Police have exhibited video footage of a wooden pole thrown from above injuring a 17 year-old during a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest outside former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s residence, Maafanu Endherimaage.
At a press briefing last night, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah said police wished to “reveal the truth” about the incident as “deliberately false allegations have been made against police using the media” to bring the institution into disrepute, and “relentless attempts” had been made to cast aspersions on police and its senior officers.
On Monday, police arrested Gassan Maumoon, son of the former President, on suspicion of hurling the 5-foot block of wood from the Endherimaage building. The Criminal Court however ruled that his arrest was unlawful and ordered his release.
The video footage shows the wooden pole strike the victim on the head and the crowd scattering after other objects were thrown down. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Minivan News journalists observed gravel, hot boiling water and sharp metal objects raining down on protesters.
Jinah said the victim, Hussein Hassan, Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo Semy, had to undergo brain surgery to repair damage to his skull and “one side of his body is paralysed.”
Police did not want to reveal such video footage to the public lightly, said Jinah, but did so in this case because “many people have been using different media to claim that [the incident] never happened and make serious allegations against police contrary to the truth of the matter to bring the institution into disrepute.”
Police were also investigating damage caused to private property during the MDP protest and ascertaining the cost of the damages, Jinah said, adding however that police had not been provided security camera footage from residences in the area upon request.
Two MDP activists were arrested on suspicion of causing damage to the former President’s residence and adjoining houses. The pair have since been released after interrogation despite the Criminal Court extending their arrest for five days.
Of the two cases under investigation, said Jinah, “the most important and serious matter” was the “life-threatening” incident that left the 17-year-old hospitalised.
“We had reasons to implicate Gassan Maumoon in this matter,” Jinah said, adding that police had statements from eight witnesses who saw Gassan on the balcony as well as photos taken by a police forensic team of wooden poles inside the Endherimaage building Thursday night.
In addition to eyewitness testimony and forensic evidence, said Jinah, the “most important reason” for suspecting Gassan was his admission upon questioning that he did step out to the balcony.
When Gassan let slip that he was on the balcony, Jinah said “after a gesture from his lawyer he then exercised the right to remain silent.”
“When a police investigation team gets such information, there is no reason not to suspect a person of committing a crime,” he asserted.
The Criminal Court’s decision to order Gassan’s release was not based on the evidence submitted but “a procedural point” argued by the legal team of the accused.
Gassan’s lawyers filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus, or release from unlawful arrest, before police were due to take the former President’s son before the Criminal Court for an extension of detention.
The Criminal Court has since imposed a one-month travel ban upon request by police.
Meanwhile in a video message released before his arrest with footage from opposition-aligned private broadcaster DhiTV, Gassan denied the allegations and said he heard the protesters call for Gayoom to be “brought out, killed and dragged through the street.”
“At this dangerous moment, my priority was to take my father and mother to what I saw as the safest place in the house,” he said. “Afterwards, I called Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh and asked for help to save us. However we haven’t seen those who committed this atrocity taken for interrogation.”
After being summoned for questioning on Saturday, Gassan noted that police informed his lawyer by phone that a second summons chit was cancelled.
However, a third chit was issued the night before his arrest: “We believe that a third chit came to me after the government directly influenced police and ordered them,” he said.
Asked about the circumstances surrounding Gassan’s arrest, Jinah said Gassan was summoned a second time after receiving new information.
“We decided to take him into custody at the police headquarters,” he said. “If a person cannot be arrested at a police office, I don’t believe we can arrest a person on the street either.”
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Had the boy stayed at his home he wouldn't have been hit by a wooden plank. The boy deserved it.
Haveeru did not have the guts to publish the video on their website, as u know still the cronies operate the so called news agency,. i call out to all associations regarding the media to strike against Haveeru for biased news and information. if they have the guts, even mr badhuru nasir prefers to warm his seat rather than do good work for the nation. well he is a string puppet of the clan who seriously should not have been awarded the position he is at now.
Theses people go around talking abt unjust of the present government(if there is any) as they danced around in the previous regime (now they tlk of democracy , such cheap bastards). Blind these people are when its about gayyoom and thasmeen but when an ordinary citizen is hit with a bloody plank raining down from that castle of gayyoom they stay quite.
If they were convinced that gayyooom is a prophet they would definitely would today even now worship him. and for adhaalath their state of mind would be ' its a kafir who got hit from a plank send from the sky from god, so be it, its faith'..... MORONS
Ziyan if gayyoom came to ure house shot ure mom and did ure sister in front of u, then man u really did deserve it.
I'm no lawyer, but this video seems to me prima facie evidence against residents of the former President's house.
And yet the court has ruled Ghassan's arrest 'unlawful'?
This is why I agree with Ibra et al on the sad state of our judiciary - incompetent/corrupt to levels bordering on the criminal.
If I were to pour boiling water on people protesting in the street, I would not have the courts of the country to bail me out immediately because of my family name.
This is disgraceful, to say the least.
The footage of the falling stick is a waste of time. We don't know where it came from. Could have been thrown by one of the wild MDP activists who where throwing sticks and stones at Gayoom's house. We seem to have voted in a gang of thugs. Ashamed to have been associated with MDP.
Democracy: peoples rule, so the rich have power over legislation
i fear more now than ever. MDP thugs had attacked a hosuehold it does not matter whether its Gaytoom or not ? This is giving very bad message to the public and we now need to question what is the role of the Police in this country.
Not a single day goes by without a robery incidence but still Givernmnet is giving second chance to thos drugist ? for what ?
The angle,speed and force can be easily calculated from the video. The very abstract of my calculation from this video, does not seems that it has correct angle of a fallen object,rather it appears a projectile force applied from the ground.
Balls
It was unlawful mob who has threatened a freeman in his house although he was a dictator but he was not a convicted criminal in the eyes of the law. So the mob was unlawful and people who were at the house were under a serious threat and even if someone has hurled a wooden plank and accidently someone got injured who was one of the very individual who was threatening those in the house, why the whole banana republic is frantic about this and only picking up one guy because he was the dictator’s son. What a crazy people?
So at every gathering, if any kind of mob say peaceful protesters are gathered down near my house, i have the right to pour acid plus throw doors and windows hurling down on them, accidentally hitting someone and getting him killed is justified.
I CALL ALL RESIDENTS OF MALE' TO POUR ACID AND METALS AND REAL HEAVY ITEMS ON ANY GATHERINGS NEAR URE HOUSEHOLD ESPECIALLY IF ITS A PPM OR DRP RALLY OR PROTEST< in order to safeguard use house from the annoying so called mob.... THIS WOULD BE A NEW TYPE OF FIASCO AGAIN INTRODUCED TO OUR SYSTEM BY THE AGING DICKTATORS ,... this time his sibling......
i can remember once this gassan guy came to a hithaana at a house and he got excited when people were throwing water and talc powder on people , he wanted to rub AXE oil on the ladies faces for fun...his father would have been so proud...
I have watched the two videos and come to the conclusion that objects rained down on people from above.MDP people were below and not above. Somebody else was above, not the MDP.
The country was 21 years under Nasirite dictatorship, and 30 years of Gayoomite dictatorship. After this 51 years' dictatorial rule, Maldives would not, overnight, become a democracy.
I saw mob violence and a son of Gayoom terrified for his parents' lives.
Gayoom has decided to remain in politics to save himself, and there is a perception that the Judiciary is biased in favour of Gayoom family.
Opposition perceives that Police are taking orders from the MDP Government.
When will Maldivians learn?
There are no history books in the Maldives from which people could learn about their history.
Many of the contributions to Minivan News are very third rate and low class.
Gayoom resembles fallen leaders in Egypt and Libya: Mubarak and Gaddafi.
MDP seems to be preparing for Chairman Mao style Red Guard action and perpetual Revolution.
Glad I am not in Male.
What a bunch of crazy banana republic is this. Real savages... The same crazy people who have fed and sustained Qayoom’s dictatorship now gain seems are on the road to create another dictatorship. It is time for Qayoom to realize, that this cult like society was created by him, his absolute power to control everything has lead to create this savage like society. Isn’t better for him to leave these savages and forget them and try to live a peaceful life. The people of this banana republic do not know what is right and what is wrong and even don’t know that you cannot influence the judiciary by any power and if the judiciary is biased that is not your fault. In such a situation, your involvement is not a wise this for you to do. If you are hungry for power, the result will not be sweet because the half of people in the country believes that you have plundered the country.
Folks. Unless we can bring Justice to Gayoom and his family we cannot live in peace. The administration and the judiciary are unable to do so. We should do this by ourselves and not wait for others to do this for us. Enough is enough.
Gayoom is free only because he bought the judiciary when he was in power. Soon we will bring Justice to him.
@Ziyan:
You hear there's a unicorn outside your house. You come out to have a look. Someone chops off your balls. You are the guilty party then?
I'm surprised that Gassan did not pour boiling water on the thugs. They were there in their numbers with rocks, planks, backed by MPs and senior government officials, trying to break down his door screaming to kill his dad. Police were nowhere to be seen. If it was me in this situation I would have thrown whatever I can at these thugs. Thats called SELF DEFENCE.
I condemn the injury to the boy, but at the same time MDP & The Police are responsible to the unlawfull act damaging private property of a fellow citizen. I would called the injury is collateral damage due to an unlawfull act by the members of rulling party including some government officials.
The police must summon everybody at Endherimaage including Gayoom and his wife to ensure we investigate this issue. We should not let these crooks get a way with day light robbery again.
IT IS SUCH A SHAME HAVEERU REFUSED TO PUT THIS VIDEO UP ON THEIR WEBSITE.
NO DOUBT, A SPECIAL REQUEST BY GAYOOM TO ZAHIR HUSSAIN.
THIS COWARDLY ACT IT SELF SAYS ALOT ABOUT HOW GUILTY THEY ARE FOR THROWING THE PLANK, KNIVES AND POURING HOT WATER FROM ENDHERIMAAGE.
@ Michael Fahmy
It is true that Maldives has been run as a dictatorship for 51 years, or even more.
Thus It is only plausible that there are people (and large families) who wants to keep it that way.
May be Maumoon is just doing their fight for them. Why is it that MDP not going after the backers of Maumoon - or does MDP also need such backing?
And what would the next 51 years like?
We have to get rid of this clan. If Gassan can get away with murder, this country is doomed if this ba$tard comes to power.
Justice is not always punishing, if punishment of individual leads more chaos and collective injustice than what the culprit has done, non punishment may be a better justice. Lot of people doesn’t believe Qayoom was a bad person or he has done anything wrong. But the majority of Banana Republic don’t have analytical brain but a rather selfish and barbaric brain and get satisfied by disgracing others, and looting and vulgar. What we see in the video clip is a proof of this. That mob reminds us of hungry baboons attacking human carrying food.
It seems to me that both the protestors and the people inside the House are at Fault.
1. We saw videos of people kicking endherimaage's house's door. MDP should have condemned this. Police should have stopped this.
2. We saw videos of planks and stuff being thrown on the protestors on the streets. Someone inside the house. (Could have been someone else besides Qassaan), has thrown the plank which hit the boy on the head. I dont know about the guy commenting above but from the angle the plank was dropped, it seemed it was dropped from pretty high up, and not thrown by someone. Something so heavy as that plank could not have been thrown at that angle from the street. (To test this, please go out to a street and throw a brick and see how it curves when thrown from an angle. Similarly as the plank seems to be falling down at a straight line, it is obvious that the plank was dropped from very high up).
Thus - 2 solutions.
1. Arrest the MDP protestors and parteys who are seen kicking the door of endherimaage, and tried to barge into the house.
2. Arrest the guy who was inside Endherimaage who threw the plank onto the guys head.
Its not about MDP or DRP. Its about Justice. In Maldives, people on different sides seem not to be able to see the stupid acts committed by people on their side. MDP people cant (or will never) admit to mistakes or blunders committed by their party people. Doesnt matter if its obvious and as plain as daylights, they will refuse to accept their mistakes. Similarly people from DRP, they wont ever accept that someone from their side is or has done something wrong.
Ask an MDP person if prices have reached aiy foaraa fashah and they will never admit that its the governments failed policies that are pushing prices up. (Dollar exchange rate change, introduction of GST). MDP will never admit that it was a mistake or that their proposal to introduce the floating band of 10 -15.42 exchange rate for the dollar was a big flop and the whole economy is suffering because of it.
Similarly, people from DRP will never admit that anything bad happened in the previous regime. Denial denial. A
Dont like Maumoon and hate him as much as the next freedom loving Maldivian, but this is a disgrace, where were the police, this is not the way to do thing, Janavaaru goitha dhookola.
I wont be surprised if this garners more support for Maumoon, bad move MDP