Prosecutor General (PG) Muhuthaz Muhsin has withdrawn corruption charges against Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed’s wife.
The Anti Corruption Commission in August 2013 requested the PG to press corruption charges against Fathimath Afiya for forming a company with a foreigner.
The 2000 Corruption Prevention Act bars minister’s spouses from engaging in business with foreign parties with punishment of imprisonment, house arrest or banishment for a period up to three years.
Afiyaa had established a company with Dubai-based Indian Muslim businessman Firoz Ghulam Khan to sell jewellery to resorts.
She reportedly owned 1500 shares in ‘Pure Gold Jewelry Maldives Private Limited’ while Khan controlled 103,500 shares.
In a press conference at the Islamic Ministry in September 2012, Khan announced that he would donate a sum of US$10,000 to the Zakat fund every month in a bid to support the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
“Zakat (Alms) is not something given as charity. This is something I am obliged to do. Zakat money is something that should be given to the needy. I have told Minister Shaheem that I will deposit the money to the fund in the first week of every month,” he was quoted saying in the media at the time.
The Criminal Court said the charges had been withdrawn in September.
Muhsin in August announced a new policy to drop charges against first time offenders for petty crimes under a “second chance programme.”
Eligibility criteria includes consideration of the seriousness of crime, the circumstances under which it was committed, physical or psychological harm caused, the rights of injured parties, and the penalty prescribed by law.
Persons who commit crimes for which a punishment is prescribed in Islamic Shariah would not be eligible, Muhsin noted.
Article 15(a) of the Corruption Prevention Act states – “The Chief Justice, or the Speaker of Parliament, or a member of cabinet, or a cabinet minister, or anyone having a position equivalent to that, or the Auditor General, or the Commissioner of Elections, or a Judge of High Court, or an Atoll Chief, or the wife or the husband of any such person, or any state employee which the President decides so and their spouses having private business relations with a foreign party is an offence.”
Minister Shaheem – who was placed among the top 500 most influential Muslims in 2010 by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISC) Jordan – was earlier also accused of sexual misconduct in a video broadcast by local media Raajje TV, in which he was seen speaking with a figure in a hijab before leading her through a doorway.
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Unethical business dealings and corruption, sexual misconduct, what else does this illustrious leader of the flock have going on?
It would illuminate the readers to have a sketch of the scene when Sheikh Shaheem 'lead' the un-hijabed damsel ' through a doorway'..
It looks most certainly like a narrow alley with dim red lights
🙂
LOL. This farce of a justice system continues to deliver more gems.
A policy to 'drop charges against first time offenders' conveniently protects the elite and white collar crime.
What.A.Joke.
The defendant in a criminal case is allowed to write to the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court to change the judge overseeing his case.
Said Chief Judge then takes over the case himself.
The defendant is allowed to enter the court premises through a backdoor, avoiding the prying eyes of the media and public.
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Chief Judge of the Criminal Court claims without hesitation, at a public speech, that the Justice System of Maldives will not hesitate to provide certain people with the correct "elite" treatment, and will not hesitate to show them the backdoor entry (pardon the pun) whenever they feel it is needed.
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Said Chief Judge of Criminal Court is one who asked a minor who demonstrate in court the actual action by which she was abused sexually.
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A Supreme Court Justice who had been recorded on TWO separate occasions, first in which he discusses with a prominent businessman, his power within the Maldivian system, the influence of the incumbent President over himself, and his DIRECT involvement in the overthrow of the previous presidency; second in which he is seen fornicating in a similar hotel room with up to 3 different sex workers, while blatantly hiding his identity and abstaining from alcohol for fear of revealing his position in Maldives.
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The said Supreme Court Justice then sits on the bench and votes IN FAVOUR of motions that decide that the first round of elections should be nullified using evidence garnered from a SECRET police report which was not available for cross examination by the Elections Commission. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and two other justices had differing verdicts, saying the evidence available for miscounted or misconstrued votes did not account for enough of a difference to make any change in the outcome of the voting round - Which was seen evident when the re-vote yielded exactly the same results.
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The same Supreme Court Justice sat on the bench and voted in favour of motions which dismissed the INDEPENDENT Elections Commissioner and Deputy for not following explicit instructions set out by the Supreme Court, in order to detail how to conduct the Elections of Maldives.
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I do believe I may have missed some things here and there; one can only remember so many amazing events happening in the Justice system of a country, a system that we put our hopes in to preserve our rights and the rights of every citizen in the country.
This cannot be a joke.
It is more likely that it is the order of the day!
Under these circumstances, it cannot be justice that is going to prevail! It will be injustice!
Looks like very shortly Satan will be jobless in this country!
Also same Supreme Court judge rules in favour of a person who leaked the tapes to media with Reethi beach Nazim, to deprive the State and tax payers a sum of US$ 2 500,000/- just lay his hands on US$ 300,000/- . Selling his own soul
Once again, another farce staring the public right in the face. But hey, who cares? Because nothing will be done about it. I have the upmost respect for you journalists. You report these infuriating stories and give the people something to protest about/complain to the government about, but what happens? Nothing. The people at the top get away with it time and time again. At least Minivan News is around to keep it all on a permanent record.
Furthermore, Minister Shaheem's wife is a Nurse at IGMH. It seems pretty obvious that her being a shareholder with a foreign investor, possibly one ready to invest in Maldives, is nothing more than a cover-story for the direct financial involvement of Minister Shaheem with said investor.
This is corruption, clear and simple. And no simple 'first offender misdemeanor' as our esteemed PG is making this out to be. You don't provide first offender rights for high-profile corruption cases for government officials - you do them for minors and victims of crimes of circumstance.
Isn't she blessed