Tag: maldives news

Groom arrested for being in possession of narcotics

A man who had travelled to Hoarafushi in Haa Alif atoll to get married was arrested during his visit to the atoll for being in possession of narcotics.

The man – who was under island arrest in Malé under the state’s drug rehabilitation program – had gone to the island with a special permit from court for the purposes of getting married.

Police revealed that the 27 year old man was arrested in a boat travellling from Hoarafushi to Nolhivaram in Haa Dhaal Atoll.

The man is currently in custody at the Kulhudhuffushi police station, with the island’s magistrate court having extended his detention by 15 days.

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HRCM attends Juvenile Court after summons, agrees to cooperate with enquiry

The Juvenile Court has stated today that all five members of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) have complied with the court’s order and attended a meeting at the court this morning (March 17).

The order was sent after HRCM members had failed to attend two meetings requested by the court in recent weeks.

Juvenile Court Spokesperson Zaima Nasheed stated that the court was requesting the meetings in order to question the HRCM members about a confidential report that they shared with the court concerning the sentencing of a 15 year old rape victim to flogging and house arrest.

The court maintains that, although the HRCM has included in its report that the case was one of sexual assault and harassment, the court was in fact presiding over a case concerning the crime of consensual fornication.

Alleging that the HRCM included fabricated information in the report, the Juvenile Court spokesperson stated that the members had been summoned to a meeting, and not a court hearing.

“They [HRCM members] attended Monday’s meeting as though they were coming to a court hearing, complete with being accompanied by legal representation. It was not a hearing though, just a meeting held to clarify some issues,” Zaima stated.

Zaima said that the court requires all members of the HRCM to explain to the court’s panel of judges why “fabricated information was included in the report”, as well as “the reasoning behind the need to compile such a report”.

Zaima further revealed that HRCM President Mariyam Azra had requested that the commission be allowed to submit their answers to the court’s queries in writing.

The court refused this request, however, and insisted that the members attend meetings at the court in order to verbally respond to questions put to them by an assigned panel.

According to the Juvenile Court, the HRCM had initially objected to this, quoting Article 27(a) and 27 (b) of the Human Rights Commission Act.

Article 27 (a) states that “no criminal or civil suit shall be filed against the President or Vice President or a member of the Commission in relation to committing or omitting an act in good faith whilst undertaking responsibilities of the commission or exercising the powers of the Commission or the powers conferred to the Commission by a law”.

Additionally Article 27 (b) states “the Commission can only be questioned or a suit can be filed against the Commission in court regarding a component in a report published by the Commission following an inquiry, should sufficient evidence be available to prove the component is false”.

The court responded by quoting the same article, as well as Article 141(d) of the Maldives constitution, arguing that this made it obligatory for the HRCM to oblige with the questioning.

Article 141(d) of the constitution states that “persons or bodies performing public functions, through legislative and other measures, must assist and protect the courts to ensure the independence, eminence, dignity, impartiality, accessibility and effectiveness of the courts”.

The HRCM is then said to have agreed to cooperate, on account that it is given a period of ten days after the parliamentary elections scheduled for March 22 before the first questioning session.

Zaima then said that the court has agreed to grant the HRCM the requested period of time.

“We did this with consideration towards the work of the HRCM and the nature of this matter that we are looking into,” the Juvenile Court’s Spokesperson said.

HRCM member Jeehan Mahmoud stated that the HRCM was not prepared to comment on the matter at present.

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High Court issues injunction against Family Court order to return child to mother

The High Court has released a temporary injunction halting the implementation of a Family Court order asking a man to hand over his five month old baby to its Swiss mother.

The man has been identified by the police as Ahmed Sharuvan,  age 32, from Kanmatheege in Maradhoo in Seenu atoll. The information had been released when police launched a nationwide search for the man after he failed to comply with a Family Court order last week.

The superior court released the injunction after Sharuvan submitted an appeal in the court against the Family Court’s verdict.

The High Court injunction – signed by three judges – stated that the court believes it important to halt the Family Court order until after Sharuvan’s appeal has been completed.

Although the case’s first hearing was scheduled by the High Court for Sunday, it was later cancelled.

Sharuvan’s wife – identified in local media with only a first name, Tanya – also attended Sunday’s court hearing.

Sharuvan attended Sunday’s hearing at the scheduled time and was accompanied by a lawyer. Police began questioning him outside the court premises, with Sharuvan responding by showing the police the High Court’s temporary injunction.

In spite of this, police took Sharuvan to the police headquarters for further “discussions”.

“We did not have the jurisdiction to arrest him then due to the High Court injunction although we were previously looking for him,” a police media official told Minivan News today.

“So we requested him to come along with us to headquarters for further discussions and he obliged. We did not have the jurisdiction to directly question him, so we just held a discussion. He left the police premises directly after the discussion.”

Owing to the High Court injunction, police revealed that the baby remains in the custody of the father. They stated that the police cannot take any action on the matter until Sharuvan’s appeal case at the High Court reaches completion.

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Dismissed EC Chief Thowfeek summoned to police over leaked phone calls

Former Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek was summoned to police on Sunday night for questioning in an investigation regarding a leaked phone call between himself and former President Mohamed Nasheed.

In the leaked phone recordings, Fuwad and Nasheed are heard to discuss two issues – the Supreme Court case against the EC and the distribution of persons in the country’s municipal register to various constituencies.

A police media official confirmed to Minivan News that Thowfeek exercised his constitutional right to remain silent when questioned about the case.

Thowfeek was dismissed from his post by the Supreme Court earlier this month, and given a six month jail sentence, suspended for three years.

Delivering the verdict, the court contended that Thowfeek and his fellow EC members had “openly and systematically” brought the Supreme Court into disrepute, “deliberately challenged Supreme Court rulings” and “serially held [the court] in contempt” during press conferences.

The People’s Majlis subsequently declared the ruling unconstitutional, while its independent commissions oversight committee has maintained that he remains in his post despite the apex court’s verdict.

In response to the leaked recording, Thowfeek told media that he has shared concerns about the case with many politicians in addition to Nasheed, as well as having provided clarifications on the matter of the municipal register to all politicians who had requested him to do so.

Following the release of the recording on social media, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Abdulla Rifau ‘Bochey’ filed a case with the police alleging that Thowfeek had abused his powers as EC president.

The case has also been filed with the Anti Corruption Commission.

Coming out of the Police Headquarters after an hour, Thowfeek declined from commenting and was not answering calls at the time of press.

“I have nothing to say on the matter at this time,” he was reported as telling media.

EC Legal Director Haneefa Khalid accompanied Thowfeek to the police station as his legal representative.

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Taxi driver arrested for sexual assault

A 56-year-old taxi driver was taken into police custody last night after allegedly attempting to sexually assault a 21-year-old female passenger.

According to police, the 21-year-old hailed the taxi near the Social Centre in Male’ around 7:30pm.

A family member of the victim told Sun Online that the same taxi driver had tried to molest the woman on Thursday.

“My sister said he was referring to himself as brother. Where can brother take you, he said, and he tried to touch her. She told him to immediately stop the car. That’s when my sister got out,” the family member was quoted as saying.

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Three Maldivians arrested in Malaysia

Three Maldivian have been arrested in Malaysia from the Future Music Festival Asia on Thursday (March 13), local media reports.

The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the three were arrested during the music show at Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

According to Malaysian daily The Star Online, 22 people in possession of illegal narcotics were arrested at the festival, including three foreigners and seven Malaysians.

Malaysian media reported that six people died of methamphetamine overdoses at the festival.

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Candidates from political parties finish signing voter lists

All 188 candidates representing political parties in the upcoming parliamentary elections finished signing voter lists by noon today, Elections Commission (EC) Director General Mohamed Shakeel has confirmed.

Shakeel told Minivan News, however, that some independent candidates have not signed the final eligible voters registry.

Of the 114 independent candidates, the EC media official said 18 candidates have not signed the lists.

Aside from the 18 independent candidates failing to sign, Shakeel said the EC’s “preparations for the election are perfectly on schedule.”

He noted that the EC had decided to extend the period offered for candidates to complete signing the list to 12:00pm today.

The commission has yet to make a decision on a further extension, he added.

Candidates were invited to the Dharubaaruge convention centre during the weekend to sign off on the final lists.

Obtaining signatures of candidates on the voter lists used at polling stations was among the 16-point guideline imposed on the EC by the Supreme Court in its judgment annulling the September 7 presidential polls last year.

The EC was required to ensure that the voter lists are agreed upon as valid by candidates or their representatives ahead of the polls.

However, the local council elections on January 18 took place as scheduled despite candidates signing voter lists for just 81 out of 464 ballot boxes.

Of 543 independent candidates, only 147 candidates had signed the lists.

The 302 candidates contesting the second multi-party parliamentary elections meanwhile include 85 candidates from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, 50 candidates from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives, 28 from the Jumhooree Party, 12 from the religious conservative Adhaalath Party, seven from the Maldives Development Alliance, and six from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party.

Quorum

The EC’s capacity to conduct the parliamentary polls as scheduled on March 22 was thrown into doubt last week following the Supreme Court’s controversial removal of EC Chair Fuwad Thowfeek and Deputy Chair Ahmed Fayaz for contempt of court.

Less than two weeks before the election, the dismissals left the EC without the three members required for a legal quorum to hold meetings and approve decisions.

However, on Wednesday (March 12), parliament approved Ismail Habeeb to the commission to replace former member Ibrahim ‘Ogaru’ Waheed, who had resigned in October citing poor health.

Following the vote to approve Habeeb, President Abdulla Yameen presented the letter of appointment to the former EC director on Thursday morning.

Shakeel noted today that the decision to extend the period for signing voter lists after the initial deadline expired at 10:00pm last night was made at a commission meeting.

The President’s Office welcomed parliament’s decision to approve Habeeb to the commission, noting that it “enables the EC to function with the legally required quorum and hold the general elections scheduled for 22 March 2014”.

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High Court supports lower court decision to continue Alhan’s lawsuit against MDP

The High Court has today ruled that the Civil Court does have the jurisdiction to preside over a lawsuit filed by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Alhan Fahmy against his party.

Feydhoo MP Alhan is seeking the annulment of the opposition party’s primary for the Feydhoo constituency in Addu City.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Alhan said there were two cases related to the lawsuit filed at the Civil Court being reviewed in the High Court, and that the court had today concluded one case while he had withdrawn the other.

The case concluded today was the appeal by the MDP claiming that the Civil Court could not proceed because Alhan had not completed all the internal party procedures, such as appealing at the party’s appeal committee.

”During the hearings held in the Civil Court, I requested the court to issue a warrant to temporarily invalidate the candidacy of the person who won the MDP primary and the court said that it did not have the jurisdiction to do so and that the High Court will have the jurisdiction to issue such an injunction,’’ Alhan said.

“So I filed a case with the High Court on March 6 and 11 days later the court held a hearing and I told the court that now it was too late to issue the injunction and that I wished to withdraw the case.’’

Alhan said that the case going on in the Civil Court has almost reached an end and that during the next hearing the court would deliver a verdict.

Shortly after announcing his decision to contest the primary result, Alhan was stabbed in Malé while at the Breakwater cafe in the artificial beach area. During the attack, Alhan received stab wounds to the back and was quickly flown to Sri Lanka for spinal surgery.

When Minivan News inquired about his condition he said that his left leg was still paralysed and that he now has to use a walking stick.

“Doctors say it will take six or seven months to recover, I have been doing physiotherapy,’’ he said.

Alhan has had a chequered recent past with the MDP, rejoining the party in June last year after an apparently acrimonious departure in April of the previous year.

Then party vice president, Alhan was ejected – alongside then party President Dr Ibrahim Didi – after the pair publicly questioned the party’s official interpretation of the February 7 ousting of President Mohamed Nasheed.

The Feydhoo MP subsequently organised a rally – sparsely attended – calling for the freeing of the MDP from its talismanic leader Nasheed. Alhan’s soon joined the government-aligned Jumhooree Party,

Alhan was initially elected to parliament on a Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) ticket, making him one of the few MPs to have been a member of almost every major political party represented in parliament, barring the DRP’s splinter party, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).

He was dismissed from the DRP in 2010 for breaking the party’s whip line in a no-confidence vote against then Foreign Minister, Dr Ahmed Shaheed

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Man injured in STO oil tanker fire dies

Local media has reported that the man injured in an STO oil tanker fire incident has died, after receiving treatment in an Indian hospital.

Adam Gasim, 61 of Kulhudhufushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll is reported to have passed away on Friday (March 14).

Newspaper Sun Online quoted STO Managing Director Adam Azim as saying that the man was admitted to one of the best hospitals in India to treat his injuries, with the STO covering all the costs of his treatment.

Sun had reported that the fire incident occurred while Adam Gasim was welding on the deck of the oil tanker.

MD Azim was reported at the time of the accident as describing the incident as “not very dangerous”.

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