Category: News in Brief

JP council member’s detention extended by 10 days

The criminal court has extended the remand detention of opposition Jumhooree Party (JP) council member Sobah Rasheed by ten days.

Sobah was arrested under a court warrant on May 3 from an opposition rally and held in police custody for 15 days. He is accused of inciting violence at a mass anti-government protest on May 1.

The high court yesterday upheld the criminal court’s initial 15-day remand.

The opposition has raised concern over what it calls unnecessary detention of opposition leaders, pointing out the constitution only allows the extension of remand if the accused is deemed a danger to society, if they may influence witnesses or might flee or if further interrogation is needed.

The criminal court on Sunday extended the remand detention of Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla and main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party chairperson Ali Waheed by 10 days and seven days, respectively.

The two were arrested on May 1 on charges of inciting violence and held in police custody for 15 days. The High Court last week rejected appeals from the pair challenging the legality of the criminal court’s remand detention orders.

Lawyers have filed a second appeal of the criminal court’s decision to extend remand detention.

The two were brought to Medica hospital in Malé for treatment yesterday. Ali Waheed was also brought to ADK hospital last week for an MRI scan of his spine.

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Man sentenced to jail for razor blade theft

The criminal court has sentenced a 35-year-old man to one year in jail for stealing two packs of razor blades on Sunday.

Hussain Miyad, of Noranmma in Malé, confessed to stealing the razors worth MVR710 in November 2012.

The criminal court’s harsh sentences for petty crimes and lenient sentences for violent crime has sparked public outrage.

The court last week fined a man with MVR200 (US$13) for assaulting his wife.

In 2014, four men were sentenced to between two and four years in jail for stealing lotion bottles.

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STO to sponsor speech therapist for children with Down syndrome

The state wholesaler State Trading Organisation (STO) has pledged to sponsor a speech therapist for an organisation working for the rights of children with down syndrome.

Founder of Beautiful Eyes, Aishath Shifa, welcomed the offer, saying children with down syndrome suffer speech delays which impair the development of other skills.

STO managing director Ahmed Shaheer said the company will allocate a special budget for children with disabilities under its corporate social responsibility programme.

STO donated ten bicycles yesterday to the Maldives Police Services to patrol Malé’s suburb Vilimalé.

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Man sentenced to life in prison over 1kg cannabis

The criminal court has sentenced a 46-year-old man to life in jail and handed a MVR100,000 fine over one kilogram of cannabis.

Ali Imran, of Coconut House in Malé, was caught with 1131.2 grams of cannabis in November 2012.

Police apprehended Imran at Malé’s commercial harbour for suspicious behaviour and found the drugs hidden under the seat of his motorcycle. At the time, police had received information a cargo boat traveling from India was carrying illicit drugs.

When Imran’s house was searched, police found MVR134,050, US$2200 and 21 diamond stones and four precious stones inside a safe. He had another MVR461,948.26 in an HSBC account.

The criminal court has ordered the state to confiscate the money and the precious stones, stating Imran had not explained how he had obtained the money.

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Police seize drugs in Hulhumalé guesthouse

The police have seized illicit narcotics from a guesthouse in Hulhumalé and arrested four Maldivian men on suspicion of selling drugs.

Based on intelligence information, the police drug enforcement department raided the guesthouse room around 4:00pm yesterday with a search warrant and found a large rubber packet containing drugs, two empty liquor bottles, bullet-sized rubber packets, and a small measuring device.

The four men, aged 21, 25, 34, and 37, all have criminal records for drug-related offences, the police said.

 

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Economic development ministry creates ‘enterprise development’ unit

The ministry of economic development has created an “enterprise development” unit to assist youth entrepreneurs set up businesses.

Speaking at a function held at the Hotel Jen last night, economic development minister Mohamed Saeed said the unit will facilitate loans, provide information and offer other services to startups.

The government will help youth with constructive ideas set up successful enterprises, he said.

The MVR200 million (US$12.9 million) ‘Get Set’ loan scheme is also intended to achieve the government’s goal of creating youth entrepreneurs, Saeed said.

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Seismic survey underway for Malé – Hulhulé bridge

A Chinese team of scientists is conducting a seismic survey of the ocean basin between capital Malé and the airport island for a planned bridge.

Housing minister Dr Mohamed Muizzu last week said the bridge will run from Malé’s surf point, Raalhugandu, to the southwest corner of Hulhulé island’s airport runway.

The Chinese team is to drill 29 boreholes, 59 meters deep, in the ocean basin to see if it can hold the bridge’s foundation pillars.

Designs for the six-lane bridge is expected to be completed by the end of June this year, the government has announced.

China has previously said it would ‘favorably consider financing’ the bridge if the design proves feasible, while President Xi Jinping said he hoped the government would call the bridge “the China-Maldives friendship bridge”.

It is expected to cost between US$100million to US$150million.

Construction of the Malé–Hulhulé Bridge, first slated to begin in 2014, will now start by the end of this year, and will be completed within two years.

The bridge, a key campaign pledge of President Abdulla Yameen, will also connect Malé to its suburb Hulhumalé, an artificial island located behind Hulhulé and connected by a short causeway.

In March, 227 hectares of land were reclaimed in Hulhumalé for a planned ‘Youth City.’

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Telethon planned to raise funds for Nepal earthquake relief

Maldives media are preparing for a telethon on Saturday to raise funds for earthquake relief in Nepal.

The telethon – organized by the Maldivian Red Crescent (MRC) and the Maldives Medical Association – will begin at 12:30pm and run till 6pm. The MRC is also organizing a football match in Malé at 4:15pm on Saturday to raise funds.

Nepal was hit by a second major earthquake on May 12, two weeks after the devastating earthquake in which more than 8000 people were killed.

The estimated damage could cost billions, aid agencies have said.

President Abdulla Yameen has pledged US$50,000 for the relief effort, and the Maldives Police Services and the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital have also pledged to donate.

The Maldives raised US$1.9million to help Palestinians who lost their homes in the Israeli offensive in Gaza last year.

The International Federation of Red Crescent (IFRC) has completed 100 housing units in Gaza with the US$1.9 million raised by the Maldivian media

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