President Mohamed Nasheed has ratified the bill on gang violence.
According to the bill, possession of sharp objects and other weapons without a valid reason is prohibited and huge penalties are served for those who violate the Act.
The Act has now been published in the government’s gazette.
(0)Dislikes
(0)A 24-year-old man sitting by himself in Sea House Cafe, a popular venue for both locals and tourists above the Hulhumale ferry terminal, was stabbed at midnight on Monday.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told newspaper Haveeru that a group of men came to the cafe at around 1.23am and stabbed the man in two places.
Haveeru reported an eyewitness as claiming that a group of men followed the man into the cafe and chased him outside.
“Presumably they had some sort of quarrel,” the witness told Haveeru.
Restaurant staff saw the bleeding and sent the man to the hospital, the witness added.
Shiyam confirmed the man was discharged from ADK Hospital after treatment.
(0)Dislikes(0)A man wanted by police regarding an undisclosed investigation has surrendered himself to authorities, the Maldives Police Services has said.
Police Sub-inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that Ibrahim Shahum was a fugitive “sought for an investigation” but declined to disclose on what charges he was sought for.
“We haven’t shared that information because we do not know what will happen at court, and if the court acquits him after we told the press what he was charged for, it wouldn’t be fair,’’ said Shiyam. “He came to police last Monday of his own free will.’’
He said Shahum was now in police custody.
Daily newspaper Haveeru reported that Shahum was being investigated in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 17 year-old in late July.
The 17 year old was stabbed in the leg near the Social Centre in Maafannu, Male’. He was admitted to Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and treated for more than eight hours in the Intensive Care Unit, but the knife severed a major artery and despite an emergency blood transfusion he died the following morning at 6:15am.
A person familiar with the case told Minivan News that police had searched for Shahum “based on statements given to police by [gang] opponents regarding the recent stabbing cases. Those cases include the death of the 17 year-old boy as well.’’
(0)Dislikes(0)Mohamed Najaah, boyfriend of Mariyam Sheereen who’s body was discovered in a construction site in January, has denied murder charges raised against him by the Prosecutor General’s office.
Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem raised murder charges against Najah in court and presented two witnesses: a taxi driver and a person who lived in the same apartment.
Police allege that Najah murdered Sheereen in the apartment in which they both lived, before putting her body into a 2.5 foot-long suitcase and transporting it to the construction site by taxi cab.
Shameem presented a man identified as Haneef who lived in the same apartment with Sheereen and Najaah as a witness, and also the taxi driver who carried the suitcase.
The body of 30 year old Sheereen was discovered 36 hours after death in a construction site in Male’ on January 3 by a Bangladeshi labourer. Her family reported to police that she had been missing from December 31, 2009.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Criminal Court has today sentenced two persons for 10 years for kidnapping an 18 year-old boy, reports Haveeru.
The news paper identified the two persons as Ibrahim Haleel, 28, of Henveiru Mehelige, and Mohamed Aiman, 20, of Hudhuveli in Raa Atoll Rasgatheemu.
A total of five people were arrested in connection with the case and presented to court, but due to lack of evidence, the Criminal Court declared the rest were not guilty.
(0)Dislikes(0)The parliament last week approved legislation intended to clamp down on gang violence and gang related crime, and sent it to the President for ratification.
The Maldives Police Service has complained on several occasions that violent criminals are released into society because of missing laws on gang violence, and urged MPs to approve the bill.
The law enacted by parliament states says that any person who “unites himself” to a gang formed with the intention to commit unlawful crimes, shall serve on to five years imprisonment.
The approved bill defines a gang as “a group which consists of more than three persons where the main objective is to commit crimes”.
According to the new law, any person identified as the leader of such a gang shall be imprisoned for two to seven years.
By a word a person says or by an act a person commits, or by any means if a person represents that he is a gang member, is now a crime according to the law and punishable with imprisonment for between six to 18 months.
Aiding or supplying a gang is also a crime under the law, with prison sentences up to seven years and fines of up to Rf500,000 (US$39,000).
Furthermore, any person who threatens a witness shall be imprisoned for six to 18 months, and any person who attacks a witness or is the cause of an attack on a witness shall be imprisoned for between three to seven years.
The law also states that planning to assault anybody is now a crime with a sentence of between six to 18 months jail, while actually assault is a sentence of between six to 12 years in jail.
Meanwhile, gang violence continues Male’ with an 18 year-old in intensive care are he was stabbed at 11:45pm last night.
A 16-year-old boy was also stabbed on Thursday night.
The gang crimes bill, submitted in August last year, effectively criminalises gang activities by banning membership and recruiting, and criminalising financial support. It will now be a crime to take over a street corner or paint logos of your gang, while the recently ratified anti-social behaviour bill imposes a curfew of 11:00pm on minors while children under 16 cannot go out without a guardian after 9:00pm.
Police meanwhile insist that their operations are futile as long as sentences remain unenforced.
Following the murder of an 18-year-old in March 2009, the sixth gang-related murder in the capital since December 2007, Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh revealed that “over 500 convicts” were loose in society.
The army had to be deployed in Male’ in April 2008 after 15-year-old Shifau Ismail was killed. Another minor, Ahmed Shaneed, 15, was stabbed to death on the eve of the second round of presidential elections in October 2008.
In December 2008, Samir Abdul Mueen, 23, died after being stabbed multiple times by a group of assailants on motorbikes.
Faseeh argued that the system created repeat offenders when the majority of cases sent for prosecution did not result in convictions.
A young boy first arrested for stealing a bottle of Denim went on to become involved in the biggest case of theft in the capital while his previous cases were pending at the PG’s office, Faseeh revealed.
Another suspect involved in multiple cases of gang violence was arrested for assaulting a police officer, while six cases sent to the PG’s office had not reached court, Faseeh added.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has granted clemency to 39 Maldivians and 10 expats who were sentenced to Maldivian jails.
Most of those granted clemency were inmates sentenced for long term punishments and had spent a long time in the cells, according to Director General of Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services [DPRS] Ahmed Rasheed.
“Among the 39 Maldivians [granted clemency], most were mainly charged with drug-related cases and some of them were sentenced for objection to order and other such crimes,’’ said Rasheed.
“Seven of the 10 expats were sentenced in a single fraud case.”
Rasheed said although clemency was granted to the seven expats, they would be deported from the Maldives.
President Nasheed also granted clemency decreasing the punishment of another 100 convicted criminals.
“These people were also mainly sentenced for drug related cases and some of them had been banished,’’ Rasheed said.
Inmates at Maafushi jail have on many occasions claimed that President Mohamed Nasheed promised that he would grant clemency to everyone in Maafushi jail when he came in to power.
They claimed that most of their parents and family members voted for president Nasheed due to this pledge he made.
However, the Human Right Commission of the Maldives [HRCM] has claimed that Male’ has reached a situation where it is difficult for people to live a normal life due to rising gang violence.
The commission noted earlier this week that the release of people charged with “perilous crimes” such as murder had led to them repeating the crimes, and that the agencies responsible for the implementation of sentences are not taking necessary measures to ensure they were served.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police arrested 59 men and confiscated an assortment of weaponry, in a special operation yesterday to try and cut down on gang violence following gang-related six stabbings and a murder over the weekend.
A statement issued by police said that the 59 men were arrested “for the collection of information”, and noted that 15 were under the age of 18.
Police investigated two guest houses suspected of being used by the gangs, and discovered narcotics, weapons and items such as gloves and masks inside.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that out of the arrested 59, 11 were released after questioning.
The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives yesterday issued a statement expressing concern over the rise in gang violence and called upon all the concerned authorities to take necessary measurements to curb the violence.
Last Thursday Maldives Customs officers discovered five 3-foot long swords inside a container unloaded from a cargo ship.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Criminal Court last night ordered the release of seven men arrested by police in connection with a series of stabbings over the weekend, including the murder of a 17 year-old boy n Friday.
The boy was stabbed in the leg as he was climbing into a lorry, severing a major artery, and slowly bled to death despite eight hours of treatment and blood transfusions.
A police media official said the seven men were arrested after police received information that the men were connected to the death of the 17 year-old boy, and that they had planned similar attacks.
“It is the duty of the police to maintain the peace of the society under article number 49 of the Constitution,’’ he said. “So in order to prevent further attacks they had planned, we requested the Criminal Court grant an extension of their detention, as we had information that there were more planned attacks.’’
He said that all seven men had recent police records of assault and battery and other gang-related crimes.
‘’But the Criminal Court, however, released them,” he added.
Minivan News understands that senior police are furious at the court’s ruling.
“At dawn, some people attacked the private property of a very senior police officer. They burned his motorbike, which cost over Rf100,000,’’ the spokesperson noted, when queried as to the current state of security in Male’.
When Minivan News called the mobile phone of Spokesperson for the Criminal Court Ahmed Riffath, seeking a comment on the ruling, the man who answered claimed Riffath was not there he did not know when or how he could be reached, and quickly hung up.
(0)Dislikes(0)