The Maldives Police Service have arrested two men involved in the infamous ‘wedding’ ceremony at Vilu Reef Resort and Spa, in which the ‘celebrant’ and up to 15 complicit members of staff degrade and humiliate a Swiss couple in Dhivehi.
One of the men arrested was identified as Hussein Didi, a food and beverage assistant at the resort who acted as celebrant and who was filmed unleashing a torrent of hateful abuse at the oblivious couple.
Under Maldivian law non-Muslims are not permitted to marry in the Maldives, but many resorts offer ‘renewal of vows’ ceremonies.
“The court decided yesterday that [the men] should be kept in police custody during the investigation,” said Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam.
The men have not yet been formally charged, “but this is a very serious issue related to our economy,” Shiyam said. “Once we complete the investigation the Prosecutor General’s Office will decide the charges.”
President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed has meanwhile announced that the government will introduce strict guidelines for the conduct of tourist wedding ceremonies.
Speaking during his weekly radio address, President Nasheed said he was “disgusted” by the incident and described the behaviour of those involved as “absolutely disgraceful”.
He called on staff working in tourist resorts – indirectly responsible for 80 percent of the country’s economy – to be “vigilantly professional”, as such behaviour could cause “enormous damage to the country´s tourism industry.”
The government would leave “no stone unturned to ensure that an incident like this never happens again,” Nasheed said.
Meanwhile Maldives Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed issued a state apology to the couple, who have not been identified but are believed to be from Switzerland.
“The Maldives is a world-class tourist destination famed for its warm welcome and excellent customer service. Episodes such as that captured on video have no place in our tourism industry or in our society more broadly; and are alien to our cultural and religious values,” Dr Shaheed said.
The Maldives is grateful that the couple in question chose to renew their vows in one of our resorts and we cannot escape the fact that, on this occasion, because of the disrespectful and unacceptable actions of a few individuals, we have let them down.”
The Maldives Diplomatic Service had been instructed to contact the couple “and issue a face-to-face apology,” Dr Shaheed said.
“We will also be compensating them for any distress caused by this unfortunate incident. The Foreign Ministry will also be writing to our counterparts in Switzerland to offer our intense regret and to indicate the steps that the Government is taking to deal with the situation.”
Furthermore the government was seeking to hold talks with the Maldives tourism industry “in order to have assurances that this was an isolated incident,” the Foreign Minister added.
“If we do not receive such reassurance, we reserve the right to take all remedial steps necessary, legislative or otherwise, to ensure that episodes such that which occurred in Vilu Reef Resort never happen again, and do not tarnish the positive image of the country built up over so many years.”
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This is not an issolated event, all resorts have such things which is done on our culture and country. In resorts of Maldives there are gross viokation of human rights and other laws. But the government stays quite letting the resort owner do what ever they want. The managements dod not report to the police even though a staffs violation of rules and they handle the matter. Resort Managements are help by MATI( Maldives Association of Tourism Industry)to do hineous crimes against Humanrights and to violate laws and to escape. Even some one complains the The government never care and the case will be ignored, the complainer will lose the his job, as the ministry recied the comlplain will inform the management who complained.
This is the reality in Maldives Resorts, an in the future things worse than this will happen if the goverments stays iddle leaving every thing on to the Managemants of Resorts.
Oh, they can do that, Zreer. Yes, they can.
But then, we shall apply the pressure.
It's all a "harmless joke" for us to utterly wreck this country's tourism sector, too. Just like those bigwigs think we're a "harmless joke."
Guess this is not the first of its kind, these things wouldn't happen if the owners and the management treats their staffs like they treat their clients!! this is just the beginning...
MDP is respondible for deliberately altering the beutifull culture of Maldivian people.When they were in opposition it is they who created hatred against each other just because they wanted the power. I suppose they have forgitten asking people, to throw fish in to admin office of attoll, civil unrest and so on. We still remember and know the root of these causes.
Listen Dr Shaheed, if you ever want to out grow such behaviors you need to first admit it exists.. im not surprized at all by the video. I am a maldivian and im not ashamed to admit that this happens everyday in all walks of Maldivian life. we are a xenophobic country. we are hostile to even our own people if they are a bit different than us. But i do not condone what the people in video did.
I think we should be brave enough to admit that this is not an isolated case and there are a lots and lots of Maldivians given a proper outlet who will express those disgusting feelings towards foreigners and even to their own people..
if we ever want to grow up and be civilized, we have to first admit this and then work to inform the public Maldivians are not the only people living on this earth and every human being is a rare pearl in the cosmic perspective.
the govt attempt to hide the truth and punish those who were caught is not going to help us in the long term.
@gman: you are correct. there are many Maldivians who think as such, and if Gov. refuses to adknowledge this and work vigorously to eradicate intolerance and create a democratic culture, Maldives will never have true democracy
Don’t balme it all on me. Don’t say that I did not do enough to develop a respectful society in Maldives.
Don’t say that I didn’t educate the people. I’ve built school.
However, people may say these schools were with low quality school systems, low quality syllabus, low quality teachers – most who’re drop-outs from the school. Also people may say there is not a single university in the country after I’ve reigned in power for 30 long years. Yes, true. I was going to build one this year but the people wanted to elect Mohamed Nasheed (oh, how much I hate that little guy…..#%^&).
So please elect me or Yamin again in 2013. You need a good leader. A leader who studied in an Arab country. Not a leader who studied in the UK.
I will make sure these things are totalls erased from the face of Maldivian lands when I or my party people get back to power. Just imagine how smoothly we were running the country before.
Also if anyone of us get elected again, we will install the hatred to other religion like we’ve always been doing. We can’t let the current president make friendly agreements with Chrisitian USA and Jew Isreil. We will only promote ISLAM with zero tolerance towards other religions. This is proven with all the debates from our guys so far. Be it parliament or TV or anything else.
Gay-yoom
The “fake wedding in the Maldives” capturing the international headlines. It has reached to the tip of all concerns. Shocking and absolute opposite of what Maldives is known for. Anger and blame are the immediate reactions. As a Maldivian and a tourism person myself, I couldn’t finished watching the entire video. Felt sorry for the lovely couple who was living the “seconds in heaven on earth”. They would have spent so much to experience this special moment in one of the most romantic places on earth. The chosen paradise as many believe.
Peace, tranquility and harmony are words to describe. The place of a dream vacation! They call us the celebrity destination. A fashion in trend for millions. They say “I was there”! Oh I dream to be! Dear Maldive lovers, we feel sorry for what has happened. This cruel act is condemned by every patriot of this country.
Let us not lie to ourselves.
This is certainly NOT an isolated incident as one can easily assess from the "solemnity" of all at the ceremony. Is anyone enraged? Upset? Uneasy?
The upset seems to be about it being exposed.
I am certainly more outraged by the act.
It is a culture to denigrate others in song and jest, often vulgar, and the raising of that vulgarity into a marriage ceremony just shows the lack of respect for anyone who does not fit the Good-man image.
The harrassment of women, the "queer" and poor, esp. migrant workers, are all the same culture.
Grow up people.
What would a reasonable punishment for this men be? Well, it is a muslim country, so a tounge cut-off and public whipping would probably be in place.
But, I think the most embarrasin thing is they got caught. It IS a muslim country, and non-muslims are not worth much.
Probably they will just be punished for the stupidity of filming the event.
having looked at the video of the said wedding at vilu reef . there is much eveidence even in the video that shows that the management was involved and that this was not an isolated incident
further more the authorities could always ask the swiss couple whom they paid the fees for the wedding and i am sure they will find that the 1300 usd was paid to the hotel bill
if the authorities were serious about investigating they should stop doing it the old way ( of bringing the two cgarged down to the police station and questioning them for a statement ) then sentencing on that ,
they should use the evidence that have and conduct a proper investigation , the paper in front of the supposed wedding ceremony master is also evidence,
the comments from the on lookers is also evidence
the fact that all hotel staff were there with a straight face is also evidence that this was not new
the fact that this was also serviced by the hotel F&B is also evidence
all of these evidence point in one direction
SUNTRAVEL management was involved most likely first conducted under the patronage of the boss Siyam
the only other way to seek the truth of who actually ordered the crime would be to charge the two perps for the crime of blesphemy which is evidence in the video again
i wish the authorities this time around has the guts and the will to serve justice rather than think of the votes they will loose by indicting Suntravel Siyam,
The least the hotel could offer the Swiss couple is a full payed vacation ANYWHERE in the world plus payment for lost salary during that time.
I guess they would not chose the Maldives ...
good afternoon sirs/madam.
"250,000 views of this disgusting video on youtube in 1 day!...."
all who participated in this shamefull ceremony should be charged by the police.
and the punishment should be very severe as a warning to others,that this sort of racist behaviour will not be tolerated by the maldives goverment.
this story is worldwide news!,and your tourist industry will suffer accordingly.
you guys have shot yourself in the foot!,racism and discrimination have no place in a society,so dependant on western tourism!.
unbelievable!
and thank you too the decent law abiding citizens at the news company for there unbaised,objective reports on this!
ps. look out for the british media invasion...its coming.
I have just listened to part of the ""ceremony"" on the BBC here in England,,I would now say that the resort has just made itself bankrupt with its stupidity..Your Maldivian lady minister here in England seemed to believe it had never happened before--do you believe that???To my Maldivian friends---Politicians are like babies nappies,,they need changing regularly,,and for the same reason!!!! To the rest of the Maldivian nation,,,I love you all and I shall be back next June.....
I am from America. I am in coplete support of these guys who let out a torrent of abusive phrase. They shouldn't be jailed. They should be released and celebrated. Because these tourists go to your country which are suffering from so many social problem. They buy a piece of haven with their money sheltered away from all the problem that's going on. They go and act like entitled-royalties. This is demeaning to you culture and to your people. Don't demean your culture for just a few more bucks. Maldives sits on a vast ocean. You can earn your wages from fishing and other ventures. Respect your culture and your religion.
And when you come to America, respect our culture and our religion. Thanks.
It is ridiculous that the police arrest the people who conducted the ceremony! It has been going on in Vilu Reef for 10 years and the management is fully aware of the situation. They encourage and endorse it! Different members of the staff conduct the ceremony! It is NOT the staff that must take the responsibility for it! It is the management!
@gman said it rightly
Maldivians are very hostile and abusive to their own people. There is a caste system that foreigners do not know about. Now the elites of Maldives are feeling the pressure.
On the surface elitists like Dr. Shaheed appear to correct things. But that is just a show. The guy is now one of the pillars of the caste system.
why the hell on earth mr. did is arrested?
I do not understand and it digest that since the first person to be arrested regarding this issue must be the owner of the resort.
I am appalled by this incident and what is shown to be a clear hate and contempt for foreigners, not just by a single person but by15-20 of the hotel staff that stood by and did nothing. How can anyone contemplate going to the Maldives when this deep-rooted Islamic hate is so prevalent. I for one will be crossing the Maldives off my list and will stick to Non-Muslim countries in the Far East. These perpetrators need to be severely punished but no doubt will be heroes in their own community. Watch the tourist $’s move to other countries.
As usual accountability is something that we still do not understand.
Along with the arrest of the "celebrant" the resort must be penalised for this obvious neglect of their responsibilities.
It is easier to blame the stupid food and beverage assistant than to own up to the failure by the management - a serious problem that afflicts the entire nation.
These guys are going to cost the Maldives millions of dollars in lost revenue. I am sure there is something in Sharia law that allows excution for this sort of behaviour ?
This is the result of not teaching respect to other religions foreigners. In Maldives non of the schools teach their students about respecting other religions or foreigners . Islamic studies in Maldives schools mainly includes stories of wars between muslims and others!. I hope this is a wake up call to Mullahs and education institutions..
Oh come on. President feel disgust, whom they are telling we know well who this president and his cronies in first place who brought this media sensation and trying to make those two poor as escape goats.Who ever saw that video should understand how fluent and eloquent that Hussain Didi is, shows that is not just one day event, seems they have been doing for many times. I hope he will tell the world now all about this. I wonder then for how many tourists they can compensate. If any one has to be prosecuted on this issue it has to be irresponsible journalism of Minivan under treason against state Maldives and its national security.
its no big deal...these chaps r naive & r experimenting with modern technology..for many maldivians its high time they get familiar with internet websites like youtube so forth & they get to know wot people do with these tools and they just did something to get attention & so they got it hehe now they will know the consequesnces fo their behaviour...leave those poor chaps alone and give them back their jobs in vilureef and let send the 1300 us$ to the couple who got mocked in the video for compensation and also give them a free holiday for 2 weeks with up&down tickets and when they come let the chaps apologise and serve them their food & beverage items in the hotel...wots the matter...those chaps deserve a second chance not a public disgrace...knock knock hellloooo this is the 20th century...grow up u all STUPIDS
Well done,
JJ Robinson just got a job at BBC.
Here is a fun idea.
The government should sue the resort on the grounds of damages caused to the Maldives(Maldivian Brand)to the last penny they have, such that the resort goes in to bankruptcy.
Maldives made a quarter of the front page of The Guardian (print edition). i'm from Sri lanka.
Free them staffs of Vilu reef now.
I know foreign tour leaders who have learned dhivehi who address their guests with "nagoo balu" It doesn't mean a thing. does "Vah fan koolo" mean a thing. does "mother fucker" mean a thing.
I don't even think that video is original, it must be from Osama Bin Ladin.
When a video from Osama comes out its a fake. haha. this is a fake people.
These bloody resort owners, thinking of loosing all the dollars created this ha hoo.
We were better of off without this richness.
No body seem to care when our children are being molested, No body seem to care when our daughters are being raped, No one seems to care about when our sons are being stabbed, no one seems to care when our ladies are being molested by there husbands.
All of a sudden, when we are worried these dollar paying foreigners want come to our shores we are so worried.
Well, we will be better of without them. lets try to earn a decent dollar.
Well, we should respect our Dear Bangladeshis, Indians, Sri Lankan too... etc... as well, they are our guest. We treat them like dirt, as a repercussion, when we visit our neighborhoods what do we get, the same.
The problem is too much richness too soon, went to our heads and we became spoiled brat.
I felt so bad for this couple that I couldn't even finish watching this video. These people are sick and should be jailed. I would NEVER pick this destination to renew my wedding vows, I hope people boycott these islands...Also, I am sure this has happened multiple times, it's just the first time they got caught. The couple should be refunded their hard earned money back and be apologized to by their President.
Think carefully... Can you see now where the mullahs are dragging our poor country?! Saddle up those camels.
The disrespect shown to the Swiss couple beggars belief. It is quite clear that this sort of racist, disrespectful crap is a regular occurrence at this resort. Non muslims should stay away in droves. This disrespect for non muslims only occurs in backward societies where plurality is unknown and hatred for non muslims is taught in schools and reinforced by imams in mosques. Lets hope this kills off the tourist industry in Maldives and it becomes another Somalia. Bring on Global Warming. Use more fossil fuels.
The Maldives was in the top 3 of places I wanted to visit in my lifetime... not any more.
Not just because of this sickening story, but also because of the way Mohamed Nazim and Ismail Mohamed Didi were treated (I hate conspiracies but there's no chance poor Didi killed himself...)
A beautiful nation populated by cavemen and savages!
@Ekaloa - I have to agree with you in that from the video all of the staff present weren't cracking smiles or attempting to stop themselves from laughing. It's a strong indication that this is a running joke that occurs at that hotel and presumably at other places in Maldives.
I guess the lesson learned here is to get the ceremony done in a language you can understand. Otherwise, you will have to assume the worst is being said. This story is disgusting and sad on many different levels.
I would not accept anything short of the management of this resort being brought to justice and the couple be officially apologised and compensated.
For anyone not knowing what Nathaniel P Smith is taking check here, here, and here.
Looks like Government of Maldives is becoming an emotional fool,created by its own mouth piece and propaganda wing of Minivan brand to fool us and rest of the world.
Nathaniel P Smith, you're not good at pretending to be foreign.
I really apologizes for this video.In this high tech world it may be possible to make fake videos. And in our religion should respect for others I mean non Muslims
Unfortunately the incident at the Vilu Reef resort has brought very bad publicity to the Maldives here in the West where so many of your tourist visitors come from. (I am writing from London but have seen the story and You Tube video on French, Czech, German and British TV news as well as on the international channels.) I spent two weeks in your country last year, (in Male on a project) and received only kindness and friendliness while in Maldives. I agree with your correspondent who says these ceremonies, if they continue, should beconducted in the language of the couple, not in Dhivehi which few non maldivians will understand.
So lets allow the pedophile priests come and do the wedding for tourists. In today's radio address Mr bipolar Nasheed already confirmed that he will arrange that. We can have one priest at every resort.
This is the hidden objective. That,s why we see minivan acting as such. Very well planned.
I agree with JJ, it makes no difference to us common folks in Maldives, as some are threatening to us, here that they don't want visit Maldives. The reality is these tourist dollars the beneficiaries are only !% elite in Maldives and few crooks in the administration. The rest of the Maldivians it makes no difference whether they come here or not.According to UN and President Nasheed, before he came to power, majority of Maldivians don't earn even a dollar a day. In the other hand majority of these investments are from foreigners from Europe Asia and America, even before these dollars reach to Maldives they get there share of may be 80%. So don't threat us,we have history of over 2000 years, in these tiny islands, then also we have survived and now also we will survive.
How dare the government of Maldives talk about the economy more than what has happened.. Sounds like the government is worried about the incident just because of the damage it may cause to economy of the Maldives. Be sensible..!!
I've just watched the video, as much as anything because I was going to book a scuba-diving holiday to your country. At first I thought this was some sick joke. Then I realised that if 15 staff stood by while this religious bigotry was voiced, then attitudes such as those in the video must be pretty commonplace.
I actually feel quite sad for you guys. If 20% of your economy depends on tourism, then many of you will be feeding your children on prayers.
Sorry, but I'm with Samantha. The Maldives is now firmly off my list. I'll take my pork-eating, fornicating, infidel self to a place where the locals don't smile to your face while insulting you behind your back.
i blame president nasheed ..... and no one else zaeem ge dhivehiraaje aku mikahala kanthake nuve ......viyas ... action nagaane maa rangalha ves ..foruvan ves .....
We are suffering and now we will suffer more. When our kids have no hospital to go to, when the country has no money... Cause we chased our only source of income. Well done u fools.
@ the commenting JJ
You do realize that for people like you and the people you see in the video this is nothing, while a huge shit storm is brewing in Europe and the rest of the world, for them its a huge problem. What Minivan did is do its Job as a media outlet, this is public service you should be thanking for.
How sick a person can smile and dish out that amount of insult, that is the kind of person who has no problem abusing the wife raping her, the kind of person who would abuse children, the kind of person who has no problem selling narcotics to the youth. In short thats you mate.
If you are MAD enough to renew vows in a foreign language & without reading it; perhaps you deserve it & more. What is this stupid hoo-haa over a nothing. Get back to your lives people, isn't there a life more important than this silliness???
Swiss have been known to be smart enough to get wealthy thru Hitler, but apparently too careless to check their vows! What a laugh!
I agree with most of the comments. It seems that a country that relies on western tourists is itself hateful towards them.
I for one will not be visiting the Maldives, I suggest others do to.
Why spend thousand of pounds to go to a place where you are not welcome. Instead go to a place where you will be welcomed, such as South Africa, Bali or Maritius.
It's time to let those islands sink back into the sea.
Finally its on US media now and its headlines like CNN, Fox and MSNBC, what else a President and his cronies can do better than this to scoop internet to find something to make viral, good job Minivan you guys need to be rewarded for patriotism.
This is not surprising, considering the weekly (and others) Friday prayer sermons, have consistently preached destruction of all except Muslims brothers, how we have won over infidels, how all infidels will burn in hell etc.
This is the tip of the iceberg, in a culture of continuous hate mongering sermons over decades.
I HAVE yet to hear a good word from anyone, especially, a religious scholar, about non-Muslims. And literally everyone is particularly paranoid about Christianity.
Eg:If the tree grows like s Christmas tree or some branches resemble a cross, the whole tree will be torched. Heaven forbid, anyone who comments on tolerance of any other religion will be skinned alive.
For the sake humanity, can we please please please let go of this hateful religion of ours. For the sake of the Maldives, our children, Humanity,
Wakeup. Please wake up.
@Ekaloa
Don't lie to yourself. This is now, not 2000 years ago. There are a LOT of differences between now and then. Tourism contributes to almost everything we do. When you say it doesn't effect anybody, I can firmly say that without tourism, you wouldn't be enjoying the life you are enjoying today. If you think you can survive on fishing, go ahead. TRY! Everyday there is a prayer asking for luck in fishing. Fishing is bad these days, and it is declining. As a country, we need foreign currency, and if you think that we can survive without ANY sort of interaction with the outside world, be my guest. Although, I would suggest North Korea as the ideal destination for you. Ignorance is bliss isn't it. And when you say elite, nobody is stopping you from becoming one yourself now are they?
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Nathaniel P Smith on Fri, 29th Oct 2010 11:34 PM
The Maldives was in the top 3 of places I wanted to visit in my lifetime… not any more.
Not just because of this sickening story, but also because of the way Mohamed Nazim and Ismail Mohamed Didi were treated (I hate conspiracies but there’s no chance poor Didi killed himself…)
A beautiful nation populated by cavemen and savages!
Very true statement imo, and also, if you want to reflect the actions of a couple of Maldivians on the rest, be my guest. There are a LOT of peace loving Maldivians who live side by side with non-muslims and know respect. There are groups who are voicing their opinions against the extremist ideologies taking place in the country. Do your own research.