Terrorist or Freedom Fighter? – 15 Minutes with Jenny Latheef

Minivan News spends 15 minutes with Jennifer Latheef.
Jenny is a photographer and television documentary-maker. She is also an MDP council member and her father is the MDP Spokesperson.
Jenny is currently awaiting sentence for a charge of “terrorism” following the Male’ riots in September 2003. The riots were sparked by the murder of Evan Naseem in Maafushi Jail by a group of police officers led by Adam Mohamed (Fusfaru).
1) What was your involvement in the riots and the demonstrations following Evan Naseem’s death?
I went there to see. I wanted to see because before that another kid had also died in jail. I thought I have to go and I went and that place was packed, the entire area was packed outside the cemetery. Every person there was feeling the same thing, the same rage because Evan was beaten brutally. You could see everything, all his wounds. They tried to bury him, they were not going to show his face to his mum (Mariyam Manike) but a girl who was there just took the blanket off his body and the crowd saw his face and the bruises all over his body.
There was a unity between the people there. Everyone was feeling the same thing. The people were full of rage. There was a lot of anger. People had been under this system for 25 years. They’d had enough. I think it was becoming more common also – the brutality and the killings. But now this information is getting out to the people. People just die mysteriously. In just my area of town there are five people who have died in jail and Male’ is small. There is so much unreported abuse, people with deformities and pain they have to go through for the rest of their life because of this.
2) Last year you spent one hundred days in jail. Why was that?
I think to begin with, on the 20th September, I was just an easy target because I was there and I would still be there if it happened again. I wasn’t there to instigate violence, I don’t believe in violence. I was there because I wanted to see Evan’s face and when I was there at the cemetery we heard about the other shootings in Maafushi and that there were other dead people at the hospitals so I went there.
They asked me during the investigation why I was there. How can they ask me that? Of course I was there. Do they expect me just to sit at home and idly watch whilst people are murdered? That’s the reason people were out that day, because they didn’t just want to sit at home.
To some extent it played on their conscience and a lot of people there who burned places and things like that, they felt it. They’ve seen it, they’ve felt it, and they’ve been there. And they know it could have been them. And a lot of them knew Evan personally and other people who died that day.
That anger, the pain. It was dangerous but the funny thing is they only attacked government targets. They could have looted shops, robbed places but they didn’t. There was no robbery. Young rioters who went into shops that night paid for what they took. It was just police stations, government buildings that they burnt. The police and the government think it was organised. But if you know anything about organisation you should know that if it was really organised they would have hit the main target first. Not going round the entire place buring little police stations and things. You don’t need a genius to realise that it was not organised. It was spontaneous rage.
3) Do you think that that rage has dissipated two years on?
People are getting more courage. Realising that they really can’t just stay at home and the only way to make it better is to come out. More and more people are going into jail for political reasons, 12-13th [August 2004] for instance. The country is in a state of emergency throughout.
On New Year’s Eve, people were being tried for treason and then they were all just forgiven. How dare they. This is not a joke these are people’s lives. You can’t just expect people to say “Oh goody, I’m pardoned.” It doesn’t work that way. You can’t seriously expect people to believe Gayoom. If there was even a hint that he will actually reform the country… is he actually willing to change and get the reforms done? I don’t think so, I really don’t. Part of me wants to believe that this is true but that’s the foolish part I think. I don’t think a man who has been in power for that long can easily just give it up. It’s not just him, there are a lot of other people attached to his power as well.
4) If Gayoom doesn’t reform, what do you think would happen?
I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t think he can get away with no reform because there is too much international pressure. But given his past its not going to be easy. OK, he’s given one year as a timeframe [January 2006]. But what other excuse is he going to come up with?
5) Do you think people will wait a year for reform?
I think people would. We Maldivians are patient don’t you think? I mean, 27 of all this rule. And before that as well, it’s just been tyrant after tyrant and people, Maldivians, they are good people. They are peaceful people. They are not violent people. We don’t have serial killers and things like that.
6) Given that there is this rage you’ve identified within society if it is not given a peaceful political outlet, what might happen?
That rage hasn’t gone at all. But I don’t want people to start burning place and things like that. It doesn’t seem good. My hope is that change comes without that. I hope that the President has the decency to give that to his people. Because without that it will obviously come to a point where people do come out differently. It’s inevitable if there is no change for too long, that rage will materialise and will be expressed as violence.
7) You were charged with terrorism. Can you explain a little bit about your case? Did you have access to lawyers, what was the evidence like? Did you get a fair trial?
Certainly not because if there had been a fair trial I would not have been in jail. They had no reason to arrest me first of all so this was not justice.
8) People have said that you were a hostage because of your father.
Yes, I think that was basically what I was as well.
They had nine witnesses. Six of them were police people, cops, three of them were civilians. I think they hang out together and they [the three civilians] were together during 20th September. These people said one thing in their statements and when they came to court they said something else.
It was surreal being there first of all. It was just a joke. I couldn’t believe what the prosecution witnesses were saying. They changed what they were saying if they were asked a question twice. They’d say that they “didn’t see me throw a stone” when my lawyer said “you were very far away from Jenny weren’t you? Then the prosecutor asked them and they would say they did see me throw a stone.
9) So the main charge against you was that you threw a stone?
Yes. One of the policemen said I threw a stone at him. Now, I did go upto the police that day outside the hospital. They were there in a line. These police had nothing to do with Evan’s death but I knew that the people who had gathered there did not want to see a policeman. The police were making the people angrier just by being there. I said to them “you have nothing to do with this, you’re just agitating the public.” That’s all I said. I didn’t talk to anyone in particular, I addressed them in general. Then people started throwing rocks and I left and I went home, I didn’t want to be there. I went back later to document what was going on and to take pictures but that was all.
10) Was there any evidence of you trying to plant bombs, trying to assassinate people or hijack aeroplanes?
No.
11) But you were charged with terrorism?
Yes.
12) So, throwing a stone in the Maldives is tantamount to terrorism?
Yes.
13) And what does is the sentence for terrorism?
It is 15 years in jail.
14) And what have you been sentenced to?
I haven’t been sentenced yet. I’ve been charged.
15) And have they found you guilty?
Not yet. The verdict will be given this month apparently.
16) So when did the trial end?
Beginning of July 2004.
17) Was it a jury trial?
No. It is one judge who will decide.
18) And these judges can be dismissed by President Gayoom or the sentence can be overturned by President Gayoom?
Yes
19) So, it’s essentially up to Gayoom whether you are found guilty or not?
Yes. There is no evidence. It’s just foolish. The policeman said I threw a rock that apparently hit him on the shin. He said he talked to me, then he turned around and then I threw a rock at him. Now, unless I had a boomerang how was I supposed to hit him on the shin when he was facing the other way? Now if you’re going to make up evidence, the government could at least make it believable.
I mean, during the investigation a policeman said that they have witnesses saying I jumped on top of a burning vehicle. I just had to laugh at them. I’m not Abraham. I do burn when fire is near me. I can’t be jumping on top of a burning vehicle. If they were going to intimidate me, well, that was not intimidation!
20) But they’ve let you come to Sri Lanka even though you’re still under charges of terrorism, which must be one of the most serious charges you can bring about. But if you are a terrorist awaiting trial, why are they letting you leave Maldives? Why are they letting you on an aeroplane?
Yes. Before I was charged last year I came here also. I think they want me abroad so when they charge me they are hoping I won’t go back to the Maldives. But even if they charge me I will still go back.
21) You are perceived by many people to be the face of the young opposition movement. Have these charges quietened you down?
I don’t think it’s quietened me down. It has not intimidated me. Ok, I didn’t want to be in jail. I think they wanted to quieten my father and the work he has been doing. I wouldn’t want my father to stop the work he is doing because I am in jail and I told the regime that too. I said if they thought that by keeping me my father would be silent they were wrong. And he is not going to stop, even if they kill me he will not stop. And if they do kill me I wouldn’t want him to ever stop.
22) When you were in jail last year, following the 12-13th August demonstration, a lot of people came to visit you. One of which was the American Ambassador to Colombo. He described you as “one tough cookie”.
You have to be. I think every person there was one tough cookie. All of us were there in Dhoonidhoo, we were all there together for the same reason and we all got to know each other. We talked in jail. The best freedom of expression in the Maldives then was in jail. Every now and then a person would call for Maumoon’s resignation and then everyone would be yelling. We kept ourselves entertained and it was nice that way, in a weird sort of way.
But you know, they keep doing this. They keep arresting people and sending them to jail for one month, two months. They torture them either physically or mentally and then just let them go.
23) Does this intimidate people?
I think people have been intimidated but people are now getting the strength not to feel intimidated because there are now people watching, because MDP is watching and because MDP has made sure the international community is watching.

Minivan News spends 15 minutes with Jennifer Latheef.

Jenny is a photographer and television documentary-maker. She is also an MDP council member and her father is the MDP Spokesperson.

Jenny is currently awaiting sentence for a charge of “terrorism” following the Male’ riots in September 2003. The riots were sparked by the murder of Evan Naseem in Maafushi Jail by a group of police officers led by Adam Mohamed (Fusfaru).

1) What was your involvement in the riots and the demonstrations following Evan Naseem’s death?

I went there to see. I wanted to see because before that another kid had also died in jail. I thought I have to go and I went and that place was packed, the entire area was packed outside the cemetery. Every person there was feeling the same thing, the same rage because Evan was beaten brutally. You could see everything, all his wounds. They tried to bury him, they were not going to show his face to his mum (Mariyam Manike) but a girl who was there just took the blanket off his body and the crowd saw his face and the bruises all over his body.

There was a unity between the people there. Everyone was feeling the same thing. The people were full of rage. There was a lot of anger. People had been under this system for 25 years. They’d had enough. I think it was becoming more common also – the brutality and the killings. But now this information is getting out to the people. People just die mysteriously. In just my area of town there are five people who have died in jail and Male’ is small. There is so much unreported abuse, people with deformities and pain they have to go through for the rest of their life because of this.

2) Last year you spent one hundred days in jail. Why was that?

I think to begin with, on the 20th September, I was just an easy target because I was there and I would still be there if it happened again. I wasn’t there to instigate violence, I don’t believe in violence. I was there because I wanted to see Evan’s face and when I was there at the cemetery we heard about the other shootings in Maafushi and that there were other dead people at the hospitals so I went there.

They asked me during the investigation why I was there. How can they ask me that? Of course I was there. Do they expect me just to sit at home and idly watch whilst people are murdered? That’s the reason people were out that day, because they didn’t just want to sit at home.

To some extent it played on their conscience and a lot of people there who burned places and things like that, they felt it. They’ve seen it, they’ve felt it, and they’ve been there. And they know it could have been them. And a lot of them knew Evan personally and other people who died that day.

That anger, the pain. It was dangerous but the funny thing is they only attacked government targets. They could have looted shops, robbed places but they didn’t. There was no robbery. Young rioters who went into shops that night paid for what they took. It was just police stations, government buildings that they burnt. The police and the government think it was organised. But if you know anything about organisation you should know that if it was really organised they would have hit the main target first. Not going round the entire place buring little police stations and things. You don’t need a genius to realise that it was not organised. It was spontaneous rage.

3) Do you think that that rage has dissipated two years on?

People are getting more courage. Realising that they really can’t just stay at home and the only way to make it better is to come out. More and more people are going into jail for political reasons, 12-13th [August 2004] for instance. The country is in a state of emergency throughout.

On New Year’s Eve, people were being tried for treason and then they were all just forgiven. How dare they. This is not a joke these are people’s lives. You can’t just expect people to say “Oh goody, I’m pardoned.” It doesn’t work that way. You can’t seriously expect people to believe Gayoom. If there was even a hint that he will actually reform the country… is he actually willing to change and get the reforms done? I don’t think so, I really don’t. Part of me wants to believe that this is true but that’s the foolish part I think. I don’t think a man who has been in power for that long can easily just give it up. It’s not just him, there are a lot of other people attached to his power as well.

4) If Gayoom doesn’t reform, what do you think would happen?

I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t think he can get away with no reform because there is too much international pressure. But given his past its not going to be easy. OK, he’s given one year as a timeframe [January 2006]. But what other excuse is he going to come up with?

5) Do you think people will wait a year for reform?

I think people would. We Maldivians are patient don’t you think? I mean, 27 of all this rule. And before that as well, it’s just been tyrant after tyrant and people, Maldivians, they are good people. They are peaceful people. They are not violent people. We don’t have serial killers and things like that.

6) Given that there is this rage you’ve identified within society if it is not given a peaceful political outlet, what might happen?

That rage hasn’t gone at all. But I don’t want people to start burning place and things like that. It doesn’t seem good. My hope is that change comes without that. I hope that the President has the decency to give that to his people. Because without that it will obviously come to a point where people do come out differently. It’s inevitable if there is no change for too long, that rage will materialise and will be expressed as violence.

7) You were charged with terrorism. Can you explain a little bit about your case? Did you have access to lawyers, what was the evidence like? Did you get a fair trial?

Certainly not because if there had been a fair trial I would not have been in jail. They had no reason to arrest me first of all so this was not justice.

8) People have said that you were a hostage because of your father.

Yes, I think that was basically what I was as well.

They had nine witnesses. Six of them were police people, cops, three of them were civilians. I think they hang out together and they [the three civilians] were together during 20th September. These people said one thing in their statements and when they came to court they said something else.

It was surreal being there first of all. It was just a joke. I couldn’t believe what the prosecution witnesses were saying. They changed what they were saying if they were asked a question twice. They’d say that they “didn’t see me throw a stone” when my lawyer said “you were very far away from Jenny weren’t you? Then the prosecutor asked them and they would say they did see me throw a stone.

9) So the main charge against you was that you threw a stone?

Yes. One of the policemen said I threw a stone at him. Now, I did go upto the police that day outside the hospital. They were there in a line. These police had nothing to do with Evan’s death but I knew that the people who had gathered there did not want to see a policeman. The police were making the people angrier just by being there. I said to them “you have nothing to do with this, you’re just agitating the public.” That’s all I said. I didn’t talk to anyone in particular, I addressed them in general. Then people started throwing rocks and I left and I went home, I didn’t want to be there. I went back later to document what was going on and to take pictures but that was all.

10) Was there any evidence of you trying to plant bombs, trying to assassinate people or hijack aeroplanes?

No.

11) But you were charged with terrorism?

Yes.

12) So, throwing a stone in the Maldives is tantamount to terrorism?

Yes.

13) And what does is the sentence for terrorism?

It is 15 years in jail.

14) And what have you been sentenced to?

I haven’t been sentenced yet. I’ve been charged.

15) And have they found you guilty?

Not yet. The verdict will be given this month apparently.

16) So when did the trial end?

Beginning of July 2004.

17) Was it a jury trial?

No. It is one judge who will decide.

18) And these judges can be dismissed by President Gayoom or the sentence can be overturned by President Gayoom?

Yes

19) So, it’s essentially up to Gayoom whether you are found guilty or not?

Yes. There is no evidence. It’s just foolish. The policeman said I threw a rock that apparently hit him on the shin. He said he talked to me, then he turned around and then I threw a rock at him. Now, unless I had a boomerang how was I supposed to hit him on the shin when he was facing the other way? Now if you’re going to make up evidence, the government could at least make it believable.

I mean, during the investigation a policeman said that they have witnesses saying I jumped on top of a burning vehicle. I just had to laugh at them. I’m not Abraham. I do burn when fire is near me. I can’t be jumping on top of a burning vehicle. If they were going to intimidate me, well, that was not intimidation!

20) But they’ve let you come to Sri Lanka even though you’re still under charges of terrorism, which must be one of the most serious charges you can bring about. But if you are a terrorist awaiting trial, why are they letting you leave Maldives? Why are they letting you on an aeroplane?

Yes. Before I was charged last year I came here also. I think they want me abroad so when they charge me they are hoping I won’t go back to the Maldives. But even if they charge me I will still go back.

21) You are perceived by many people to be the face of the young opposition movement. Have these charges quietened you down?

I don’t think it’s quietened me down. It has not intimidated me. Ok, I didn’t want to be in jail. I think they wanted to quieten my father and the work he has been doing. I wouldn’t want my father to stop the work he is doing because I am in jail and I told the regime that too. I said if they thought that by keeping me my father would be silent they were wrong. And he is not going to stop, even if they kill me he will not stop. And if they do kill me I wouldn’t want him to ever stop.

22) When you were in jail last year, following the 12-13th August demonstration, a lot of people came to visit you. One of which was the American Ambassador to Colombo. He described you as “one tough cookie”.

You have to be. I think every person there was one tough cookie. All of us were there in Dhoonidhoo, we were all there together for the same reason and we all got to know each other. We talked in jail. The best freedom of expression in the Maldives then was in jail. Every now and then a person would call for Maumoon’s resignation and then everyone would be yelling. We kept ourselves entertained and it was nice that way, in a weird sort of way.

But you know, they keep doing this. They keep arresting people and sending them to jail for one month, two months. They torture them either physically or mentally and then just let them go.

23) Does this intimidate people?

I think people have been intimidated but people are now getting the strength not to feel intimidated because there are now people watching, because MDP is watching and because MDP has made sure the international community is watching.

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