Category: News in Brief

Maldives protesters hit Ruder Finn offices: PRWeek

A 15-strong group gathered outside the London offices of Ruder Finn on Tuesday to protest about the agency’s work for the Maldives government,” reports Matt Cartmell for PRWeek.

“The protest, which coincided with Maldivian Independence Day, saw placards bearing slogans ‘Islamophobes and dictators’, ‘Ruder Finn: no client too toxic’ and ‘Gold medallists of spin: Ruder Finn’.

The criticism came after Ruder Finn was blasted by British-based pro-democracy group Friends of Maldives for accepting a brief to promote a tourism drive by the Maldives government. This followed claims that president Mohamed Nasheed was removed in a coup d’etat in February.

Agency boss Nick Leonard had not faced protesters himself as he was on holiday.

But he defended the agency’s actions, saying: ‘I believe in freedom of speech and they have the right to voice their opinion.’”

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Maldives media debate unfolds on Twitter: Committee to Protect Journalists

“It started at 6:34pm on Monday. Abdulla Riyaz (@riyazabdulla), whose Twitter bio describes him as commissioner of the Maldives Police Service (MPS), published the following on his personal account: ‘MPS decides NOT to cooperate to Raajje TV [sic]. A statement will be released today’,” writes Madeline Earp, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ’s) Senior Asia Research Associate.

“Raajje TV, for those not following CPJ’s Maldives coverage, is aligned with the political opposition.  The station’s journalists cite a pattern of police harassment following what they describe as a military coup in February, which forced Maldivian Democracy Party (MDP) founder Mohamed Nasheed from the presidency.

MDP activists have vowed to hold street protests until Nasheed’s successor, Mohamed Waheed Hassan, calls presidential elections. Hassan’s government says Nasheed resigned, and the MDP’s violent demonstrations make the country too unstable to call a vote this year. They say Raajje TV journalists are on the streets as activists, not as objective observers.

What does it mean for police to deny cooperation to a news outlet?  Police spokesman Hassan Haneef told CPJ by telephone he would respond to emailed questions, and we’ll share his comments as soon as we get them. In the meantime, the debate about possible interpretations is playing out online. ”

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Maldives and Sri Lanka to cooperate over regional cyber crime concerns

Maldivian and Sri Lankan authorities are looking to establish a collaborative mechanism with which to try and combat cyber crime committed across the South Asia region, according to local media reports.

Haveeru yesterday quoted an unnamed senior Sri Lankan police official as claiming that the country’s law enforcement agencies were looking to work with counterparts in the Maldives to investigate cyber crimes such as online financial scams that have defrauded internet users around the world.

According to the report, several Maldivian nationals working from Sri Lanka are suspected of having involvement in organised cyber crime as part of a larger regional network of criminals.

In attempts to try and combat multinational networks such as these, plans are reportedly under-way to send Sri Lankan police to the Maldives as part of a joint investigation into prominent cyber crime groups.

According to Haveeru, Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz has already held several meetings with his Sri Lankan counterparts over the extent of the Maldives’ work in combating hacking, online financial scams and identity theft in the country.

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Aasandha finances almost depleted: MD Shafaz

The government-owned corporation running the Aasandha universal health insurance scheme has warned that is nearly bankrupt, reports Haveeru, following a delay in payment by the government.

Aasandha Mohamed Shafaz was reported as saying that the last payment received by the corporation was in February.

“Earlier the Finance Ministry used to give us around four payments every month. But since February we are yet to receive a single payment. They have said that they would make the payments soon. At present we are using our own funds to cover Aasandha expenses,” Shafaz was reported as saying.

Asandha payments to government institutions had been halted, he said.

“We are only making payments of private and institutions in the islets. The reason is that if the islets don’t receive payments the services in the entire island would be disrupted,” he said.

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Waking up to ‘Greenwashing’ in the Maldives: Huffington Post

“Earlier on this month I found myself in the Maldives for hotel reviews and was outraged by the gap between President Nasheed’s ‘carbon neutral promise within a decade’ and the reality that I was faced with,” writes Rooksana Hossenally for the Huffington Post.

“Following the Maldivian government’s ministers’ highly-mediatized underwater conference in October 2009, a conference with the aim of highlighting the pressing environmental issues with regards to the sinking archipelago, I must say that when my editor announced that I would be jetted off to some of the most dazzling islands in the world, I was keen on getting a sample of this forward thinking.

Upon return however, the Maldives, as beautiful as the islands are, left a sour taste in my mouth as far as the environment is concerned. My visit only confirmed that the president’s environmental avant garde-ism is a nothing more than a marketing ploy to get himself in his people’s good books.

My trip lasted three weeks and my skepticism about President Nasheed’s wonderful ideals was far from overruled by what I saw. Going carbon-free is not only impossible for the Maldives, but it would severely penalize the country’s main industry: tourism, which would, needless to say, cause the Maldives to slip into dangerous financial waters, in addition to the already rising sea levels around the islands.

A little harsh of me, you might be thinking — let me explain. Going carbon neutral in the Maldives would require offsetting to a monumental degree. First, the only way of getting around the archipelago’s 26 atolls of 1,192 islands is by boat or plane. The President’s objectives are without doubt perfectly admirable, but how does he imagine the tourism industry functioning without transport?”

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Further coverage of the article and wider reflection on the challenges facing sustainable tourist developments can be read on Minivan News’ spin-off travel review site, Dhonisaurus.com.

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Commission has interviewed 224 witnesses: CNI

The Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) told reporters today that it has interviewed 224 witnesses in its ongoing investigation to determine whether President Mohamed Nasheed resigned “under duress” on February 7.

The commission aims to complete interviews of remaining 60 witnesses by the end of July and hopes to publish its report by August 31, commission member Dr Ibrahim Yasir Ahmed said.

The CNI was recently reconstituted to include a foreign judge and a member to represent former President Nasheed after the Commonwealth raised concern’s over the body’s impartiality during its first iteration.

Nasheed’s representative to the CNI, Ahmed Saeed, said the commission had received overwhelming support from all sectors of society, including security forces, former government officials and civilians.

However, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) had not responded to requests to share information, Saeed said.

Dr Fawas said Raajje TV was the only television station that had not shared video footage with the commission so far.

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Nasheed’s antics – a never ending story: Dr Hassan Saeed

“There is at least one person in the Maldives who appears to know what the outcome will be of the National Commission of Inquiry (CNI).  And that’s former President Nasheed,” claims Dr Hassan Saeed, Special Advisor to President Waheed, writing for Haveeru.

“What other explanation can there be for the fact that he continues to encourage the street demonstrations and violence that are plaguing the streets of Male’ at present?
Mr Nasheed’s MDP is calling for his Direct Immediate Action Campaign to continue with the on-going protests until the government is overthrown and early elections are called.
How is this behaviour consistent with his commitment to the international community that he will respect the outcome of the CNI process?
A Commission that includes his own nominated representative and is co-chaired by a Singaporean Supreme Court judge nominated by the Commonwealth and assisted by advisors from the United Nations and the Commonwealth.
Well the short answer is that it isn’t consistent.
But this behaviour is consistent for a man who suspects that the outcome of the Commission’s investigation will not go the way that he wants it. Otherwise he would patiently wait for its outcome. After all, one and half month is not a long time.
As ever, former President Nasheed seems capable of taking two completely inconsistent stances at the same time. On the one hand he tells the international community that he is a true democrat and will abide by the processes that they have helped to put in place and on the other hand he is playing to his local supporters and activists encouraging actions that explicitly seek to pre-empt any conclusions that the Commission might reach.
And as supporting evidence, just look at the activities of his supporters on the social media. Here we see a prolonged and consistent campaign to try and discredit the very judge –Justice GP Selvam – in front of whom Mr. Nasheed was perfectly happy to give evidence earlier this month.
How is it that Mr. Nasheed allowed to get away with this?
Well of course it’s a pattern of behaviour that both his supporters in the Maldives and elements of the International community seem blind to.”
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Government sheds pretence of reconciliation with charging of Nasheed: Eurasia Review

The new government of the Maldives has shed all pretence of reconcilliation with its levying of criminal charges against former President Mohamed Nasheed, writes Dr S Chandrasekharan for the Eurasia Review.

“If sentenced Nasheed and Tholiath will face a jail term or banishment for three years and or a fine of MVR 3000.

It looks that the government has shed all its pretences of going for reconciliation with the ousted President Nasheed and with this, the initiative taken by India in starting the “All Party Road Map Talks” is also dead and buried. It should also be clear to the policy makers in India that President Waheed and his government have no intention of holding early elections as promised earlier.

This also coincides with the week long direct action protests by MDP protestors led by Nasheed that had often resulted in regular and in some cases brutal confrontation between the Police and the demonstrators. The MDP claims that over a hundred of its protestors have been arrested. One graphic picture in the media showed a bald headed protester being hit on his head by a lathi by the police.

As if to rub salt in the wound, Home minister Jameel said that it is a “historic criminal trial” and the first step towards the national healing process. We have seen the healing process in the last seven days with the law and order situation getting more serious with each day of protest.

It looks that prosecution will be one of the means that is being adopted to prevent Nasheed from contesting the next presidential elections. It may be recalled that in the internal poll held to select the presidential candidate by the MDP, Nasheed obtained over 31,000 votes.

The deputy head of the PPM which is literally running the government, Umar Naseer expressed his confidence last month that former President Nasheed will see his imprisonment before the scheduled elections in July 2013 (note the date).

The powerful Adviser to the President Dr. Hassan Saeed also in a similar vein said that he “does not believe that Nasheed will be a free man during the time of next Presidential elections.” Is it not ironic that it is the same Saeed who in his capacity as Attorney General in Gayoom’s regime had way back in 2005 filed a complaint against Judge Abdulla on allegations of misogyny, sexual deviation and also throwing out an assault case despite the confession of the accused? ? It is Abdulla’s detention in late January that triggered the prosecution case against Nasheed.

It is said that the final report by the newly reconstituted Commission of National Enquiry will be delayed by a month. The new committee has begun its enquiry with two new members, one a nominee of Nasheed and another a Judge (Justice Selvam) Singapore.

The time line produced by the old committee before the new one was constituted has created an avoidable controversy. It is alleged by the MDP that this report was an attempt to prejudice the work of the new committee. A rejoinder to the time line produced by the MDP- the “Ameen- Aslam” report has resulted in an expected reaction of the government terming it as a “terrorist Act” and both Ameen and Aslam are being prosecuted as terrorists! Ameen was the National Security Adviser during Nasheed’s tenure and he is fully aware of the circumstances under which Nasheed resigned.

It is back to the Gayoom days when Nasheed was prosecuted under terrorism laws when he protested against the government in a public place!

Nasheed’s recent statement in US that tourists should boycott Maldives has caused a near panic in the country. This will hurt the country a lot more than even the ongoing violent street protests. An emergency resolution has been introduced in the Majlis on 7 July by a few members to discuss the tourism boycott call.

What is surprising is that Nasheed is still able to organise protests on a massive scale and it looks that he is determined to fight on. The Maldivian Government under President Waheed appears to be equally determined to put down the protests and go ahead with the prosecution of Nasheed without leaving any space for reconciliation. This is a dangerous trend.”

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MPs reject dissolving media council

MPs voted 53-1 against a recommendation by the Finance Committee to dissolve the Maldives Media Council and transfer its mandate to the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC).

While the vote was taken on July 4, the result was announced at today’s sitting of parliament.  It had not been officially declared due to disorder in the chamber that forced the sitting on July 4 to be called off.

The Finance Committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim, recommended dissolving the media council after studying its audit report, which suggested that the independent regulatory body was not functioning as envisaged in the law.

Also at today’s sitting, MPs voted 33-18 to send a bill on freedom of assembly proposed by Independent MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed to a seven-member ad hoc committee for further review.

The list of MPs approved for the committee were MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), MP Moosa Zameer from the People’s Alliance (PA), MP Visam Ali and MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Independent MP Ahmed Amir, MP Riyaz Rasheed from the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and Abdulla Jabir from the Jumhooree Party (JP).

MPs meanwhile voted unanimously in favour of the Maldives becoming a member of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Convention on Cooperation on Environment following a report submitted by the National Development Committee of parliament.

Speaker Abdulla Shahid adjourned today’s sitting at 2.30pm after quorum was lost during a debate on a report submitted by the Economic Committee after studying amendments proposed to the Tourism Act.

Today’s sitting was interrupted seven times due to loss of quorum before Speaker Abdulla Shahid brought the sitting to a close after quorum was lost for an eighth time.

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