Tag: Drugs

Home minister blames Second Chance rehab scheme for crime “surge”

Home Minister Dr Ahmed Jameel has blamed a current “surge” in crime partly on the Second Chance rehabilitation programme run by the former government, which he alleged released prisoners, sometimes with “heavy sentences”, for political purposes.

After telling local media this week that over 200 convicted criminals released under the scheme has been returned to prison over allegedly having re-offended, Dr Jameel pledged more former Second Chance inmates deemed or suspected as posing “a danger to the public” would be returned to custody.

The now-defunct Second Chance initiative has received significant media coverage this week after a former inmate released under the programme, 29 year-old male Ahmed Murrath, confessed to the murder of prominent lawyer Ahmed Najeeb in Male’.

However, the former manager of the initiative, Aishath Rasheed, has claimed she was surprised at reports of a large number of inmates released under Second Chance now being returned to prison. Speaking to Minivan News this week, Rasheed raised concerns about a lack of rehabilitation measures for young people imprisoned for smaller offences such as drug use in the country since the Second Chance programme was terminated.

Second Chance was established to help address concerns that a majority of the Maldives’ prison population were young people incarcerated for minor drug offences. Rasheed has maintained that the resulting long jail terms handed to young people – in some cases even over minor drugs offences – “were destroying their lives”.

According to the UNDP’s “Prison Assessment and Proposed Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Offenders Report”, which was published last year, 66 percent of all prisoners in the Maldives at the time of report were in jail for drug use or possession, often small quantities.

The majority were males under 30 years of age with education below O-levels, the report added, claiming the Maldivian prison population could be reduced by up to two-thirds if the government would “de-criminalise the offence of drug usage and propose mandatory rehabilitation”.

“Political advantage”

Home Minister Jameel has contended that the Second Chance initiative had been set up by former President Mohamed Nasheed “without a legal basis or justification”, in an attempt to pick and choose convicts for release on the basis of their political allegiance.

“Nothing prevents me to take back to prison all those released under the Second Chance programme found committing further offences for the safety and security of our people,” he said. “I have abolished Second Chance after assuming this [Home Ministry] portfolio to prevent ‘undue political advantage by convicts in the correctional system’ which was the policy of the Nasheed Government. I intend to take back all dangerous criminals back to prison as part of process to make our home and streets safe.”

Jameel added that the country’s legal system already included mechanisms by which prisoners could obtain early release under certain circumstances.  He claimed these legal mechanisms had been negated by the Second Chance initiative.

The mechanisms include clemency, which was provided under the Law on Reduction of Punishment and Clemency and considered only under “exceptional circumstances”, according to Jameel. He added that applicants for this mechanism were required to be reviewed by a specially established clemency board.

A second method to obtain early release is provided in the form of a parole programme overseen by a multi-sectoral board that decides on the eligibility of each candidate.

“Both of these programmes were abandoned to directly pick and select convicts from prison for Second Chance,” claimed Jameel. “Indiscriminate release of convicts without regard to the nature of the offences and selecting convicts based on their political association and belief demonstrates the underlying purpose of the Second Chance programme. Not only one or two of those released has been caught again for committing further offences, but several arrests made to regards to serious offences found second chance convicts.”

When contacted by Minivan News about the number of prisoners released under Second Chance that had since been returned to custody, the Maldives Police Service said it could not confirm a figure at the time, forwarding the enquiry to Home Minster Jameel.

The home minister said that “more than 200” people released under the programme were believed to have re-offended.

The Second Chance programme was stopped back in February directly following the controversial transfer of power that brought Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s coalition government to power.

The Home Minister claimed back in March that a total of 1879 criminals were incarcerated for various offences during Nasheed’s term, but only 621 remained in prisons while 1258 have been released with no clear procedure.

After shutting down Second Chance in February, the programme’s responsibilities were instead tasked to the Parole Board and Clemency Board, which were re-formed in the intervening weeks.

However, both boards have been criticised in recent years for being “slow and ineffective”, by Second Chance’s former manager Aishath Rasheed, who claimed to be “very much surprised” about reports of the number of prisoners released under the programme now being returned to jail.

An estimated 439 inmates were released during the life-time of the Second Chance imitative, each of whom were said to be thoroughly evaluated and approved by the courts, according to Rasheed. Any former inmate found to have violated the terms of the release were sent back to the prison to complete their jail term. She added that the 439 inmates released under the scheme were mostly young people held on minor drug offences.

Verification

Rasheed, also a former member of the country’s parole board until resigning after the new government came to power, claimed that she had first heard about possible cases of prisoners released under the Second Chance committing criminal acts back in March. She stressed that it was therefore important to verify whether the suspected offenders were in fact released under the scheme and if they had been guilty of re-offending.

Beyond serving to secure an early conditional release for prisoners, Rasheed stressed that the programme was also designed to provide educational and rehabilitation programmes for inmates – initiatives that she claimed were not being provided at present.

“The idea was to give a chance to everyone in prison for rehabilitation, but the programme has been stopped, we had offered O-level training and spiritual classes,” she said. “However, within two days of Second Chance being finished they have stopped the O-level programmes and the yoga and spiritual classes. We had very technical and experienced instructors for these programmes, but I’m not sure they have been replaced by anything.”

Rasheed claimed that in closing down the programme, Home Minister Jameel had not looked at the programme and its respective benefits – a model used in many other countries to rehabilitate prisoners.

“In Singapore and New Zealand for example, there are very productive Second Chance-style programmes,” she said. “Due to the structure of our Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) we were only just starting out with these type of rehabilitation programmes.”

Speaking to Minivan News in March, Rasheed claimed that the Parole and Clemency board “did not have the technical expertise to continue the program”.

“I was a member of the parole board. Both boards exist as mere names. Some members do go for the meetings but have to go back home because the meetings cannot be held due to lack of quorum,” Rasheed said at the time.

However, as of last month, a new parole board set up by President Waheed had begun assessing the eligibility of inmates for release after they had undergone months of rehabilitation programmes.

Parole and rehabilitation

Present Parole Board member and Spokesperson for the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) Bilal said that although the Second Chance programme had been terminated in February, prisoners would be still be eligible for potential parole and rehabilitation.

“The present government decided not to continue with Second Chance, there have been examples where prisoners had violated the conditions of their release and had been returned [to jail],” he said. “Second Chance as a programme was seen as a failure.”

Bilal claimed that the main functions of the Second Chance programme could still be met through the existing parole programme ran through the DRPS.

“Under parole, a prisoner under 25 for example must serve one third of their sentence, the parole board will then decide on the candidate’s release,” he said.

As of next month, Bilal claimed that a reintegration programme was being launched to help prisoners released on parole to acclimatise to life outside of prison for their first month back in society.  Vocational programmes in fields like electrical maintenance were also said by Bilal to currently be on offer at the detention centres of Maafushi and  Dhoonidhoo.

“We have planned to start basic education programmes soon as well as more advanced O-level courses. We are having meetings today with the Education Ministry on this,” he claimed. “We expect these programmes to be starting soon.”

Rehabilitative focus

Back in May, Lubna Mohamed Zahir Hussain, Minister of State for Health and Family saidthe upcoming establishment of a entirely new drug court in the country was indicative of a major shift in ongoing government policy over the last three years from a solely punitive approach to a more rehabilitative focus for minor offenders.

The Health Ministry insisted at the time that the new regulations provided distinct measures to assist small time drug abusers, while cracking down on larger-scale traffickers based in the Maldives and the wider South Asian region.

Hussain claimed that under this new legal and judicial system, the NDA was now looking to focus to rehabilitate prisoners found guilty of minor drug offences – something that had not been possible through the prison service previously.

“Seventy percent of prisoners currently being held in jails on drug offences have never been given treatment whilst they are incarcerated,” she claimed at the time.

Hussain added that recent amendments to national drug laws would compensate for the loss of rehabilitative programmes such as Second Chance – at least for minor drug offenders.

“The essence of the Second Chance programme is seen in the new drug law,” she said at the time.

Prison fears

Ali Adyb of the Journey NGO, which runs a drop-in centre in Male’ as well as outreach programmes across the country’s many atolls, told Minivan News earlier this year that he believed a long-term policy of criminalising drug users in the Maldives had failed, in part, because of a failure to segregate prisoners convicted of petty theft with more serious crimes.

“We are aware of people who have actually become addicted to drugs whilst in jail here,” he said.

Journey stressed that even for convicted addicts who were no longer being held in the country’s prison system, the stigma of having a criminal record for using narcotics led even qualified people to struggle to find a job upon their release.

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Three men and a woman arrested with large amount of cash and drugs

Three men and a woman have been arrested in possession of illegal drugs and a huge amount of cash, according to police.

Police said the four were arrested yesterday afternoon at about 2:40pm in a special operation conducted following a report received by police intelligence.

The police have not identified the house and the arrested persons but have said a 20 year-old man, 27 year-old man, 27 year-old man and a 29 year-old woman were arrested.

According to police, 10 packets of illegal drugs were found inside a cupboard in the house and the Rf 30,000 (US$1950) was found when the police searched the 20 year-old man.

US$1100 and Rf 3000 (US$195) was found on the 27 year-old man, police said.

The Police Drug Enforcement Department is further investigating the case.

Furthermore, police today said that the case, in which three men broke open a motorbike’s seat and stole Rf 200,000 (US$13,000) stored under it, to the Prosecutor General after concluding the investigation in to the case.

The three suspects involved in the case were identified by the police as Ahmed Areesh, 26, of Maafannu Gulsampaage, Afir Mohamed of Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Rathafandhoo, and Wafir Mohamed.

The three were arrested on May 30 in a operation police conducted to capture them. They were arrested along with valuable items they had bought with the money. The remainder was recovered, police said.

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Fourteen expats arrested with alcohol and drugs

Police have arrested 14 expatriate workers while they were in possession of four large bottles of alcohol and seven 500ml bottles of alcohol inside a garage in Male’.

According to police, the expats were arrested in a special operation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Department last Friday night at around 12:30am.

Police said the alcohol bottles were discovered inside a box in the garage.

Two packets of suspected illegal drugs were found inside the wallet of one expat arrested, said police.

Police said the 13 expats arrested were from Sri Lanka and one was from Bangladesh. Two were female, police said.

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Condoms and black magic: police raid Usfasgandu

Additional reporting by Daniel Bosley

Police raided the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest camp at Usfasgandu this morning, after obtaining a search warrant from the Criminal Court and cordoning off the area from MDP demonstrators.

MDP MP Mariya Ahmed Didi was inside the cordon showing the warrant to a group of media representatives shortly after 8:00am, as dozens of police began to gather in the area.

Reasons for the search as stated on the warrant included: “suspected criminal activity”, “damage to public property”, and “suspected black magic performed in the area”.

Under evidence, the warrant alleged that people in the Usfasgandu area verbally abused police officers and damaged a police vehicle on April 20, obstructed a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) exercise of May 9, and on May 25 “MDP protesters threw a cursed rooster at MNDF officers.”

As blue-gloved officers from the Drug Enforcement Department (DED) arrived, a group of largely female protesters began to gather at the barricades set up near the STELCO building. The barricade was itself lightly manned by police, however a group of police stationed further back near the Dharubaaruge convention centre were equipped with riot shields, gas masks and rubber bullet guns.

The crowd was noisy and upset, but non-violent. An altercation erupted at the front between a group of women and several young men, whom protesters claimed had been sent by a government-affiliated party to provoke the crowd. Minivan News later observed one of these men being arrested by police after trying to break through the barricade.

Meanwhile, DED officers fanned out at the Usfasgandu site and began poking through plants and debris around the padlocked container under the main stage. A large group of police on the other side were picking through rocks along the seawall, while a police boat waited outside the harbour.

Media raced over to photograph the first discovery, retrieved from a nearby bush: cigarette butts and a brown substance wrapped in an MDP membership form. Police near the stage had meanwhile lifted up a wooden board and found a small plastic baggie containing the remnants of a dried substance.

A major find occurred after police broke open the container, searching through old paint tins and debris before reaching into a ceiling cavity, triumphantly producing a packet of condoms (‘Moods’ ultrathin).

The Usfasgandu area had been given to the MDP by the (MDP-dominated) Male’ City Council, after it was evicted by police from its previous camp just metres down the road at the tsunami monument. Police at the time claimed the area was being used as a hub for criminal activity and assorted deviancy, and a similar raid uncovered beer and condoms. The camp was immediately dismantled by the police and MNDF, and walls were painted over grey to remove all trace of the MDP from the area.

The Usfasgandu raid this morning ends a stalemate between the Home Ministry – headed by former Justice Minister during Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s rule, Dr Mohamed Jameel – and Male’ City Council.

The Housing Ministry initially sought to repossess the area from the Council, which refused to cooperate. The Home Ministry then instructed police to retake the area, who approached the Criminal Court for a warrant. The court initially denied this warrant, stating that the repossession was a civil matter and not within its jurisdiction.

Eight days later and Home Minister Jameel yesterday announced that the Ministry had received complaints of criminal activity in the area: “No complaints of any criminal activities had been raised with us at the time [of the original court order request]. But now many complaints have been received including criminal offences,” he told local media.

Police Spokesperson Sub-inspector Hassan Haneef said that following a search of the area a decision would be taken on whether to shut down the site.

“If there is reasonable evidence of crimes being committed there, we would look to close the area,” he said.

Male City Mayor Ali ‘Maizaan’ Manik was standing next to a cage full of crows – kept on the site by the MDP demonstrators to mock President Mohamed Waheed, who is caricatured as a crow on the popular Maakanaa Show.

“I’m too angry to talk right now,” he told Minivan News, as police were left to pick through the area after media scurried to protect their cameras from the sudden downpour.

Back through the police barricades, one visibly upset protester expressed frustration at what he described as “a police state”.

“We just want somewhere to peacefully protest,” he said. “They are just going to plant something, like drugs or explosives, so they can blame us. What can we do? We are helpless.”

An older man came up, put his hand on his shoulder, and led him out of the rain.

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Police uncover drug network, seize cannabis and heroin

The Police Drug Enforcement Department (DED) have busted a large drug network they allege centred around a 56 year-old man working on the cargo vessel ‘MV Reina’, and seized a large quantity of cannabis and illegal drugs trafficked into the country.

The man was identified by the police as Adhnan Moosa (pictured, right) from Alimasvilla on the island of Dhidhoo in Haa Alifu Atoll.

In a statement police said that the man arrived to the Maldives from Tuticorin in India last Tuesday at around 21:25pm, and was arrested last Wednesday at 5:21pm while he was in possession of a large rubber packet containing cannabis.

Police took the man to his bags and searched them in his presence, and found five cans of cannabis and empty rubber packets, police said.

According to the statement, police then went to the MV Reina and searched his cabin, and found a further 12 cans containing cannabis.

Police also learned of two other persons alleged to have received illegal drugs through Moosa, and arrested both of them in possession of suspected narcotics.

The pair were identified by the police as 43 year-old Ahmed Rasheed (pictured left), of Always Happy House in Male’ and 26 year-old Hassan Sabir (pictured middle), of Sithura house on Komandoo in Shaviyani Atoll.

Ahmed Rasheed threw away a can containing cannabis when police saw him, police said. Police received information that more drugs were stored in his office locker, and in search discovered eight cans containing cannabis and one large packet of heroin.

Police alleged that Hassan Sabir was a person who is involved in the network and was connected with Adhnan. Sabir was searched by police, who found rubber packets used to pack drugs.

A fourth Maldivian was also arrested in connection with this case, however the court released him after he chose to cooperate with the police investigation, police said.

Police thanked the Maldives Customs Service for the department’s assistance with the police operation.

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Bangladeshi man sentenced to life for attempting to smuggle cannabis

The Criminal Court has sentenced a Bangladeshi national to life, after the court found him guilty of attempting to smuggle cannabis into the Maldives.

According to police, the man was charged with attempting to smuggle drugs on October 2010.

The police identified the Bangladeshi man as Sumon Miah, 24.

Sumon arrived to Maldives on 18 October 2010 on Qatar Airways Flight QR380 at 7:40am in the morning from Doha.

The illegal drugs were found inside a plastic bag wrapped in carbon paper that was attached below his luggage, the police said.

The drugs were then handed to the police forensic department that tested the drugs and weighed them.

Police found that the drugs he was carrying were 730.80 grams of ‘Cannabis buds’.

Police concluded investigation into the case and sent it to Prosecutor General on November 2010.

The media reported that two customs officials today told the court the Bangladeshi man arrived on a Qatar Airwaya flight and customs officials searched his luggage on his arrival in his presence and discovered illegal narcotics.

When Customs Officials questioned him about the discovered items, he said it belonged to him, local newspapers reported.

Another Maldivian man was also sentenced to life in prison after the court found him guilty of possessing illegal drugs for the purpose of dealing.

The person was identified in the local media as Mohamed Rasheed Abdul Bagir.

In addition to the sentence for possessing drugs for dealing, he received 10 years imprisonment for possessing an illegal drug without doctor’s prescription.

According to media reports, the man was arrested inside a restaurant on 12 March 2011 and the drugs were found inside a packet in his pocket.

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24 year-old man arrested with three packets containing drugs

Police have arrested a 24 year-old man after he was found to be in possession of three packets containing illegal drugs on the island of Himandhoo in Alifu Alifu Atoll.

In a statement police said he was arrested upon his arrival to Himadhoo from the Feridhoo, an island nearby reachable in less than two hours on local boats.

The packets were found inside his mouth, according to police.

He went to Himadhoo on a speedboat he had rented, said police.

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Police officers to be tested for alcohol and drugs

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz has said that a new department has been established to test police officers for urine and alcohol after media reports of police being drunk while on duty.

Riyaz said police officers will be randomly picked for the urine test and that police officers will always be tested to see if officers use any illegal drugs or alcohol.

Riyaz said this was to strengthen police professional standards and to increase public confidence in the police.

He told the press that this new policy was not established because there have been issues with the police, but to ensure all citizens that police officers on duty are there only for the safety of the citizens.

Riyaz said although this was new in the Maldives it had been done in other countries.

Earlier this month Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy alleged that many police officers in riot gear to control a MDP protest “were drunk” and some fell to the ground “while others were seen vomiting.”

Imthiyaz further alleged that police officers had forced MDP activists to drink alcohol.

A police official told Minivan News that time the accusations were baseless: ”It would be better to report these allegations to the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) or some other independent institution to investigate, rather than making false accusations,” the police spokesperson said.

Recently police arrested 13 people after clashing with demonstrators at the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s ongoing protest.

MDP supporters alleged that police officers were drunk and were very violent that night. Several protesters alleged that police officers stabbed them and that officers were armed with small bayonet knives.

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