Category: News in Brief

PG asks Home Minister to block pornographic websites

Prosecutor General (PG) Muhthaz Muhsin has asked the Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer to block websites displaying pornographic content.

Speaking to Minivan News, PG Office Spokesman Adam Arif stated that the PG had written to the home minister yesterday (February 11), noting that pornographic material encourages criminal activity and that possessing and producing pornography is prohibited in Maldivian law.

He also explained that the letter referred to the legal and constitutional duties of the state to prevent criminal activity and to uphold the tenants of Islam along with maintenance of the social fabric.

“The letter also requests the home minister to take action and inform the PG’s Office in a timely manner,” Arif said.

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Nasheed asks for India’s protection if jailed

Former President and opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader Mohamed Nasheed has expressed fears of being arrested and asked the Indian government for protection.

In an interview Nasheed with India Today, he said that he had spent half of his adult life in jail and that he did not wish to spend any more time in incarceration.

He also asked the Indian people and government to “please come and get me and take me to India,” if he gets jailed, expressing a desire to live in Bangalore.

In the interview published today (February 12), Nasheed claimed that President Abdulla Yameen is on a “witch hunt” to purge his political contenders and pointed to the example of the detention and charges against former defence minister Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim.

In the interview, he reiterated claims that the government is losing its legitimacy due to the exit of the Jumhooree Party (JP) from the ruling coalition, stating that the government is undermining the Constitution in an effort to consolidate power.

“..[T]hey are going back to a form of governance that they are more familiar with. They are changing all independent institutions and now the JP has decided not to back this autocratic rule and we have been able to come with it in defence of the constitution,” Nasheed told India Today.

Source: India Today

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Judicature amendments to appeal process come into force February 15

The High Court has announced that lower court and tribunal decisions can only be appealed under the new process established by the Supreme Court from Sunday (February 15)

The instructions referred to by the High Court – published on January 27 – state that the request for appeal must be submitted by filing the necessary forms to the  lower court or tribunal that deliberated on the case, within 10 days of its conclusion.

The lower court or tribunal must then send the forms to the upper court within 7 days of the appeal request, before the upper court is then obliged to complete all administrative processes necessary within 7 days of receiving the appeal documentation.

High Court Spokesman Amin Faisal was unable to give further details, confirming only that the appeal process will be in accordance with the Supreme Court circular from Sunday onwards.

The amendments to the Judicature Act also mandate the formation of two additional branches of the High Court in the northern and southern regions of the Maldives. The two new branches can only adjudicate the rulings of the magistrate courts.

The nine-member High Court is to be divided among the three branches, with three judges in each branch.

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Troubled island – Maldives descends into political turmoil, again: India Today

“A broken coalition, arrest of its own Defence Minister, sacking of the CJ, removal of the auditor general, an attempt to bar former President from contesting and repeated overtures to Beijing are bringing things in Malé to a flashpoint that can have serious repercussions for India,” reports India Today.

“Unlike the idyllic white sand beaches, turquoise reefs and reclusive resorts that define Maldives, its capital city of Male is a densely packed island, just over a kilometer wide and crisscrossed with a maze of streets, expanding vertically as its one lakh inhabitants struggle for space. No tourist really steps afoot on Malé, landing instead at the adjoining Hulhulé island airport – to be expanded shortly thanks to a generous Chinese grant – before being whisked away in luxury boats to distant resorts.

The politics on Malé Island – soon to be connected to Hulhule under an ambitious Chinese bridging project – are however on a shaky wicket soon after what many thought was a decisive election in late 2013 ending a period of uncertainty after the controversial ouster of President Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.

Just after a year in power, the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) led by President Abdulla Yameen is staring at a crisis. A broken coalition, the arrest of its own Defence Minister on charges of treason, the controversial sacking of the Chief Justice, a questionable removal of the Auditor General and an alleged attempt to bar former President Nasheed from contesting future elections are bringing things in Malé to a flashpoint that can have serious repercussions for India, where concern is already rising over recent overtures to Beijing by the island nation.”

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Home Minister Umar Naseer elected as LGA President

Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer has been elected as the Local Government Authority (LGA) president.

Media reports say that Naseer – who is the cabinet representative in the authority – was elected to the post unanimously by the seven members present at today’s LGA board meeting.

The post was previously filled by the former Defense Minister Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim, who has now been dismissed from his posts and is now under arrest, with the police accusing him of plotting a coup and trying to harm senior government officials.

Today’s meeting was the third LGA meeting so far this year.

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MNDF expresses interest in buying Bangladeshi patrol boats

The Maldivian military has expressed interest in purchasing sea patrol boats from the Bangladeshi coastguard.

According to reports by the Bangladeshi media, Chief of Defence Force Major General Ahmed Shiyam expressed interest in the purchase of the boats during a courtesy call to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday evening (February 10).

The boats referred to by Shiyam were built at the Khulna Shipyard, which he visited recently, according to the prime minister’s press secretary.

The Maldives defence force chief also thanked Bangladesh for sending drinking water and water treatment plants in December when his country faced acute water crisis in December.

Source: bdnews24

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Chinese Embassy marks the Chinese New Year in Malé

The Chinese Embassy in Malé held a reception to mark the Chinese New Year in Dharubaaruge last night.

Speaking at the reception, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon stated that relations between the Maldives and China have strengthened and “accelerated to unprecedented levels in the last year”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Maldives in September of last year prompted talks that led to the the Maldives officially agreeing to participate in the Silk Road trade route and to engage upon free trade in the future.

Dunya noted that the relationship between the two countries was based on “sovereignty and territorial integrity; it is about non-interference in each other’s internal affairs; it is about peaceful co-existence; and most importantly, it is about cooperation for mutual benefit.”

Chinese Ambassador Wang Fukang stated while “high level exchanges have been frequent and fruitful” between the Maldives and China, “economic cooperation has been enhanced and expanded”, along with “people to people exchanges”.

Fukang pledged that the Chinese government will facilitate Maldivian fish products to be exported to China, will encourage more Chinese tourists to visit the Maldives, will provide more training and scholarship opportunities for Maldivians, will improve cooperation “in areas like technology, culture and wealth”, and will “enhance cooperation particularly on issues like climate change”.

Last night’s speeches were followed by cultural performances from both Maldivian and Chinese youth, including a song sung in Mandarin by a Maldivian performer.

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The MNDF concerned at pictures of captured baby crocodile

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) has expressed concern after pictures began circulating on social media depicting a man holding a 3 foot crocodile in his hands.

Haveeru reported that the small crocodile seen in the picture is now kept in a little pond at a house belonging to one of the individuals pictured, who are believed to have found the crocodile on an uninhabited island on Malé Atoll.

“We are going to investigate this case. We urge citizens to inform relevant authorities first if you see any such animals,” Haveeru reported MNDF spokesperson Major Adnan of saying.

With increased crocodile sightings in different regions of the Maldives after a 10 foot specimen was caught in Kalaidhoo Island, the MNDF has previously urged the public to refrain from trying to catch the animals without proper assistance.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said yesterday that the Maldives’ climate and geography does not make it the best habitat for crocodiles.

“The crocodiles being sighted these days are most likely to have drifted with the currents from nearby countries,” said EPA Director General Ibrahim Naeem. “If crocodiles were to populate this country, it would have happened thousands of years ago.”

Source: Haveeru

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Mandhu College experiencing 40 percent dropout rate

Large numbers of students who started courses at Mandhu College this year have dropped out, reports Haveeru.

College Chairman Ibrahim Ismail told the paper that forty percent of this year’s 1,200 new students had left.

The news comes as the college faces eviction from its campus, with the education ministry accusing Mandhu of breaching the terms of its lease.

Despite the college having disputed the claims, Haveeru reports that the eviction is due on February 15.

Source: Haveeru

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