corruption – Page 17 – Minivan News

JSC forged documents for Supreme Court case, alleges Velezinee

President’s member of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) and whistle-blower Aishath Velezinee has presented documents to the Supreme Court she claims provide evidence that the JSC has forged documents for the hearing over High Court appointments.

The JSC is currently in the Supreme Court defending its appointment of five high court judges – current Juvenile Court Chief Judge Shuaib Hussein Zakariya, former Law Commission member Dr Azmiralda Zahir, Civil Court registrar Abdu Rauf Ibrahim, lawyer of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Abbas Shareef and Civil Court Chief Judge Ali Sameer.

The Supreme Court took over the case from the Civil Court in January, after several judges who were not appointed raised concern that there were policy and legal issues related to the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) appointment procedures, such as giving higher priority to appointees on the basis of gender.

The documents concern JSC resolution B1/11/24, passed at the 22nd sitting of JSC on the evening February 6, 2011, informing the Supreme Court that Vice Chair Dr Afrasheem Ali would represent the JSC in the High Court appointments matter.

The resolution carries the signatures of six JSC members, three of whom Velezinee contends were not even present at the meeting of February 6, 2011 when the resolution was supposedly passed.

“The JSC sent a text message calling a meeting on Sunday evening at 7:00pm, and then changed the time to 7:30pm. I was there at 7:00pm, and only four members turned up including myself, Dr Afrasheem Ali, Chief Judge of the High Court Abdul Ghani Mohamed, and Ahmed Rasheed from the law community,” Velezinee says. “I stayed until 8:00pm, to make sure.”

With only four members present, the meeting failed to reach the JSC’s six member quorum.

“The JSC’s regulations state that after a meeting is called, if we do not reach quorum within 15 minutes from the scheduled time, then the meeting is cancelled. On Sunday evening we had no meeting because we didn’t meet quorum with only four members present.”

When Velezinee later requested to see the attendance record for the February she discovered a fifth signature – that of Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Didi – had allegedly been added to the official records.

That still was not enough enough to reach the JSC’s quorum, so Velezinee says she was surprised to see six signatures in the submission to the Supreme Court passing the resolution – including those of Member of the Public Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman and Civil Service Commission member Mohamed Fahmy Hassan, neither of whom attended the meeting on February 6.

Velezinee further claimed to have audio recordings of conversations between the JSC and the two absent members who signed the resolution, arranging for the resolution to be sent out to their homes for them to sign.

“The submission to the Supreme Court very clearly states: ‘this resolution was adopted February 6, on the 22nd sitting of the JSC by majority vote of those members who attended’,” Velezinee said.

Fahmy told Minivan News he had no comment on the matter, while Dr Afrasheem Ali referred Minivan News to the JSC’s media spokesperson, Hassan Zaheen. Zaheen referred Minivan News to the JSC interim Secretary General, Abdul Faththah, also the JSC’s legal representative.

Faththah said that while there “should be quorum”, in time-sensitive matters such as court summons members sometimes had to make decisions outside formal meetings, with the approval of other members.

“This is not a matter so important to take a decision with the discussion of the members,” he said.

JSC members had also previously decided who should attend court hearings, during a meeting of full attendance, he added, “[but] that day the Chair was not in Male’, so members decided instead that the Deputy [Afrasheem] should attend [court],” acknowledging that “they may not have had quorum that time.”

“These kind of things happen with things like court attendance issues, but no other decisions,” he said.

Supreme Court case

“Today was the last hearing before the Supreme Court’s verdict [in the case],” Velezinee said. “I sent two letters, a copy of the attendance sheet and the resolution to all five Supreme Court judges and informed them that it was a forged document.”

“The JSC seems to think there is no procedure to gain a majority. That was exactly what they did with Article 285. But when we are talking about a democracy with laws of transparency and accountability, there are procedures to follow to get a majority – otherwise it becomes mob rule.

“Anyone can run around and intimidate people to get signatures, but that is not how an independent constitutional body such as the Judicial Services commission should be working. if the integrity of the Judicial Services Commission is under question, there is no reason why people should trust the judiciary.”

Velezinee has previously alleged that practices such as “manipulating the agenda, manipulating meeting times, withholding information and trying to manipulate decisions by providing misleading information.”

“This is classic, but this time they have been caught in the act,” she claimed.

The outspoken whistle-blower, who was hospitalised on January 3 after she was stabbed three times in the back in broad daylight on the main tourist street of Male’, expressed frustration with the slow acknowledgement that “the JSC by its actions causing the public to mistrust judges and the judiciary – the JSC is permitting impunity among judges.”

“Nobody from any civilised country would believe you if you said that judges and MPs were lying. Chief judges, high court judges – you expect office bearers to be working in the interest of citizens and the state. But here we have a judiciary that seems to think the whole country is out to attack them. That has happened because we have not established a judiciary according to the constitution.”

All the current sitting judges were, Velezinee said, “hand-picked without due process, often for their personal and political connections. We have all the documents to prove it, but JSC is hiding from it. They say: ‘the constitution says we are an independent commission’. But it’s not what the constitution says, it’s how you act. Why not simply eliminate crime by rewriting the constitution so it says there is no crime in this country?”

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is currently investigating the JSC for embezzling state funds by awarding itself over Rf 500,000 in ‘committee allowances’, contrary to Article 164 of the Constitution.

Velezinee has also requested police investigate JSC President and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed Abdulla, JSC Vice Chair and MP (DRP-PA) DrAfraasheem Ali, Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Didi, Speaker of Parliament (DRP-PA) Abdulla Shahid, former JSC President and interim Supreme Court judge (now removed) Mujuthaaz Fahmy, and Former Civil Service Commission President and current member of Civil Service Commission Dr Mohamed Latheef.

The charges filed included accusations that some MPs were influencing courts and judges “for personal gain and profit”, subverting the rule of law and obstructing the JSC from conducting its constitutional duties, “committing and attempting to commit crimes against the State using JSC and the courts as tools”, and defamation against her “with criminal intent”.

Download the documents presented by Velezinee to the Supreme Court (Dhivehi)

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Nexbis to seek legal redress for “irreparable damage to reputation and brand name”

Mobile security solutions vendor Nexbis has announced it will be taking legal action against parties in the Maldives, claiming that speculation over corruption was “politically motivated” in nature and had “wrought irreparable damage to Nexbis’ reputation and brand name.”

“Although we understand that the recent media frenzy and speculation of corruption are politically motivated in nature and not directly related to Nexbis, it has had an indirect impact on our reputation and brand name,” the company said in a statement provided to Minivan News.

“Nexbis’ shareholders own and manage multi-trillion dollar assets globally and will not jeopardise their reputation for an investment return,” the company stated.

The Malaysian-based technology firm signed a concessionaire contract with the Department of Immigration in October 2010, to install an advanced border control system that is had said would collect and store biometric data on expatriate workers and eliminate abuse of (easily forged) paper documentation.

The government has struggled to tackle the problem of foreign worker exploitation. There are believed to be 100,000 foreign workers in the country – almost a third of the country’s total population – but no data is available on how many are illegal.

International agencies have taken a dim view of the problem, most notably the US State Department, which last year placed the Maldives on its tier two watch-list for human trafficking. Minivan News reported in August 2010 that the exploitation of Bangladeshi workers alone was an industry was worth at least US$43.8 million a year, rivaling fishing as a source of foreign exchange.

Following the signing ceremony with Nexbis, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) announced it had received “a serious complaint” regarding “technical details” of the bid, and issued an injunction pending an investigation into the agreement.

“On the very day we signed the contract, barely hours, maybe minutes later, the ACC had drafted a letter saying there were suspicions of corruption involved with the decision,” Minivan News was told by an Immigration Department source, who asked not to be identified.

Nexbis shares immediately dropped 6.3 percent on the back of the ACC’s announcement.

Last week, facing political pressure ahead of the local council elections, President Mohamed Nasheed upheld the ACC’s request that the roll-out of the technology be postponed.

The ‘stop-work’ order amounts to an indefinite hold on the project, with little optimism for a quick outcome. The ACC has not completed an investigation since 2008.

In its statement, Nexbis noted that the system and related technologies to be installed in the Maldives “have been implemented in over 100 locations worldwide including the Americas, Europe and Asia and comply with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) and other international standards.

“Nexbis is an international company with strict internal policies that conform to International Anti-Corruption laws and strictly enforce the policy. All Nexbis staff have strict government security clearance to carry out national security projects.”

The company stated that it was invited along with other Malaysian companies to invest in the Maldives during a government road show, and was shortlisted for the Immigration Border Control System (MIBCS) tender after making an expression of interest in February 2010, together with several other companies.

“Subsequent to that, Nexbis together with the other shortlisted companies were invited to respond to the RFP (request for proposal),” the company stated. “Nexbis followed the strict and transparent submission and evaluation process requirement of the government of Maldives and emerged as the successful bidder for the project in a public opening of the bid together with all the other bidders.”

Those bidders, Nexbis said, were informed that they would be subject to both a technical evaluation by the Immigration Department and an independent financial evaluation by both the Ministry of Finance and the Tender Board.

“The contract negotiations involved lawyers from the Attorney General’s office, Immigration, as well as the Ministry of Finance prior to a unanimous conclusion by all parties and final sign off by the Attorney General’s office of the Government of Maldives,” Nexbis stated.

On October 17, 2010, Nexbis signed a concession agreement with the Department of Immigration to implement an Immigration Border Control System (MIBCS) under a BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) arrangement. This allowed the system to be installed at no upfront cost to the government, while Nexbis would levy a fee on work visas issued over the lifespan of the agreement.

The concessionaire contract, Nexbis noted, “is legally binding and Nexbis will exhaust all avenues to ensure that its interest is protected in this matter.”

“Nexbis’ international lawyers have been building a libel and defamation case since the media frenzy to enable legal proceedings against certain individuals and institutions that have wrought irreparable damage to Nexbis’ reputation and brand name,” the company stated.

“In addition, we will be suing for compensation for collateral and consequential damages that arise as a result of direct or indirect implied allegations by individuals or institutions. We have gathered significant and indisputable information to mount a successful case and will be taking action.”

Mohamed Zuhair, Press Secretary for President Mohamed Nasheed, said “I agree that this is a negative development, and that Nexbis should consider going to court seeking redress [for the] delays.”

“The ACC has only said that there were ‘instances and opportunities’ where corruption could have occurred, but said they were not sure if it did happen and issued an injunction.”

The President, Zuhair emphasised, had “simply stated that he will cooperate with the ACC”, and “has not insinuated that corruption is involved [in the Nexbis deal].”

He added that the country’s independent institutions – and its judiciary – had been formed during an opposition majority.

“For all the government’s good intentions, the independent institutions have yet to do anything to accelerate the government’s efforts to provide prosperity for the public,” he claimed.

Zuhair pressed for patience, noting that “it is difficult for the government at the timebeing, during local council elections. These are problems not unique to the Maldives, and foreign investors should take heart in the democratic process we have brought in. On a good day, the ACC is in favour of foreign investment.”

He acknowledged the scope of the problem that the agreement was intended to address.

“Expatriate workers get hit twice – they pay agents in the country of origin, then come and pay an agent here, or even the employer. It is illegal and it has been going on for 30 years – there is now an ingrained culture [in the Maldives] of taking advantage of the hiring of expatriate workers to make money from them.”

“I am confident justice will prevail,” he added.

Minister of Economic Development Mahmoud Razee acknowledged that the situation with Nexbis was “unwelcome”, but said the Ministry “believes investors conduct due diligence on political risks in an emerging democracy with a lot of fluidity.”

“The government of the Maldives will continue to promote democracy and stabilise the economy to attract investors,” he said.

Nexbis appeared less convinced, and warned of potential ramifications to foreign investment in the Maldives should investors become collateral damage in local politicking.

“The ultimate collateral damage will be to the Maldivian public in the long term as international investors will shy away from the country unless commitments made are honored,” the company said.

“A single default in the government’s commitment will have a long and lasting effect including a significant re-rating of the investment risk of the country.”

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was not returning calls despite numerous attempts over several days.

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Velezinee files charges against JSC members ahead of High Court appointments

President’s Member on the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) Aishath Velezinee on Thursday filed criminal charges with police against six members of the JSC, ahead of the panel’s interviewing of potential High Court judges this weekend.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that Velezinee had pressed charges against the JSC members, and said police were now investigating the matter.

In a letter she also distributed to candidates attending the panel’s interviews, Velezinee stated that she had requested police investigate JSC President and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed Abdulla, JSC Vice Chair and MP (DRP-PA) DrAfraasheem Ali, Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Didi, Speaker of Parliament (DRP-PA) Abdulla Shahid, former JSC President and interim Supreme Court judge (now removed) Mujuthaaz Fahmy, and Former Civil Service Commission President and current member of Civil Service Commission Dr Mohamed Latheef.

Today Velezinee noted that three of the six people being investigated by police were interviewing 18 candidates as part of the High Court Appointment panel, despite not all meeting the prerequisite ‘good character’ requirements as adopted and gazetted by the JSC on 30 December 2009.

She refused to sit on the interview panel herself, stating “serious concerns about the integrity of the JSC itself”, criticising the Commission “for continuing without responsibility or accountability despite the very public issues of breach of trust and embezzlement reported in the media” and claiming it had ignored her requests for a delay while it “proves itself worthy of carrying its duties.”

“The day I was attacked they decided that everything had to be rushed, and they’ve been holding three meetings a day from 8:30am in the morning until 8:30pm at night,” she said, claiming the haste was with the intention of having a high court appointed in time to resolve disputes caused in the aftermath of the local council elections.

“I haven’t had a day to rest, and it took 11 days to remove my stitches. I still need to go to hospital for the dressings.”

Velezinee was hospitalised on January 3 after she was stabbed three times in the back in broad daylight on the main tourist street of Male’, an attack international organisations such as Transparency International have condemned as potentially “politically motivated.”

JSC Chair Adam Mohamed had not responded to Minivan News’ request for comment on the charges against JSC members at time of press.

Last week the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said it was investigating the JSC for embezzling state funds by awarding itself over Rf 500,000 in ‘committee allowances’, contrary to Article 164 of the Constitution.

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Comment: MP Privileges Bill about building status, not state

On December 28, 2010, the Peoples’ Majlis passed Bill No 29/2010, the ‘Imthiyaz Bill’ or parliamentary privileges bill, among a host of others as members prepared to take their two month annual holiday from the Majlis floor.

The bill, which was submitted by Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed, was passed with 44 ‘yes’ votes, 21 ‘no’ votes and 10 abstentions.

This is a substantial level of agreement in a parliament fiercely divided by party lines and plagued by frequent public displays of discord and disagreement on the floor which ends in cancellation of proceedings.

On December 15, 2010, prior to the passage of the privileges bill, the parliamentary Financial Committee submitted a report to the floor proposing to award themselves a “committee allowance” of Rf 20,000 (US$1550), increasing the already inflated MP salary of Rf 62,500 (US$4860) to Rf 82,500 (US$6420) per month.

Understandably, this caused public outrage which strangely appears to have taken some MPs by surprise.

The two different instances of personal privileges and remunerations are being sought by MPs at a time when the government is struggling to cope with an all-time high budget deficit, and being heavily criticised for making controversial cut-backs in civil service wages. These developments have lead to a considerable build up of public frustration, dissatisfaction and loss of confidence in the parliament.

On December 30, 2010, protesters gathered outside the parliament building demanding the resignation of MPs and the whole parliament, and ridiculed MPs for asking payment to “get out of bed”!

A few young people went so far as to call for a “Majlis Fund” and joined the protest with a cardboard donation box, raising funds for the allegedly destitute MPs.

Two days later on January 2, 2011, another public demonstration took place at Raalhugandu where protesters demanded MPs show accountability to the people and called for the reinstatement of civil servants’ wages and the scrapping of the proposed MP salary increment.

Citizen opinion

An open Facebook group entitled “Majlis membarunge musaara bodukurumaa dhekolhah” (“against MP salary increment”, sprang up virtually overnight and has attracted nearly 2000 members in just over a week.

As the momentum of the public protest gathered speed, a group of concerned citizens met at the social centre (MCSE) in Malé on the evening of January 8, 2011 to discuss and analyse the privileges bill.

Several lawyers and an economic analyst gave presentations on the issues arising from the bill. Two MPs, Mr Ahmed Nihan and Mr Ahmed Mahloof attended the meeting. They explained to the audience some of the difficulties conducting their work, including their obligation to follow the party line as well as the issue of getting insufficient time to read bills before voting.

Both MPs – who incidentally had voted in favour of the bill – said that they now supported those speaking out against the bill.

Nihan informed a member of the audience that he would not support the bill any more. This brings little comfort for citizens who find the contents of the privileges bill a parliamentary disgrace. The fact that an MP tried to justify voting for a bill he did not have time to read, further undermined any efforts for redemption.

On the evening of January 9, 2011, MNBC One aired a live panel discussion organised by three NGOs: Strength of Society, Madulu and the Maldivian Democracy Network.

The four panellists were practising lawyers Ali Hussain, Ahmed Abdulla Afeef and Shafaz Wajeeh, as well as economic expert Mr Ahmed Adheeb. The panel was moderated by prominent social advocate Salma Fikry.

Opening the discussion, Shafaz explained that the main purpose of the 400 year old principle of parliamentary privileges was to facilitate the unobstructed and independent freedom for MPs to perform their duties and functions as MPs.

However, nearly 75 percent of the “privileges” in the Maldivian MPs privileges bill, the panel argued, went beyond the remit of the principle of parliamentary privilege. In fact, it appears that the elected MPs of the new Maldivian democracy have attempted to redefine the whole concept of parliamentary privilege, as practiced in established democracies around the world. Privilege in the context of parliamentary practice had become distorted to personal status building.

Issues and concerns

Critics of the bill raised several concerns. They argued that it contravened citizens’ basic rights as provided in the constitution, contravened the constitution and existing laws and completely disregarded the serious economic situation of the country.

If ratified, they argued that this bill could not be implemented because it falls foul of many existing laws of the country.

The MP privileges bill gives powers to the Speaker of the Majlis to impose jurisdiction over independent statutory bodies, the judiciary as well as individual citizens.

According to Article 5 of the privileges bill, outlining “actions which impede privileges”, the penalties for non-compliance by any individual or institution range from fines between Rf1,000 to Rf100,000 as well as removal from employment or a jail term of 1-2 years. Several other articles of the bill set out similar punishments for non-compliance or “criminal misconduct” as perceived within the bill.

Of the 39 articles in the bill, 30 percent include non-compliance penalties directed outside the realm of the Majlis.

Legal experts say that the harshest punishment for non-compliance with parliamentary privilege in a developed democracy is up to six months in jail. In the fledgling democracy of the Maldives, this has reached a new height.

Moreover, they point out that the current bill gives the Speaker of the Majlis powers to remove from office senior officials of the Police, members of the Judiciary, the Prosecutor General and other such heads of statutory institutions. This undermines the concept of “separation of powers”.

Supported by Article 102 of the Constitution, Article 7(a) of the MP privileges bill stipulates that all financial remuneration including MPs own salaries will be decided by the parliament, meaning by themselves.

A vocal critic of the privileges bill,lawyer Ali Hussain, argued that MP salaries should be decided through a public referendum, even if this requires a constitutional amendment. This is perhaps a valid argument given the situation where the constitution is facilitating the highest degree of conflict of interest by requiring MPs to set their own wages. One could argue that the constitution is setting a precedent for MPs to abuse their powers. And they appear to have done just that in the privileges bill.

Some “privileges”:

Article 7 (b) of the privileges bill requires the provision of medical insurance for MPs, their spouses, any children under 18 and parents to receive an insurance package which includes services available in the Maldives as well as any SAARC or ASEAN country.
Article 7 (c) states that every MP and spouse must be issued a diplomatic passport.
Article 7 (f) states that each MP should be entitled to import one duty free car during each term in office although should such a car be sold or passed on to another person, duty should be paid.
Article 7 (g) explains that if a “natural incident or any other incident” prevents the use of such a vehicle, the importation of a replacement would be permitted.
Article 8 (a-c) provides pension entitlements of 30 percent of the salary for serving one term in office, 45 percent for 2 terms and 60 percent for 3 terms.
Article 8 (e) states that any person who has served as an MP should receive medical insurance (presumably for life)
Article 8 (f) requires an official passport to be issued to any person who has served as an MP and article 8 (g) states that such person(s) must receive “honourable status” and should be addressed as the “honourable member for” whatever constituency seat held at the time of departure from the parliament.
Article 9 requires MNDF to provide bodyguards if any MP requests for protection at any time.
Under article 16 (c-d), MPs cannot be searched (by law enforcement authorities) in a public place unless “absolutely certain without suspicion” of an offence.

Critics argue that this is a non-sequitur highly illogical and outside of legal reasoning which would be impossible to implement.

What next?

As more and more citizens come to understand the distorted, pervasive and impossible remit of Bill No 29/2010, the MP Privileges Bill, they are also beginning to understand just how unfit for public office their MPs really are.

While most citizens neither have the time nor the inclination to speak out against what they see as meaningless political shenanigans, MP accountability can only come with active citizen participation and protest. As the country struggles to get to grips with its new democratic constitution, its MPs are busily seeking to ensure their collective and personal interests at the expense of the ordinary citizen and the financial health of the nation.

While the job of MPs is state building, their preoccupation is personal status building. The MP privileges bill has the capacity to undermine democracy, respect for citizens’ rights and the rule of law in the Maldives, unless its citizens act to make the parliament accountable.

On January 3, 2011, the parliament sent the MP privileges bill to the President for ratification. As they await the President’s decision, concerned citizens are putting their faith in their elected leader’s capacity and willingness to listen to the people and return this bill to parliament, as wholly unfit for ratification given its current ludicrous content.

Read the Imthiyaz bill (Dhivehi)

How the MPs voted (English)

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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“If I keep silent, I have become a traitor”: Velezinee vows to continue campaign against “silent coup”

The President’s Member on the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) and outspoken whistleblower Aishath Velezinee has vowed to continue pushing for a public inquiry into the activities of the JSC, despite what she has described as an “assassination attempt” on Monday January 3.

Velezinee was hospitalised after she was stabbed three times in the back, in broad daylight on the main tourist street of Male’, “right outside the Home Minister’s door.”

Many international organisations, including Transparency International and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), have expressed “grave concern that the attack may be politically motivated.”

Velezinee turned whistle-blower on the JSC in August 2010, after parliament failed to issue an injunction she had requested on the reappointment of judges before the conclusion of the constitutional interim period. Velezinee contends the reappointment of unsuitable judges – many largely uneducated and some with criminal convictions – was rushed through in collaboration with senior members of parliament.

Since then she has campaigned against what she alleges is a “silent coup”, an “alliance between parliament and the judiciary to subvert the rule of law, derail constitutional democracy and use the courts to bring down the executive.”

“I didn’t stop complaining. I realised this was a bigger thing, a conspiracy, and mentioned names. They were not interested in change – they are using all their powers, their status and the respect people have for them to subvert the rule of law.”

The public, she claims, is poorly informed on the matter as “there is a huge information gap because the JSC meetings are closed. If the JSC sittings were open to the media, the public would be able to put together what has happened.”

“I sit in the JSC and I see the Speaker of Parliament (Abdulla Shahid) and DRP MP (Dr Afrasheem Ali), also members of the Commission, do whatever they will. What is done in the JSC is done by parliament.”

For example, she explained on the last day of the final parliament session for 2010, the opposition-majority Majlis amended the Judges’ Act (13/2010) to award a Rf 53,250 (US$4140) monthly retirement package to former JSC Vice Chair and Interim-Supreme Court Justice Mujthaz Fahmy, despite a conviction for embezzling state funds in 1996.

“It was not an honourable discharge, he was not fit to be a judge. But they made an amendment to the judges bill solely for one man – only Mujthaz it applies to, and only Mujthaz it will apply to,” Velezinee explained.

MP Afrasheem observed at the time that judges are awarded high salaries and benefits to ensure their ethical and disciplinary standards, and that it is essential for them to continue to be able to uphold their dignity and impeccable ethical standards even after they leave office.

“If a retired Justice were forced to wheel a cart on the street after leaving the bench, it will not give them the respect and the love that they received in office, and still deserve,” Afrasheem said.

The entire amendment, Velezinee alleges, was “to pay Mujthaz his dues for his role as an instrument in the silent coup.”

Meanwhile the public, she stated, “ is misinformed as to the reality of the judiciary they have. We have high state officials using their status and their authority to confuse the public, and legitimise that which is unconstitutional.

“The public are helpless when it is the state that has dissented. We Maldivians have been taught to obey. Obedience is the priority – our religion is about obedience. It is a completely different culture for us to stand up for ourselves and demand things of our leaders.”

velezineestanding — JSC member and whistle-blower Aishath Velezinee

Lead-up

Days prior to being stabbed in the street, Velezinee had been trying to get the Majlis to distribute a 34-page letter to members of the JSC’s parliamentary oversight committee, without apparent success. On January 2, she delivered 250 posters to citizens around Male’, calling for a public inquiry into the JSC.

“The Constitution grants everyone a free and fair trial, but JSC’s treason has deprived the people of not only a right to a free and fair trial but thereby compromised all other fundamental rights,” she wrote on her website, the day before her stabbing. “The State can neither protect fundamental rights of the people, nor further human rights and practice democratic government without the institutionalisation of an Independent judiciary.”

The attack

At 10am on the morning of January 3, Velezinee was walking along the main tourist street of Chandhanee Magu near Islanker school, “when I felt this knock on my back.”

“I thought I had been bumped, I didn’t realise I had been stabbed,” she said. “When I looked back I made eye contact with a guy as he was turning around. So I kept walking and then he turned back and stabbed me a second and third time.”

Her assailant, whom she described as “a young kid, a teenager”, jumped on the back of a waiting motorbike driven by another and rode off.

“At that point I put my hand up and it was completely soaked in blood, and I realised I had been stabbed. If I had fallen I would have been dead, the second two stabs would have finished me off, as would the first if their aim had been correct. But I’m light and my bag got in the way. I think it was meant to be assassination attempt or else hit my spine and make me a vegetable for the rest of my life.”

While still upright she was, however, “bleeding everywhere. I was soaked through.”

“My fear was that I would easily I bleed to death. But I took a deep breath and realised I was alive. As soon as I realised this, the only thing I wanted to do was go and get the blood stopped and get to the Commission because this was the day of the High Court appointments, and I know they wanted me out of the way. I didn’t realise how serious the wounds were, I didn’t see them until two days later when I went for a dressing change.”

“I tried calling 119, it took four attempts to get through, I told them I was stabbed. Nobody stopped to help me, so I saw a neighbour from my childhood and didn’t give him a chance to say no and jumped on the back of his motorbike and said ‘take me to IGMH (Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital), I’ve been stabbed.”

“He took me round the corner to his home, where he could get a vehicle. At that point another man stopped and said “no, you can’t wait if you’re bleeding like that, get on my bike.”

“I got on the bike without thinking and then wondered, ‘who are you?’ He was really good, screaming at traffic to get out of the way, but I was bleeding very heavily. I had to hold on and he was afraid I would faint – it was dangerous on a motorbike.

“He came to Majeedhee Magu. He tried to get a taxi to respond, but I saw a police car and they took me to hospital.”

On the agenda at 2:30pm that day at the JSC was the decision over which applicants would qualify for appointment as High Court judges.

“It was very suspicious the way the Commission acted [after the stabbing],” Velezinee said.

“Not a single Commission member called or came to the hospital or made any effort to see how I was. Instead they hurried to organise an extraordinary meeting to discuss the assault, and then decided to hold a press conference – all of this without checking on me – and as I understand it, it was suggested by the Speaker of Parliament that the Chair of the Commission, who’ve I’ve previously alleged is suffering from a psychiatric disorder, be nominated to give a press conference.

“At the press conference they made very strange statements. They said that ‘Nobody should be attacked for having different opinions, or the way they express their different opinions’.

“The commission did not show me any respect, because after that press conference they organised a meeting on Tuesday to decide on the High Court judges. The Commission had previously agreed not to meet on Tuesdays because Tuesday is cabinet day.

“So I requested Commission members talk with the chair and make him postpone the meeting. The Speaker was leaving the country that night – I asked the Secretary General to speak with the Chair and delay the meeting until Wednesday, but the response I got was that they could not delay the meeting because it was ‘the right of the people to have the High Court’.

“I put out a rude statement accusing the Commission of trying to expedite things while I was incapacitated, and that persuaded them to cancel the meeting. But they did not say they were doing so out of concern for my wellbeing – instead they told the media that the meeting was postponed “because some members are busy.”

Still busy

Velezinee says she does not believe last week’s attempt on her life will be the last.

“I don’t believe the State can actually protect me. Because it is the state that wants me silenced – the parliament and the judiciary. If you look at what happened in the days before the attack, there was a flurry of attacks in the media – including by the parliamentary oversight committee – criticising me, my character and my performance in the JSC. This has been a very organised effort to discredit me, and some people speak in different voices.

“There are honourable men in this country who are owned by others, and they may be put in a position where they believe they have to take my life. I knew there was a chance that I was risking murder, and I wasn’t wrong. It was only because of God’s grace that I survived.”

The police, she said, had been “very effective” in their investigation so far. However police spokesperson Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that it was “very difficult” for police to release an update on the case, as it was “complicated”.

Police were, he said, collecting evidence and would release an update to the media “as soon as it is available.”

As to whether the attacks would dissuade her from continuing to campaign against the “derailment of democracy” by parliament and the judiciary, “if I close my eyes, I will have betrayed my country and people,” Velezinee said.

“I will have betrayed them by failing to inform people and give them a chance to change this. When the State fails it is up to the citizens to hold the State accountable. The state has failed here, and as a state official it is my responsibility to inform the public and give them the chance to make an informed decision.

“I know for a fact that rule of law has been subverted. I know for a fact that there is corruption at the highest level in parliament. And I know that if I join the majority in keeping silent, I have become a traitor.”

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Defence Ministry staff member banished for theft

The Criminal Court of the Maldives has sentenced a Defence Ministry staff member Ibrahim Ahmed to three years and six months banishment, after he admitted to stealing money from a safe at the ministry.

Criminal Court said that Ibrahim was in a position in the Ministry where his duty was to look after the Ministry’s safe.

He was sentenced for stealing Rf 5821.09 ($US450) from the Defence Ministry’s safe, the Criminal Court said.

”Because he admitted that he committed the crime the Criminal Court found him guilty of the crime, and the court sentenced him to three years and six month banishment,” the court said.

Ibrahim was sentenced under article 131 [a], 143 and 146 of the penal code.

The Prosecutor General filed the lawsuit against him.

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Corruption Index ranks Maldives below Zimbabwe

The Maldives has been ranked 143 in Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perception Index, equal with Pakistan and below Zimbabwe.

The ranking represents a fall of 15 places since the 2009 Index, which itself fell 15 places from the 2008 Index.

The Maldives is now ranked well below regional neighbours, including India (87), Sri Lanka (91) and Bangladesh (134). Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore ranked first, while Somalia ranked last at 178, below Burma and Afghanistan.

The Maldivian index was calculated using three different sources, explained Executive Director of Transparency Maldives, Ilham Mohamed. These were the Asian Development Bank’s Country Performance Index 2009, Global Insight’s Country Risk Report 2010, and the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2009.

“I think [the decline] reflects changes we are going through as a democracy – political instability is also considered when calculating the index,” Ilham said. “But this reflects the fact that the international community considers us more corrupt since 2008.”

Despite having a new constitution the Maldives does not have “the enabling legislation” in place to combat corruption, Ilham said. “We don’t even have a criminal code.”

She hesitated to say whether corruption was “a cultural problem”, because this was “a common justification in many Asian countries.”

“Nepotism is nepotism no matter where it happens,” Ilham said. “Howver it could be that the index reflects that practices such as patronage and gift-giving – which weren’t perceived as corrupt – are now beginning to be recognised as such.”

Corruption has maintained a high profile in the Maldives throughout 2010, most dramatically in July when recordings of phone conversations between MPs were leaked to the press. MPs were heard discussing plans to derail the taxation bill, implement no-confidence motions against ministers, buy someone called “Rose”, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the exchange of “millions”.

People’s Alliances party (PA) leader Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom told Minivan News at the time that while a voice in the sound clips might have been his, the conversations were ”not to borrow money to bribe MPs… [rather] as friends, we might help each other,” he said.

Meanwhile, “I need cash”, a recorded comment from Independent MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed to an individual believed to be Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim, quickly became something of a meme in the Maldives, with islanders in his constituency of Kulhudhufushi setting up a collections box on the beach.

However the debate quickly turned one of telecommunications legalities, with the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) issuing a statement condemning the recording of private phone calls.

Shortly afterwards parliament levelled a no-confidence motion at Education Minister Dr Mustafa Luthfy, the entire cabinet resigned in protest against the “scorched earth” tactics of the opposition majority parliament. The former ministers accused parliament of outright corruption and police arrested MPs Yameen and Gasim and charged them with treason and vote buying, for “attempting to topple the government illegally.”

Both were released when the Supreme Court overruled a decision by the High Court to hold the pair under house arrest for 15 days.

Police later that month arrested Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim, also of the PA, and ruling Maldivian Democratic Party MP Mohamed Musthafa on suspicion of bribing MPs and a civil court judge.

The Criminal Court ordered their release and several senior police lawyers giving evidence were suspended from court “on ethical grounds”.

Senior officers at the time expressed concern that investigations into “high-profile corruption cases” were compromised at “a very preliminary stage”, noting that the court had refused to even issue arrest warrants for a case involving more than a kilogram of heroin.

Police lodged that complaint with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), which has yet to review any of the nearly 120 complaints it has received this year.

Earlier in the year Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem was also dismissed in a no-confidence motion by parliament shortly after demanding a financial audit of all ministers, past and present, including former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) found Naeem guilty of buying a tie and boat transport with government money, and he was summarily dismissed.

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Comment: Decades of corruption and tyranny leave Maldivians narcissistic and power hungry

Over the years I have closely observed an acute realism in the thinking of many of the Maldivians I have come across.

Such realism is a natural response to all of the corruption and tyranny that has been perpetrated by those who are supposed to be grand and noble.

This realism often leads to a profound suspicion about the motives of others. At times, it takes on an Islamic face. In a sigh of despair many proclaim, nothing can be done, it is Allah’s Will.

An observed manifestation of this acute realism in some is extreme narcissistic power hunger and personal corruption. Many reason, well, there is no way to escape corruption, if I am not corrupt I will get done over by the corrupt guy.

Despite this realism, leaders are still worshipped by some Maldivians although everyone knows the rhetoric and the cult nature of Maldivian political life is based on a whole lot of lies.

Leaders with absolute power get high on the power trip of being worshipped, no doubt knowing that it is only out of fear and selfish ambition that the people are worshipping them. To save one’s skin, or to promote one’s own self, one worships the leader publically.

So taking all this into account, the question arises… Why should one pursue justice when one is intelligent enough to know that we human beings are all corrupt and can never be anything but?

Human nature is selfish, self-deceptive and prone to corruption. Justice and goodness are defined by the powerful, surely there is no such thing as a real right and wrong, there is only ‘will to power…’

This was posed by Thrasymachus to Socrates in Plato’s Republic, and has been debated ever since.

There is a reward for pursuing truth, compassion and justice, not in a conventional economic sense, and not in a this worldly sense. The seekers of good in this life are normally tortured, rejected, and suffer for it.

The evidence that there is a reward comes from those who have suffered and/or died struggling for truth, compassion and justice when they knew they would never see it. The death and suffering of all the martyr’s for love and justice in human history proves that what they have, what they feel, is something much, something far deeper than what can be realized in this life. It is evidence that they have something, know something that is worth dying for.

This something is a hope rooted in an experience of a reality deeper than death. It is a profound sense of the sanctity of humanity which cannot possibly or logically come from this world.

It is awakened through both pain and love. It is the reality which this word justice is founded on.

Yes, justice is real, and it is not relative or subjective. It is the reward and punishment due for ones level of respect for the sanctity of humanity.

The need for justice is innate, and it is the greatest proof of the existence of a Supreme Being there is. Justice is frustrated in this world, and yet we still desire it and believe in it though we know we can never get it on this earth. The fact that this need for justice we have survives even though it is obvious that we will never get justice on this earth proves that this need must come from a source deeper and more powerful than what we can see in this world.

There is an inbuilt, a subconscious homesickness in each one of us for a home we do not know, for perfection and a humanity we have never experienced. This a-priori longing for the unknown is evidence that something outside of that which we perceive has reached down to us and put in our hearts a hunger for that which is existant only in the afterlife. It is the sense of the Divine which is the knowing of the unknown.

Where else would this persistant hunger for justice and perfection come from seems we cannot possibly get it from this world? What would motivate us to struggle for the sanctity of humanity knowing that on this Earth we will never realize it, if the knowledge of this perfection were not somehow built into our unconscious minds as the way the Divine makes us long for the Divine?

Do we crave for a food we have never tasted? So why do we crave for justice when we have never tasted that? Our taste for justice could not possibly have come from this earth, so where does this taste for justice come from if it is not somehow innate, an inbuilt sense of hope which whilst obviously not derived from this earth must only come from beyond it.

It does not help to deny the existence of the Creator in the name of Justice as so many have done. (Marxist’s… just to name the most common group…) Indeed, the existence of a Divine Creator and in an afterlife is the only possible and plausible hope for justice there is.

This is because, whilst some may get justice on this earth, it is painfully apparent that no matter how idealistic and disciplined the seekers of justice or the constitutionally ordained deliverers of justice are, human nature is such that there will always be injustice no matter how hard we work to ensure that this is not the case.

The socialist experiments proved this. I am here in a so called just and civilised society (Australia) and there is still rampant injustice and racism everywhere, even though we had been struggling to eradicate injustice and human rights oppression for over a hundred years.

So if you think Mohammed Anni Nasheed or any other leader can give everybody justice, you will soon be bitterly disappointed. Or if you really believe you can bring justice for everyone, you are either naïve or dangerously deluded.

Indeed, many leaders have held this belief. Due to our human need to feel self important, this belief does not cease in the face of obvious injustice. It does become a delusion. Once a delusion forms, many others form. It leads to schizophrenic paranoia and tyranny. The only way this dangerous delusion can be broken is through humility. Yet sadly, humility is never the thing that propels people into power.

Also, and this is the hard part, this inner hope I speak of is deepened by personal suffering. Suffering without this hope becomes selfishness, bitterness, moral despair, depression or rage. It often brings hunger for blood or hunger for God like status. Yet suffering, if fused with this hope, gives inner strength, compassion, spiritual power, maturity and wisdom.

There is a reward for struggling for humanity, even though it can never be completely realized on this earth. There is also a punishment for exploiting and belittling humanity in the pursuit of personal power.

At the end of all the reward and punishment however, I believe that the source of this hope I speak of is also Merciful beyond what we humans could ever comprehend. We are all as corrupt as each other; we are all hypocrites, all of us human beings. For every good we do we will also do as much bad. It is only through the Mercy of this hope that we have any right to experience the reward for following it because, we all deserve as much punishment as we do reward.

May we strive to awaken this hope in one another through compassion…

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Transparency Maldives urges parliament to expedite the appointment of Auditor General

NGO Transparency Maldives has called on the parliament and the executive to expedite the appointment of the new Auditor General.

“Some police investigations and several cases in court based on audit reports have been affected because of the missing Auditor General,” said the NGO’s spokesperson, Aiman Rasheed.

Aiman declined to reveal what the cases were and who they concerned.

‘’The executive has recently alleged that some of the parliamentarians are corrupt, and that could potentially be true, but we are demanding they expedite the appointment of the Auditor General. It’s been nearly five months now,’’ Aiman said.

Aiman noted that the Auditor General’s office was not functioning fully because there was no Auditor General.

“Although we have not said what the cases are and who they involve, we have relevant information that this issue has become an obstacle to the continuing the investigations and court trials,’’ he said.

Parliament in March voted to dismiss Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, with 43 voting in favour of the no-confidence motion and 28 against, shortly after Naeem demanded a financial audit of past and present government ministers.

The Auditor General was accused of corruption by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for using the government’s money to buy a tie and visit Thulhaidhu in Baa Atoll.

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