Tag: home ministry

Media council re-opens membership application

The Maldives Media Council (MMC) has reopened the application process for new members for the third time.

In a statement released today, the home ministry said that the application would be open for applicants who want to become a member of the committee until October 22.

The MMC consists of eight members from the media and seven members from the general public who are not affiliated with the media.

Complications with the first attempted application process caused the elections to be postponed, while the second attempt was delayed after issues were raised regarding inactive media outlets still being eligible to vote.

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Government will not hesitate to implement death penalty: Home Ministry

The Maldives Government will not hesitate to implement the death penalty, the Ministry of Home Affairs has assured.

The statement follows a wave of attacks within the past 7 days, including fatal stabbings in Malé and Thulusdhoo.

The Home Ministry said that the government “will not hesitate to implement the death penalty placed by the courts upon persons who stab and murder with the willful intent to kill,” according to local media Sun Online.

The ministry also said that the Maldives Police Service is conducting a number of special operations to prevent further attacks, assuring that the government is taking every possible measure to bring an end to the outbreak of violence in the capital.

Measures to re-introduce the death penalty were finalised in April, while local media reported last month that the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) had completed a facility in which to administer the lethal injection.

Minivan News has been unable to obtain comment from either the Home Ministry or the MCS regarding these preparations.

Prior to this policy change, the Maldives had maintained an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty since 1953, when Hakim Didi was executed by firing squad for the crime of practising black magic.

Several people have been sentenced to death during the moratorium, although they have traditionally had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by presidential decree.

Despite widespread concerns over the state of the Maldivian justice system, Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer said the chances of killing an innocent person after completing all the procedures in the regulation was “far-fetched” and “almost impossible”.

Although the death penalty has proven to be a contentious issue, Naseer assured the international community that the Madlives has a firm reason to continue with the ruling.

Conversely, Amnesty International have pointed out that the decision to resume the death sentence is in contradiction with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – a treaty to which the Maldives became a party in 2006.

Similarly, The Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) has condemned the Maldivian government’s decision to implement the death penalty.

“Given the state of the Maldivian judiciary, which is also perceived to be highly politicised and corrupt, it is most concerning that as grave a matter as life and death of humans is to be decided by it,” the MDN stated.

“In addition to this, research shows that capital punishment does not deter murder any greater than the threat and application of lesser punishments,” the statement concluded.

The practice of the death penalty, and the use of lethal injections, has recently grabbed international headlines again after  aconvicted murderer in Arizona appeared to take two hours to die.

Joseph Wood’s death is the third such instance in the US this year, and has prompted a suspension of executions while the state undertakes a review of its procedures.

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Correctional services prepare chamber for lethal injection

The Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) has prepared a chamber in the Maafushi jail for the administration of the death penalty through lethal injection, reports Vnews.

While all administrative matters for implementing the death penalty have been completed, an MCS official said the home ministry was seeking the lethal injection.

Thazmeel Abdul Samad, media coordinator at the ministry, told vnews that the system for administering the lethal injection would be computerised.

Media officials at the MCS and home ministry were not responding to calls at the time of press.

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ACP Fairoosh appointed as executive officer to Home Minister

Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdulla Fairoosh who previously served as the Maldives Police Services development directorate head has been transferred to the post of executive officer to the minister at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Although Fairoosh works at the Home Ministry offices, his post remains as a position with the Maldives Police Services.

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Home Ministry dissolves Bar Association

The Ministry of Home Affairs has dissolved the Maldives Bar Association (MBA) for failure to change its name as per a Supreme Court ruling and appoint a governing committee.

A Home Ministry letter also said the organisation had failed to submit an annual report as per regulations.

The Bar Association – formed in April 2013 to empower, lobby, and advocate on behalf of legal practitioners – is headed by veteran lawyer and former Attorney General Husnu Al Suood.

On April 9, Supreme Court told the Home Ministry to ask the organisation to change its name within 14 days, claiming the Bar Association title could only be used for an official  body regulated by law with the participation of the entire legal community and judicial sector.

Speaking to Minivan News, Suood he believed the government had dissolved the Bar Association claiming it posed a threat to national security.

“We are aware that one of the reasons for dissolving the Bar Association is that it poses a threat to national security and sovereignty of the Maldives as per national security intelligence,” he said.

Suood said the organisation would challenge the Home Ministry’s decision at court and condemned the limited space for civil society in the Maldives.

“We feel that there is no space for civil society in the Maldives. It has come to our knowledge that the Home Ministry has temporarily suspended registration of NGOs until they have received legal opinion from the Attorney General’s Office,” he added.

The Bar Association had refused to change its name, but said it would step aside should new legislation on the legal profession provide for a Bar Council.

A 2013 UN report recommended that a “self-regulating independent bar association or council” be established to oversee the legal profession.

Suood noted that the MBA currently has over one hundred members, representing around one fifth of the country’s practising lawyers, with a full membership drive waiting until new legislation is completed.

The Supreme Court’s initial letter to the Home Ministry came in the aftermath of a Bar Association statement calling for the suspension of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed pending an investigation into the judge’s alleged appearance in a series of sex tapes.

Hameed’s continued presence on the Supreme Court bench contravenes the Islamic Shariah and the norms of justice, the organization said.

“Given the serious nature of the allegations against Ali Hameed, that the judge continues to hold trial contravenes norms of justice, conduct of judges, and established norms by which free and democratic societies deal with cases of this nature,” the statement read.

Suood was on a watchdog Judicial Service Commission’s sub committee to investigate the matter. The Supreme Court had suspended Suood from practicing law in January for alleged contempt of court.

Meanwhile, lawyer and former Minister of Youth and Sports Hassan Latheef condemned the Home Ministry’s decision as a violation of the right to freedom of association.

“I believe this is an attempt to stop us lawyers from advocating in our defense,” he added.

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Drug kingpin Shafaz must return from Sri Lanka in May, says Home Minister

Convicted drug kingpin Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak must return from medical treatment in Sri Lanka by May 20, Home Minister Umar Naseer has said.

Shafaz’s temporary release in early February has garnered controversy with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) confiscating the passport of an expatriate doctor who signed the medical report recommending that Shafaz be sent abroad for medical treatment.

Shafaz is serving an 18 year prison sentence and was fined MVR75,000 (US$4,860) for drug trafficking in November 2013.

Speaking on Villa TV (VTV), Naseer said Shafaz’s authorized period to stay abroad will expire on May 20 and that the Home Ministry will seek assistance from the Interpol to find any inmates who flee.

Naseer defended the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS), claiming a prisoner will only be sent abroad on the recommendation of two specialist doctors. The MCS would only provide inmates with a temporary travel document instead of a passport, he claimed.

Shafaz has now appealed his 18 year jail term at the High Court.

Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim has previously told Minivan News that all due procedures had been followed in Shafaz’s release.

“A medical officer does not have to accompany the inmate. He was allowed to leave under an agreement with his family. Family members will be held accountable for his actions, including failure to return,” Azim told Minivan News at the time.

Shafaz was arrested on June 24, 2011 with 896 grams of heroin from a rented apartment in a building owned by ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem.

Former head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told the press at the time that police had raided Henveiru Fashan based on intelligence information gathered in the two-year long ‘Operation Challenge’.

Jinah labeled Shafaz a high-profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

He claimed that the network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

Since the formation of the new government late last year, the Home Ministry has made the combating of illegal drugs its top priority, culminating in the confiscation of a record 24kg of heroin.

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Death penalty can be implemented starting today: Home Minister

The death penalty can be implemented in the Maldives starting today following the publication of procedural regulations in the government gazette, Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer has said.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Naseer said the chances of killing an innocent person after completing all the procedures in the regulation – titled “procedural regulation on investigating and penalising the crime of murder” – was “far-fetched” and “almost impossible”.

The regulation was formulated under the Police Act and the Clemency Act with the objective of specifying the procedures for investigating murders and implementing death penalty, and came into force today.

While Maldives has been maintaining an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty since 1953, several people have been sentenced to death over the years. The common practice had been for the president to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment through powers vested in him by Clemency Act.

With the new regulation, the president will no longer have this authority if a person is sentenced to death for murder by the Supreme Court, Naseer noted.

Both President Abdulla Yameen and Vice President Mohamed Jameel have expressed their support for implementing death penalty.

Procedures

The regulation only allows implementation of death penalty for intentional homicide or premeditated murder and only when the sentence is delivered by the Supreme Court.

A death penalty committee comprised of the Prosecutor General, Chief Justice (or someone appointed by him) and the Commissioner of Prisons have to send a written confirmation to the president that all procedures of the regulation have been followed.

After receiving this confirmation, the president is required to send an execution order to the Commissioner of Prisons within three days.

Within seven days of receiving this order, the Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) has to carry out the execution using lethal injection.

Naseer said the executions will take place at a building in Maafushi Prison, which is currently under construction.

Mediation process

The regulation requires Ministry of Islamic Affairs to mediate between the victim’s family and the convict.

Through this process, which reflects the Shariah principle of qisas (retaliation), family members who are ‘warith’ (heirs in Shariah law) will be given an opportunity to pardon the convict with or without receiving blood money.

The execution will not be carried out even if a single member of the family chooses to pardon the convict.

The family is given a ten-day period following the mediation to come to a decision.

“A first step”

According to the regulation, implementation of death penalty can be delayed if the convict is underage, till he or she is 18-years-old and if the convict is pregnant, until she gives birth and the child is two years old.

If a medical board appointed by the Commissioner of Prisons finds the convict is of very weak health, the sentence will be delayed till he recovers.

Responding to a question about implementing stricter punishments for other crimes as well, Naseer said the decision to implement death penalty for murder is just a first step and noted that “the Quran was also revealed through different stages.”

“Look at this as a first step. God willing, this government will take all necessary action for keeping peace and creating a safe environment for our citizens.” He said.

Naseer also noted that there maybe some countries and organisations which would be concerned over the decision, but said the Maldives will go ahead with it as a sovereign nation and a 100 percent Islamic country.

“There will be some parties who will be concerned about this. Concerned countries, concerned NGOs. Some counties are not too pleased with it [death penalty, but we will know about the issue of executing people in this country, the overcrowding of prisons in this country, how much the criminal environment is more lively in this country. And we are a hundred percent Islamic country and there are certain values that we all believe in,” Naseer said.

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All women arrested at Anbaraa island festival transferred to house arrest

Yesterday evening, police transferred all the women taken into custody at the Anbaraa music festival to house arrest.

Nineteen women were amongst the 79 people arrested on suspicion of being under the influence, and in possession of, illegal drugs on Friday (April 18).

An official from the Home Ministry told online newspaper CNM that the women were transferred to house arrest due to a lack of space in detention centres and difficulties in catering for them.

He told the paper that they were all transferred under the authority held by the home minister. He further noted that the court warrant to extend their detention period stated that they should be detained in a place determined by the Home Ministry.

Meanwhile former President and acting president of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Mohamed Nasheed told press yesterday that, while the police told the court everyone arrested had tested positive to illegal drugs, he had information that they had not all been tested when they were summoned to the Criminal Court to have their detention extended on Saturday (April 19) .

Nasheed said that the only situation where police should raid any place in the manner they did, is when their lives were at risk or if the police believed they might be attacked when trying to arrest a person.

The opposition leader said that he did not understand the reason why police had to raid an island firing rubber bullets and shouting when its inhabitants were a group of young people entertaining themselves.

Nasheed also alleged that, after raiding the island, police officers handcuffed all the young people and went fishing.

He repeated the allegations he previously made against Tourism Minister and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Deputy Leader Ahmed Adheeb and said that he was one of the event organisers.

Nasheed suggested a cross-cabinet plan in which it is one minister’s duty was to gather all the young people to one place while the other minister’s duty could be arresting all of them at once.

The PPM have described Nasheed’s comments as an “uncivilised” attempt to sabotage the implementation of its youth manifesto as well as the other youth development efforts of the government.

The Maldives Police Service yesterday denied allegations by the opposition MDP that constitutional rights and procedures were violated in the arrest made in Anbaraa.

The MDP’s rights committee has contended that procedures specified in the constitution for arrest or detention – such as informing suspects of the reasons in writing within 24 hours, providing access to legal counsel, and presenting suspects before a judge within 24 hours for a remand hearing – were breached by the police.

Moreover, the committee alleged that police did not act in accordance with regulations governing the exercise of law enforcement powers concerning arrest and detention.

Last weekend police searched 198 persons and arrested 79, including one minor, during a music festival on Anbaraa island in Vaavu atoll.

Home Minister Umar Naseer the following day in a tweet said that law will be enforced without any exemptions, writing that “anybody can party but no drugs on the menu.’’

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Supreme Court orders Bar Association to change its name

The Maldives Bar Association (MBA) has been given 14 days to change its name, after the Supreme Court deemed the title inappropriate for a private organisation.

“The word ‘bar’ is used even in other countries of the world to refer to an official body formed under a law within specific guidelines, with the participation of the complete legal community and judicial sector with the mandate to uphold confidence and trust in the judiciary,” read a letter sent by the court to the Home Ministry on April 9.

The letter goes on to argue that the MBA is a private group which does not represent all lawyers, meaning that it does not have the legal mandate to represent or to speak on the behalf of the entire profession.

“Therefore, we feel that at a time when there is a law being compiled to regulate lawyers and to form a National Bar Association, the existence of an entity by the name of Maldives Bar Association, which does not have the mandate to regulate or represent lawyers within the Maldives justice system may lead to avoidable confusions,” it continued.

While, the association is yet to convene to discuss the matter, Husnu Suood has said that any action with regards to this issue by the Home Ministry will be challenged in the courts.

“My stand is that we are not going to change the name,” explained Suood, adding that the association would be happy to step aside should the new legislation provide for a ‘Bar Council’.

A 2013 UN report recommended that a “self-regulating independent bar association or council” be established to oversee the legal profession.

Suood noted that the MBA currently has over one hundred members, representing around one fifth of the country’s practising lawyers, with a full membership drive waiting until new legislation is completed.

Past clashes

The Supreme Court’s letter was sent on the same day that new regulations determining the licensing of lawyers were published by the Attorney General.

A bill to regulate the legal profession is included in the government’s 207-bill legislative agenda, to be pursued during the current administration’s five year term.

After receiving the letter, the Home Ministry today informed the Bar Association that it has 14 working days to inform the ministry of the necessary changes.

The day prior to the sending of the letter – April 8 – the Bar Association had called for the suspension of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed pending an investigation into allegations over the judge’s appearance in a series of sex tapes.

“Definitely there is a connection between our press statement and the decision by the Supreme Court [to send the letter],” said Suood.

He also drew similarities between the court’s letter and lawyer Ibrahim Waheed’s retaliatory calls for the MBA president’s investigation for bribery – also made on April 8.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has since decided to pursue corruption charges against Judge Ali Hameed in relation to the illegal transfer of credit from his state-funded mobile phone in 2010.

The MBA’s call for Hameed’s investigation came just days after the suspension of Suood had been lifted by the court on the condition he refrain from engaging in any act that may undermine the courts.

Suood was told his January suspension was related to an allegedly contemptuous tweet regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the first round of last year’s presidential election.

Suood himself, however, has claimed the suspension was in fact linked to his role on a Judicial Services Commission (JSC) committee asked to investigate the Hameed tapes.

Both the committee including Suood, and a prior JSC subcommittee have recommended Hameed’s suspension, with full commission repeatedly failing to accede to the request.

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