the police were interrogating him.
Cut this horse shit about the dear old grandpa being arrested in front of his grand children. If the grandpa cared about his grand children, he certainly shouldn't have been where he was!
where are the wounds on our brutalised honorable mp? accusations with so little evidence to back them up. the mp was not in the best frame of mind give a reliable account of what happened anyway.his recollection of what happened is probably a hallucination from all the hash oil. the party campaigning for justice sees no problem with the well connected being let off while the average person is jailed for breaking the same laws, i see.
MPs caught drinking in a 100% islamic country. What is the percentage of Maldivians who have illegally consumed alcohol in their life? This only shows the high level of hypocrisy that innocent women and children have to bear and live with. Women have to stay at home and some obliged to wear veil while their spouses are partying!!!Shame shame shame...
Consuming Alcohol is quite common with nearly everyone in the people's majlis.
So why today the government only finds a certain few people to arrest on this issue?
Puppet government, run by a few dictators behind closed doors.
Very soon they will be scared of the monster they created, wait n see!
A guy who was caught in red had while boozing and using narcotics now blabbing and MDP got the fodder to make headline,looks like Minivan news has a field day.
@Waheeda34
Didnt you get a free Dharus CD from Milk Sheik Ali Rameez.
wear you veil and the black tent otherwise, Tsunami will come.
Recently we heard from media a wine bottle was found in MP shiyam luggage when he returned to Male' from abroad. The news leaked after so many months. This is a 100% Muslim country Being a MP does not allow him breaking Maldivian law but our problem is, police usually arrest an average or poor person for the same crime
Adherence to Islam and staying away from alcohol and drugs are the values we impart to our young kids.
Dhiyana, in her utter ignorance did not speak in defense of those values. She rather went all the way down in defending an accused criminal busted with drugs.
Sure, so many people drink. But that does not mean the thousands of mothers and fathers in this country aspire good values for their kids - i.e., stay away from drugs.
tsk tsk the man of moral high grounds. The man who ran after Gasim needing "some cash". independent my ass!
This whole thing is crazy! Alcohol consumption is the least of our worries!
Ali. GMR will go out from this country and we have had the airport for last 40 years and it was build by Maldivian not by GMR.
The airport was not built as it as given to GMR and there have been improvements happening throughout its life span.
But the pace of the development was slow and we could have done much faster the required development provided that there was decent management who were not corrupted.
Anni decided to give away the airport , not because he wanted to have nice airport but he want to get fat big cut from the deal for himself and his associates.
If the dictator Anni had given the airport to Swiss Port, then we the Maldvian would have been proud of the contract , But Anni denied and rejected the offer since he was not offered a "cut" by them.
I think the headline of this article should read, Maldives sacks human rights minister after she openly defends him, and denies the evidences and police arrest warrant charging Jabir with alcohol consumption, and possesstion of Narcotics. Jabir unable to explain how half empty alcohol bottles and opened packets containing hashish oil were found in the vicinity of his picnic island, with participants of the picnic responding to police queries in a state of intoxication.
Ha ha ha. Country of hypocrites and heretics. Go on make fools of yourself. The world is watching you....
Jabir and Dhiyana were among the most notable of those who quit Nasheed's government right before the coup happened. Made me think then that they knew what was going to happen and they jumped off the ship which was about to be sunk.
Soon after the coup they both land top posts in the new coalition government, most probably because they were both complicit in what happened to bring down Nasheed's regime. Now this happens. This must be what they call karma. Hope they've learnt their lesson.
Dhiyana opened her statement in the Majlis and the press conference with these words: I believe fundamentally that no man is above the law, not even an MP but what I don't accept is brutality. That is not allowed by law...'. So I say that the discord, bitterness and division among us made most of you deaf to what she said. The other thing is, it is untrue that the only human rights she defended is that of her husband's. I know with certainty that she raised the issue of Hulhumale court and her worries concerning Nasheed's right to a fair trial within her government, even writing a letter to Waheed and Deen. I know that she raised the issue of Reeko Moosa Manik's freedom of expression and the right to be free from persecution all the way to Waheed and the Human Rights Commission. I know that she met with the Chair of the Parliamentary oversight committee on independent institutions and highlighted the gaps in the Human Rights Commission's Report on the threat to Nasheed's life on 7th Feb. I know that Dhiyana refused a cabinet post when it was offered on 9th Feb and she refused because had initial doubts about Waheed's legitimacy. She accepted a post much later in May when Nasheed couldn't substantiate his allegations but as she witnessed more and more, she again became convinced that something was amiss. I know with certainty that she confessed about those doubts to close people. I know with certainty that on the day CoNi' s report was released, she cried and posted these words on her FB: is silence a crime? And will My silence bar me from entering paradise on the day of judgement. I know with certainty that her belief that the government was not legitimate was killing her and that she tried to reach President Nasheed.