Tag: maldives

Supreme Court upholds reinstatement of police inspector dismissed after rape allegations

The Supreme Court has today upheld the High Court ruling to reinstate Chief Inspector Hussain Risheef Thoha who had been dismissed after being accused of raping a woman inside a police car.

The ruling stated that, although the victim had alleged that a group of police officers attacked her, she did not state that Risheef participated in the rape.

Commenting on today’s ruling today, Maldivian Democratic Party MP and lawyer Imthiyaz ‘Inthi’ Fahmy expressed concern the court would ask for the reinstatement of an officer after its disciplinary board had decided that there was enough evidence to link him with a rape case.

”These are not just ordinary citizens, these are senior police officers accused of a serious crime,” Inthi said. ”This is very dangerous and serious.”

Risheef had called the officers who were inside the car, said the Supreme Court today, stating that this did not prove he had participated in the attack.

The ruling noted that there was no record of a phone call in which Risheed instructed officers to rape the victim.

The court ruling stated that Risheed had gone to the area where the girl had been left after the incident, and had given her a t-shirt to cover herself up.

Again, this does not prove that Risheef had participated in the act, said the court, noting that helping a person in that situation to cover up is how it should be done in Islamic principles.

The court also criticised the police disciplinary board for taking action against Risheef based on the allegations, saying that this was against Islamic principles and international best practice.

The case

In August 2011, a woman filed a case at police headquarters alleging she was sexually abused by a group of police officers, including Risheef.

Thoha later appealed his dismissal by the police disciplinary board at the Civil Court, which ruled that the decision had been lawful and that there was enough evidence to dismiss Risheef from duty.

The Civil Court noted at the time that Risheef’s call records showed he had contacted the other accused officers several times, and in turn had been contacted by them.

The ruling also said that the girl was thrown out of the car naked near the chief inspector’s house in Maafannu, and that Thoha had admitted to being in the area a few minutes later.

In August 2012, the High Court overruled the decision made by the Civil Court and ordered that police reinstate Risheef at the rank of chief inspector.

In September 2012, the High Court upheld a Civil Court ruling to reinstate Police Lance Corporal Ali Nasheed to active duty, who had been dismissed in relation to the same incident.

Recently, police said that they would only accept dismissed officers in a situation where the Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of their position in the police.

Lawyer Inthi said that such issues makes the people lose confidence with the police force.

”This shows that issues like this are not taken seriously,” he said. ”The disciplinary board is a board that has the authority to dismiss police officers if they find that there was enough evidence to believe that a police officer is guilty of a crime.”

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South Asia Regional Environmental Security Forum begins in Kurumba

The South Asia Regional Environmental Security Forum – held by US Pacific Command in partnership with Maldives National Defence Force – began today at Kurumba resort.

The event – which will continue until Thursday (June 5) – is the fourth of its kind, aiming to develop awareness and partnerships in environmental security throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Representative from both the Maldives government and around the globe will gather to promote regional cooperation on the topics of water security, waste management, resource protection, and energy.

The event will include a tour of nearby Thulusdhoo Island, where attendees will be shown examples of coastal erosion and waste management issues in the Maldives.

“The results of the event will assist participating groups to enhance existing environmental security documents and procedures and develop new ones to adapt to and mitigate climate change,” explained a US embassy press release today.

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Poor security measures at fault for cyber attack, say government IT experts

IT experts have suggested that the scale of yesterday’s attack on government sites was due to poor security mechanisms.

Government IT experts have told Minivan News today that the hosting of multiple government sites on a single server was a security concern of which government was aware.

“Shared hosting is cheap, while having a dedicated server could be expensive. So this is a price versus security choice. But even with shared hosting if the server is secured properly it would minimise the risks,” said a cyber security official at one government institution.

Dhiraagu has today confirmed that the 117 websites defaced in yesterday’s cyber attack by a Syrian anti-war group were hosted on a single Dhiraagu server.

The Maldives’ oldest telecommunications company noted that all affected websites were fully restored last night, within twenty four hours of the attack.

“Attacking government websites is a criminal act and this is being investigated by the police now. Such attacks are carried out against many corporations and organisations around the world, even the most secure,” said Dhiraagu Public Relations Executive, Ibrahim Imjad Jaleel.

“Our engineers have assure that assured that security will be upgraded even further to ensure such an incident is not repeated in the future. It is equally important for developers to increase the security features of websites,” he added.

Shared hosting issue previously flagged

IT experts have told Minivan News today that the attack was likely to have been carried out by the manipulation of one or more vulnerable government websites hosted on a single Dhiraagu server.

“It seems that after accessing the server and gaining elevated privileges, the attacker decided to deface the websites. If it was someone with really malicious intentions they could have done more,” explained a local software engineer.

“Defacement is the least of our worries – think about what somebody could do or have probably done already. Load in exploit code on the pages and nobody would notice. It is possible to compromise thousands of Maldivians and offices,” they warned.

The case is now being investigated by the cyber crime division at the Maldives Police Services (MPS).

Ahmed Athif, head of Information & Communication Directorate at MPS said police will conduct an assessment and share the information and recommendations with the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) and other relevant authorities.

While he noted that this is the biggest attack of this nature to be carried out against the Maldives government, he said specific details of the case could only be revealed after a thorough investigation.

The NCIT has made no official comments regarding the issue, but a source within the centre today told Minivan News that the shared hosting of sites and other security concerns have frequently been raised during security assessments of government institutions.

In August 2013 the Elections Commission reported that their servers were continuously under attack at the time, while in the same month the Department of National Registration’s (DNR’s) ID card database with political party affiliations was leaked online.

Police later said the database was stolen from an Elections Commission web server after it had been hacked.

In March 2013 the United Nations (Maldives) website was also defaced in order for a hacker to deliver a message saying that securit on their website was insufficient.

Responsibility for yesterday’s attacks was claimed by Dr. SHA6H – an anonymous figure who has claimed to have infiltrated hundreds of similar sites across the globe over the past two years.

“This site has been hacked because of the world’s silence of three years of massacres that occur in Syria and this is still happening,” read the message left on the defaced websites, attributed to a group called the Syrian Revolution Soldiers.

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“Invisible war” being waged against nationalism and faith, says home minister

An invisible war is being waged against the Maldives’ nationalism, claimed Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer when commemorating Martyr’s Day last Thursday (May 29).

“We are under attack even today, at this very moment, and this minute and second – but in a different way. Today the targets are our thinking, creed, the good views we hold of our nation – the love for the nation, the respect for national history.”

“Today there are great efforts destroy these. This is an invisible war, weapons that cannot be touched,” said Naseer during an event held at the Olympus Theater in Malé.

Martyr’s day has been officially commemorated since 1979, in remembrance of Sultan Ali VI – commonly known as Ali Rasgefaanu – who is said to have died fighting Portuguese invaders in 1558.

The occasion was also observed by the police service, with the controversial Sheikh Adam Shameem Ibrahim advising officers of the importance of martyrdom in Islam.

Additionally, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon warned of attempts by outside actors to enslave the nations politically and economically.

Beware of hidden enemies: home minister

The four pillars on which the Maldives stands are the Dhivehi language, Islam, the Dhivehi culture, and independence said the home minister.

Naseer stated that the foundation of Maldivian culture was Islam alongside social values such as respecting elders and women, and showing kindness towards one another.

Naseer requested people be vigilant of anyone who “casts a gaze filled with hatred” towards national properties, land, religion, and peace.

“Today we will have to face such experiences within the Maldives and from abroad. This is today’s war. You will not be martyred in this war, instead you will face death. Thinking and ideologies will be corrupted. The result would be unhappiness in both worlds,” said Naseer.

The home minister’s sentiments were also reflected in Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon’s statements on the occasion.

Recalling the sacrifices of various national heroes Dunya said that today’s globalised attacks were not waged with guns.

“In today’s world, most of the time we are uncertain about how or from where the enemies attack [us]. Attacks indented to enslave [us] come in many different forms,” said Dunya.

“In today’s world, instead of colonisation countries are being enslaved economically and politically.”

Asking whether a nation dependent on others for its basic needs can be considered independent, Dunya noted the importance of an economically independent Maldives that can protect its religion and identity.

Police commemoration

The Maldives Police Service also held a special parade at Iskandar Koshi on Thursday in order to mark the day.

Chief Guest at the ceremony, attended by Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed and Deputy Commissioner of Police Ahmed Saudi, was the controversial preacher Sheikh Adam Shameem Ibrahim.

Addressing the police parade, Sheikh Shameem said police officers should always posses the will to be martyred in defending the people and the nation.

Remarking that the country was passed onto the present generation with the hard work of Mujahidin who were martyred in defending Islam and the nation, the sheikh explained the high regard for martyrdom in Islam.

Shameem has recently prayed for the acceptance of the martyrdom of Maldivians killed in the Syrian civil war, stating that anyone who fights to glorify Islam against disbelievers are Mujahideen (Holy warriors).

He also said on his Facebook page that Nusayri (Shiah Muslims) of Syria are disbelievers “worse than Christians and Jews”.

Sheikh Shameem first came to public attention following his ‘mega-lecture’ ‘Andalus‘, during the 2013 presidential elections.

Live broadcasts of this lecture were interrupted by authorities for violating state broadcaster’s guideline, while the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party condemned the lecture accusing Shameem of inciting hatred in order to sway the electorate.

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Criminal Court disregarded crucial evidence to set top drug dealer free, reveals High Court ruling

The Criminal Court set a drug kingpin free after claiming that a hearing during which crucial evidence was presented never took place, a High Court ruling on May 29 has revealed.

The High Court overturned the lower court’s ruling and sentenced Hassan Yoosuf of Laamu atoll Gan Island to life in jail for trafficking 46.6 grams of cannabis products.

The Criminal Court said the state had not presented the rubber packet alleged to contain cannabis as physical evidence to the court. But both state prosecutors and Yoosuf testified at the High Court that the police brought the packet to the court on August 22, 2010.

However, the Criminal Court said it has no record of the hearing having taken place.

The High Court’s ruling also highlighted additional intentional lapses in the lower court’s verdict such as its dismissal of credible eyewitness testimony.

Police have called Yoosuf “the top drug dealer” in Laamu Atoll. He was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to 30 years on a separate case in November 2011, but released by the Drug Court in February 2012 after completing a six month rehabilitation program.

No record

Yoosuf fled from the police on December 15, 2009 when the police attempted to arrest him on suspicion of drug trafficking, eyewitnesses said.

When police caught up with him, he threw away a cigarette pack into the trees on the roadside. A rubber packet containing a black substance fell out from the box, eyewitnesses said.

At the Criminal Court, Yoosuf denied charges, arguing the rubber packet presented as evidence could not have fit inside the Camel Light cigarette box.

The presiding judge then asked the state to present the evidence at court. Forensic expert Corporal Mohamed Thihamee went to court with the evidence and demonstrated how the packet could be folded to fit inside the box on August 22, 2010, but the Criminal Court later denied the hearing took place.

Thihamee also testified that the hearing took place. Yoosuf also said the evidence was presented, but said he did not remember seeing Thihamee fit the rubber packet inside the box.

Thihamee demonstrated the same during the High Court appeal.

Discrepancies

The Criminal Court also ruled there were too many discrepancies in witness statements to convict Yoosuf.

But the High Court said all four witnesses testified that they saw Yoosuf throw away the cigarette pack during the police chase and that they saw a rubber packet fall out from the box.

They further testified the police found the rubber packet caught between the fronds of a short coconut palm tree on the roadside, the High Court said.

The witness statements and the forensic report on the substance inside the packet is enough proof to convict Yoosuf, the High Court’s majority verdict found.

Dissenting judge Abdulla Hameed found Yoosuf not guilty on a procedural point, arguing the right process was not followed in compiling the forensic report. He said the junior police officer who conducted the analysis was only authorised to do so under a senior officer’s direct supervision.

But judges forming the majority opinion Azmiralda Zahir and Abdul Rauf Ibrahim said the senior police officer is not mandated to be present throughout the time of analysis, but is supposed to supervise whether all the procedures are followed correctly.

The Maldives Correctional Services recently temporarily released convicted drug kingpin Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak for medical treatment in suspect circumstances in February. But he was caught in Colombo and extradited to the Maldives in May.

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Maldives’ peacekeeping troops to be deployed over next two years

The Maldives has signed an MOU with the UN, agreeing to actively contribute to peacekeeping operations as observers and infantry.

The agreement, signed in New York by the Maldives ambassador to the UN Ahmed Sareer last week, is the first of its kind to be signed by the country.

“This agreement marks a new era in relations between the Maldives and the UN,” said Sareer upon signing the agreement with UN Under Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous.

“With the maturation of the Maldivian State, we look forward to taking up the mantle of leadership in all of our international endeavors. No matter how small the nation, all have an obligation to maintaining and sustaining the security of populations across the globe.”

A small contingent of military observers and infantry personnel will be deployed over the next two years, explained a press release from the Foreign Ministry.

An Maldives National Defence Force statement added that the participation of the Maldives’ troops would decided upon by the government.

Under Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous commented that the Maldives assistance would be invaluable to the UN’s work.

“Maldives’ experience in protecting its incredibly porous border provides invaluable expertise in addressing modern threats, including the prevention of; piracy, trafficking and maritime conflict,” said Lasdous.

Shortly after assuming office last November, the government of President Abdulla Yameen revealed that the country’s foreign policy would involve promoting Islamic characteristics internationally, and increasing South Asian regional cooperation.

The initial parliamentary approval for Maldivian participation in UN peacekeeping missions was granted in October 2011 although there was some opposition at the time from those who argued that Maldivians ought not to be involved in foreign conflicts.

As well as 11 dissenting MPs, religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf expressed concerns that Maldivians would be forced to fight against fellow-Muslims.

“Taking part in the UN peacekeeping operations will force Maldivian forces to fight against Muslims which is unacceptable,” said a statement from Jamiyyathul Salaf at the time.

“Disregarding our own society and getting involved in these matters for the sake of earning respect from powerful countries shows how much the future of this nation is being disregarded,” said Salaf.

After approval by the cabinet in early 2011, the President’s Office expressed hope that the arrangement would enhance understanding of the international security environment as well as consolidating the country’s credibility internationally.

The ensuing two years since the approval of peacekeeping involvement has seen a series of damning UN reports  – notably on the Maldives’ judiciary and human rights record – often resulting in terse responses from the government.

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39-year-old arrested in Raa atoll for alleged exploitation of a minor

Police have arrested a 39-year-old Male in Raa atoll on suspicions of sexually exploiting a 14-year-old girl.

The man, from Alifushi Island, was detained yesterday (May 31) and will be remanded in custody for 15 days, police have revealed.

A growing number of child abuse cases have been reported to police in recent weeks, with the Human Rights Commission calling for greater awareness raising and legal protection for children.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Gender has explained that cultural and jurisdictional issues were to blame for the failure to compile a legally mandated registry of child abusers.

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Belgian resort worker still missing at sea

Attempts by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) to locate a Belgian national, missing since Friday, have as yet been unsuccessful.

Olivier Louis Albert Lieux, a 35-year-old Assistant Food and Beverages Manager at Four Seasons Resort Kuda Huraa, went missing after his dinghy capsized while reef fishing near Paradise Island resort, reports local media.

He is reported by the MNDF to have been last seen wearing a dark-blue t-shirt and white shorts.

After a large wave overturned the vessel, Lieux’s colleagues swam to shore only to realise he was not with them on their arrival, reported media.

The MNDF has said its search will continue from both the sea and the air.

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President Yameen pledges additional MVR1 million for national football team

After gifting MVR1 million to the national team for making it to the Asian Football Federation (AFC) Challenge Cup’s semi finals, President Abdulla Yameen has promised an additional million to the team.

Speaking to news agency Haveeru, Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Maleeh Jamal said the additional million is to recognise the good reputation the football team has brought to the Maldives and to encourage the team to more success.

The money is to be handed over this week. It is not clear if the money will be distributed from the state budget.

The Maldives lost the semi-final against the Philippines last week. Prior to the match, Yameen had promised one million rufiyaa if the national team won the Challenge Cup.

Palestine were the eventual winners, beating the Philippines on Friday (May 30).

Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim has also gifted MVR 500,000 to the team.

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