Tag: maldives news

Raajje TV runs footage of Sheikh Shaheem and alleges sex scandal

Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, chief spokesperson of the religious Adhaalath party and former State Islamic Minister, has been accused of sexual misconduct in a video broadcast by local media Raajje TV, in which he is seen speaking with a figure in a hijab before leading her through a doorway.

“The video shows Shaheem with a woman who is not his wife, talking and holding hands and going into a bedroom,” said Raajje TV’s Assistant News Editor Dhanish Nasheed.

When Minivan News expressed doubt that it could be accurately concluded that the room was a bedroom, Nasheed claimed that the corner of a bed was visible in the video.

Nasheed said Raajje TV obtained the video from the video-sharing website Daily Motion, however it has since been removed from that site.

Broadcasting the video as evidence of a “sex scandal”, Raajje TV claimed the station could not release further footage in the interest of public decency. Today media was speculating that the woman in the video was the daughter of a senior member in the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), however her face was not visible in the footage.

Although the only identifying features visible in the video were a profile of the woman’s nose, her watch and a white-cased phone, Raajje TV claimed she was not a wife of Shaheem.

Local media Haveeru reported the alleged scandal on January 7, but the story was removed within an hour of its publication online.

Shaheem has spoken several times to the media in recent weeks expressing Adhaalath’s discontent over the government’s reaction to demands made by religious protesters on December 23, 2011.

Asked whether the tape might be a set-up engineered for political purposes, Dhanish Nasheed insisted that it was not a set-up and that the station believed “something was definitely going on.”

In the video, currently available on Raajje TV’s YouTube channel, a camera at hip-level captures Shaheem speaking with a woman in a black hijab. Aside from her phone, watch and black bag, as well as a brief profile of her nose, no identifying features of the woman are visible during the film.

Shaheem smiles throughout the meeting, raising his eyebrows a few times in a playful fashion, and the two check their respective phones.

At one point the girl is directed to a water bottle behind the camera. The camera moves when she rises to take the bottle.

The meeting concludes when Shaheem takes the girl’s hand while circling around to sit next to her, just behind the camera’s view. The footage of the two holding hands appears to have been repeated several times, implying a longer grasp.  The two subsequently rise and leave the room.

Shaheem, who has been identified as one of the world’s top 500 Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, told Minivan News he would issue his comment on the matter at a later date.

“I do not wish to comment on matters regarding my private life while I am waiting for evidence. I will issue my comment when the time is appropriate,” he said.

Shaheem indicated that his work with Adhaalath Party has not been interrupted.

Police officials did not wish to comment.

In early 2011 a series of sex scandal videos were released implicating members of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) and the former Cabinet Secretary.

A police investigation was launched in response to the videos and several arrests were made, including minors. They have since been released, however the cases have not yet been prosecuted as the investigations are ongoing.

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Elections Commission demands Gayoom explain allegations of “vote rigging”

The Elections Commission (EC) has forwarded a letter to the Former President Maumoon Abdul requesting he clarify his claim that “election results do not turn out the way people vote”, as the remarks have raised public concerns over the commission’s integrity.

Elections Commission President Fuad Thaufeeq said on Sunday that the commission was “shocked” to hear the remarks and wanted to understand the reasons as to why Gayoom made such a claim.

Fuad said that the comments implying vote rigging have “provided reason for people to look at the commission with doubt” as it came from the former President, who had many supporters and currently leads the third largest political party in Maldives.

“So we have sent a letter to Gayoom today requesting he clarify his remarks” Fuad said.

Gayoom made the remarks at a meeting of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) on Thursday, after reiterating the PPM interim council’s decision to advice against MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla’s intention to resign and contest for the Laamu Fonadhoo seat on a PPM ticket.

“I know that if he resigns he will be re-elected on a comfortable majority on a PPM ticket,” Gayoom said. “I don’t doubt that at all. However, we know the state of affairs in the country right now – election results do not turn out the way people vote. So what are we going to do?”

Under parliamentary rules of procedure, only parties that contested and won parliamentary elections can be officially represented in parliament.

He added that PPM would be officially recognised by parliament when it resumes in March.

MDP

The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) meanwhile released a statement yesterday condemning Gayoom’s remarks, contending that it was an attempt to “bring the Elections Commission, an independent institution, into disrepute, turn the public against it and plunge the nation into a pit of discord and conflict.”

The statement noted that former Elections Commissioners were directly appointed by Gayoom while island chiefs “hovered around ballot boxes.”

Speaking at the MDP headquarters Haruge last night, President Mohamed Nasheed recalled that he was jailed for two years under the previous government for writing about alleged election fraud in a Sri Lankan newspaper.

Nasheed explained that the article pointed out irregularities in the results for a parliamentary election contested by current Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed and former minister Ilyas Ibrahim, brother-in-law of President Gayoom.

In another election where Nasheed contested a seat in parliament in the late 1990s, “after the ballot box was kept in [presidential retreat] Aarah for three days, the results were announced with 300 votes between myself and [former minister] Abdulla Kamalludeen.”

Under the former government, Nasheed continued, there were cases where “more than double the population was supposed to have voted” and “people whose death had been confirmed was said to have voted.”

PPM rally

At Thursday night’s rally, Gayoom urged supporters to intensify efforts to double party membership ahead of its inaugural national congress in April.

While the EC currently lists the number of PPM members as 13,859 as of December 25, Gayoom revealed that the party was in the process of correcting administrative errors in forms returned by the commission, adding that “the true number of PPM members is over 20,000.”

PPM “is the future of the Maldives,” Gayoom continued, as it is the only party that could foster national unity and “get rid of the conflict, discord and enmity among the people.”

“Our only purpose now, and the focus of all our thought and capabilities, should be winning next year’s presidential election,” he said.

A PPM government would restore national unity, revive the spirit of working together and ensure economic prosperity, Gayoom said.

“Our government will not be one that takes revenge or offers opportunity to only certain people,” he continued. “[Our government] will not defame persons for political ends and expose them in parliament and media. Our government will not give over state assets and property to foreigners. Our government will serve the public in line with Islamic principles and through the democratic process.”

The number of days left “for the formation of this government” is now “765 days,” he said.

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Transparency to oversee funds for Climate Governance Integrity Project

The Climate Governance Network held its first meeting today to address the Climate Governance Integrity Project, a two-year pilot project headed by Transparency International and carried out in six countries including the Maldives and Kenya.

The project will identify suitable methods for allocating funds while establishing governing bodies to oversee climate change policies.

Transparency Maldives will assist the project by determining how authorities use funds received for climate change management and adaptation in the Maldives.

Today, the organisation discussed ways to work together with stakeholders within the project’s framework.

Transparency Maldives also raised concerns that corruption was a risk should governance of the project’s mechanisms and funds fail.

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Islam was never in danger in the Maldives: Eurasia Review

Islam was never in danger in Maldives, but what should alarm the people was the way the opposition political parties used this occasion not only to politicise the whole issue but also to whip up frenzy to accuse the Government of trying to wipe out the “Islamic faith of the people” by subterfuge, writes S Chandrasekharan for the Eurasia Review.

But what we saw in Maldives on the 23rd was that the Government need not look beyond Maldivian shores for “extremist preaching” and that they have sufficient otherwise sensible people to whip up religious frenzy to further their own political objectives. As I had said before time and again that the politicians are trying to use religion as a political tool and that it would have disastrous consequences. My paper 4459 of 1st May 2011 and the earlier one 3894 dated 27 June 2010 may be referred to.

There were media reports to indicate that the rally was financed by Pakistan and it could as well be by Saudis too as many of the NGOs do get their money from abroad.

It is regrettable that one person who should have stopped this unfortunate development, instead took a leading role in getting the rally organised and getting his statement read out in the rally as the “star event.”

This was the former president Gayoom – he said in the statement that was read out -”Maldivians are not forced to be Muslims but they chose to believe in Islam and allowing a religion other than Islam in Maldives will create division among the society. Maldivians should have the right to defend the religion of Islam. I call upon the government to stop its efforts to weaken the Islamic faith.” No one least of all the government was trying to introduce any other religion!

Is it not an irony that a person who claims to have brought in democracy in Maldives should go to such low levels to whip up frenzy only in the hope of getting elected once again as President in 2013?

In this he was joined by Dr Hassan Saeed, the former Attorney General who had felt the taste of extremism in Maldives when his book on Apostasy was banned in Maldives.

Look at the irony of the presence of Gasim Ibrahim the multimillionaire and head of Jumhorree party, who is making profits by sale of alcohol and resort “spas” that are alleged in the media to have shady activities? Even the Minister for Islamic Affairs Mohammed Abdul Majeed Bari is said to have stakes in the resort business!

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Maldives at a crossroads: The National

The dramatic decision by the Maldives government to close down health spas in tourist hotels – following recent noisy protests that claimed they were “unIslamic” – provoked fairly predictable headlines in some of the Western media, writes Mark Seddon for The National.

Best was the tongue-in-cheek concern in the London Evening Standard that Tamara Ecclestone, a multi-millionaire British heiress, might have to alter her travel plans, having trilled on at length in glossy magazines about her planned holiday massages in Maldivian tourist resorts.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, there was rather more to the story than the flurry of excitable newspaper headlines might have suggested. For no sooner had the order to close the spas been made than it was then rescinded by the government. The ultimate decision was then passed on to the Supreme Court for final adjudication.

The Maldivian tourism industry heaved a collective sigh of relief, and the Maldives President, Mohammed Nasheed, closed his office door for the evening, quietly confident that he might just have won an almighty PR victory over some of his conservative opponents. Next year, 2013, is election year and barring economic calamity over the next few months, opponents of the president appeared to have played most of their big cards.

A scattered archipelago of more than 1,000 islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, 200 of which are inhabited and home to 313,920 people, the Maldives now stands at a crossroads. Should the island state, which gained its independence from Britain in 1965, retain its 800-year allegiance to a fairly liberal blend of Sufi and Sunni Islam, or should it resist the encroachment of what some in the country see as Western decadence, and adopt a stricter interpretation of the Islamic faith?

“This,” says a supporter of President Nasheed, “is now a struggle between different visions of the Maldives. Bluntly, do we want a moderate Islamic state or a Taliban state?” On Wednesday, it had been expected that the Supreme Court might be forced to make some kind of official and ground breaking declaration as to exactly what tenets of Islam were appropriate to the Maldives. But at the eleventh hour, the court edged back from its own massive leap of faith. This decision, has for the time being at least, been put on hold.

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Piracy threat prevents passenger line from leaving Maldives

An American luxury passenger line en route to the Seychelles is stranded in the Maldivian waters due to “piracy risk”, while the passengers depart to the Seychelles through airline flights.

Secretary General of Maldives Association of Yacht Agents (MAYA), Mohamed Ali, told Minivan News on Sunday that the passenger line had arrived on December 29 and was scheduled to leave the same day after a brief stop near Male’.

However, he said the cruise captain had decided not to leave with the passengers on board due to “security reasons”, as there have been several attacks by pirates near the Seychelles.

“To avoid the risk, the 67 passengers on board were taken to Seychelles via Qatar Airways and Emirates last week,” Ali said.

As the passenger line is subjected to a daily fee of US$600 as long as it stays in Maldivian waters, he continued, “we are trying to send off the passenger line as soon as possible.”

He noted that the crew is taking the necessary security measures to ensure safety from a possible pirate attack.

“There are some maritime security companies which provide security to large cruises or shipping vessels like these. So the passenger line is arranging security before departure,” he said.

Pirate activity is predicted to be higher during November to February, with the increased number of cruise ships and yachts travelling this time of the year, according to Ali.

Meanwhile, due to increase in the pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean and the frequent encounters with Somali castaways in Maldivian territory, maritime experts have speculated that the piracy threat is growing in Maldives.

However, the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) has steadily countered that the country’s territorial waters have not come under direct attack from piracy originating in Somalia.

MNDF Spokesperson Major Abdul Raheem earlier told Minivan News that despite small vessels originating from Somalia washing up in the Maldives’ territorial waters – often with engineering problems – no reported attacks or activities linked to piracy were believed to have occurred in the country.

According to the Foreign Ministry, 37 Somali “castaways” are under police custody and are waiting for repatriation. They had been joined by three other Somalis, discovered last month on board a small dinghy drifting near Gaaf Alifu Atoll.

Potential pirate threats remain a major problem in ensuring the security of the archipelago, which depends on tourism for as much as 90 percent of its economy.

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Former DRP councillor wins Filladhoo council by-election on MDP ticket

Dismissed Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) councillor for Haa Alif Filladhoo, Adam Inaz, regained his seat on a ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ticket in Saturday’s by-election.

Inaz was dismissed from his post after being expelled from the DRP for voting against the party line in a no-confidence motion against DRP councillor Mohamed Vijan, chair of the Filladhoo island council.

An opposition-sponsored second amendment to the Decentralisation Act passed in December 2010 stipulates that councillors elected on a party ticket must remain a member of the party or be stripped of the seat.

According to provisional results announced by the Elections Commission (EC) last night, Inaz received 331 votes (55.7 percent) to DRP candidate Mohamed Jameel’s 263 votes (44.3 percent). Of 674 eligible voters, 598 cast their ballots.

Saturday’s win secures a majority of the five-member council to the ruling party, which also won by-elections last week for two Shaviyani Milandhoo constituency atoll council seats and one Alif Alif Mathiveri island council seat.

On November 19, MDP won by-elections for a Faafu Bilehdhoo atoll council seat and Alif Alif Himandhoo island council seat while a Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) member won the mid-Fuvahmulah atoll council seat.

Popular mandate

MDP meanwhile celebrated the victory last night with short-eats and the traditional rice pudding at its Haruge headquarters, where President Mohamed Nasheed attended and addressed supporters.

Elections in a democratic system reveal the extent of public approval of the government and its policies, Nasheed said.

In the first multi-party elections of the past four years, Nasheed noted, MDP’s share of the vote in Filladhoo rose from 20 percent in the first round of the presidential election of October 2008 to 46 percent in the local council elections of February 2011.

The MDP candidate for the Kelaa constituency which includes Filladhoo lost by 20 votes in the 2009 parliamentary elections, he continued, of which MDP won 31 percent of the popular vote.

Nasheed went on to lay out the MDP’s election returns in detail: 44,293 votes in the first round in 2008 (25 percent); 51,176 votes in 2009 (31 percent); and 61,661 in 2011 (44 percent).

“In my view, we now have a comfortable majority, a very good majority in a democracy -that is we are now [governing] with the consent of above 55 percent to our party, our government and our policies,” he claimed.

President Nasheed also referred to a protest by a group of Filladhoo islanders during his visit on December 24.

The protest leader addressed the President’s delegation with a megaphone “from the time we arrived till we went to the office,” Nasheed recounted, adding that he was “very pleased after seeing that as it’s been a while since I’ve seen a megaphone.”

While the incident was reported in local media, Nasheed argued that that “the people’s decision” was not “based on news headlines”.

“Two TV stations and two or three newspapers are constantly, relentlessly, criticising the government,” he said. “And sometimes the criticism goes beyond bounds.”

However, he contended, “the receptiveness of the message” on opposition-aligned media is diminished due to glaring contradictions “between what you can see for yourself and what you hear on TV.”

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French tourist found dead near Paradise Island Resort

A French tourist, identified as 49 year-old Alan Marshall, has been found dead near Paradise Island Resort this morning.

Marshall went missing during a late afternoon swim on January 7.

Marshall was vacationing on Club Med Kanifinolhu resort with his wife, daughter and son-in-law since last week. The family was due to leave the Maldives on January 12.

Kahifinolhu General Affairs Manager Abdu Samad said the victim had been snorkeling off the northern end of Kanifinolhu when he went missing around 4:30 pm. The family immediately reported him to resort staff who launched an investigation with divers.

Police were informed within one hour of Marshall’s disappearance. According to Samad, the search continued through the night until Marshall was found this morning within 30 meters of Paradise Island.

No details have yet been released as to the cause of death. However, police officials today said there was no cause for suspicion of foul play.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police would “try to find out as much as possible about what happened” during their investigation.

“We have never had an issue with that area of our reef,” said Samad. “It is narrow and there can be a strong current but he was swimming during low tide. We can’t understand what happened.”

According to Samad, Marshall’s son-in-law had spoken with him in the water prior to returning to shore. On the beach, Marshall’s wife inquired after her husband’s whereabouts. Unable to see him, they alerted the resort.

Samad noted that Marshall had said he could swim upon arriving at the resort, however his family confirmed that he had a weak arm. “The investigation will look into any medications he may have been taking,” Samad said.

Marshall’s body has been moved to a mortuary on Male’. Samad expects the investigation to be concluded today, and that the resort is currently arranging to transport the family and the body to Sri Lanka. “There they can arrange for a proper autopsy or a cremation. We are also looking into their transport back to France,” Samad said.

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Petrol bombs launched into MDP Haruge

Two petrol bombs landed inside ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Haruge (headquarters) around midnight last night, January 7. MDP activists allege that the culprits were paid recruits of opposition Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).

Police were called to the scene where they spoke to activists then inside the headquarters. Police officials today said the incident was minor, involving a few “bottles with petrol”, and that there was no confrontation.

No arrests have been made, and there is no investigation.

MDP activist Mohamed Areef described the incident to Minivan News.

“Some activists were just sitting near the wall of the haaruge, talking and playing chess. Then one bomb landed from over the wall, and I ran. Next another bomb was thrown just inches from my head.”

Areef said one man had sustained burns to his ankle, but that the injury was minor.

Areef noted that opposition PPM had held a gathering on January 5, and he was “quite sure [the attack] was planned by PPM. The party probably paid some people to do it.”

According to Areef, MDP will not retaliate.

PPM Spokesperson Ahmed Mahlouf denied that the party had any involvement in the matter.

“We have no interest in taking MDP Haruge, and we definitely do not support violence as a way of addressing issues,” he said.

Mahlouf added that the party had not held discussions regarding MDP “for two, three days”, and had no reason to launch petrol bombs into the ruling party’s headquarters.

“We are shocked to hear the news, and to hear that the blame has been put on us,” he said.

The incident follows several weeks of political controversy over demands made during a religious protest on December 23, in which PPM members and leaders joined six other opposition parties and religious NGOs in a call for stronger Islamic policies at the government level.

In response to these demands, the government ordered that all resort spas be closed and announced it was considering a ban on pork and alcohol. The first resorts to experience these effects were those owned by Jumhooree Party Leader and MP Gasim Ibrahim, the owner of Villa Hotels. Gasim subsequently sued the government over the matter.

Meanwhile, PPM argued that the demands against the sale of alcohol did not refer to the 100-plus resorts currently operating in the Maldives. However, going along with the high-stakes game of chicken the party announced that it would support the government’s suggestion to ban pork and alcohol provided “it has the courage” to do so.

Last week, the government requested a “consultative opinion” from the Supreme Court over the legality of selling pork and alcohol in a nation whose constitution is based on Islamic Sharia. Twenty-four hours later the government announced it was lifting the ban on spa operations in order to protect business interests while the court deliberates the matter.

The Judicial branch of the Maldives has been widely labelled as a remnant of the former regime, which appointed all of the current judges. A majority of the judges have little or no legal training, and have not been educated beyond grade seven. This year, MDP activists requested international support over the “increasingly blatant collusion between politicians loyal to the former autocratic President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and senior members of the judiciary – most of whom were appointed by Gayoom during his thirty years of power.”

Speaking at a press conference last week, President Mohamed Nasheed credited the spa controversy for having “woke the nation from its slumber and sparked a healthy national debate about the future direction of the country”.

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