Tag: maldives

Committee investigating supreme court judge’s sex-tape requests suspension

The sub-committee formed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to investigate the alleged sex-tape scandal of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed has again requested for the suspension of the judge after his refusal to cooperate with the investigation.

“We have sent the request to the JSC to suspend Ali Hameed after the members of the committee found the need to suspend him. We don’t know whether commission would do it or not,” a member of the committee was quoted saying in the local media.

Speaking to Minivan News, a JSC member confirmed that a request had been received to the commission but had not yet made a formal decision regarding the request.

Local newspaper Haveeru has reported that the committee’s request for suspension of the judge was also due to challenges facing the commission – from both the JSC and the Supreme Court – due to Hameed remaining as sitting judge.

Furthermore, local media claimed that Judge Hameed had turned down requests made by the commission to come in for questioning.

Previous call for suspension

Last July, a similar call by the same committee to suspend the disgraced judge was disregarded by the full commission, who questioned the committee’s basis for such a request.

Judge Hameed was able to survive the committee’s attempt to suspend him after four JSC members voted against the recommendation.

The four members included President Mohamed Waheed’s Attorney General Azima Shukoor and his representee Latheefa Gasim – a member of the committee who supported the suspension in committee before later changing her mind.

The other dissenting members were then-parliament’s representative to the commission, resort tycoon and MP Gasim Ibrahim – who later lost his seat at the JSC following his decision to contest the 2013 presidential elections and then-Chair of the Civil Service Commission, Mohamed Fahmy Hassan. Fahmy had been dismissed by parliament in a late 2012 no-confidence motion over allegations of sexual harassment, before being reinstated by the Supreme Court in March 2013.

All four members defending Hameed said that there was “lack of sufficient evidence” to suspend him.

Police Investigation

Earlier this December, local media reported that police had sent a letter to the JSC in which it claimed the sex-tape probe had been stalled due to Criminal Court’s failure to provide key search warrants central to ascertaining Judge Hameed’s depiction in the videos.

The police had allegedly sought two warrants, one being an authorisation from the court allowing police to take a facial photograph of Judge Hameed for comparative analysis, and the second being a search warrant of Hameed’s residence.

Neither the police nor the JSC have confirmed the existence of this letter, though the police have publicly noted similar difficulties in its investigation without mentioning warrant requests.

Superintendent Abdulla Nawaz told media earlier this month that the police had been awaiting some key information from abroad regarding the case.

“We believe once we get this information [from abroad], more doors will be opened and more clues to the case will be revealed, to enhance our investigations,” Nawaz said at the time.

In sum, Nawaz admitted that efforts had not been fruitful in determining the participants, let alone whether it was Hameed seen fornicating with multiple foreign women inside the hotel room.

The sex-tape

Spy-cam footage allegedly depicting the Supreme Court Judge indulging in different sexual acts with multiple foreign women surfaced on local media last July.

In one such video, time-stamped January 24 2013, showed the judge fraternising with a topless woman with an eastern European accent. At one point the figure alleged to be the judge – who was only wearing a white underwear –  leans into the camera, making his face clearly visible.

Afterwards, the woman repeatedly encourages the man to drink wine from a mini-bar. “If I drink that I will be caught. I don’t want to be caught,” the man insists, refusing.

The case rose to prominence once more after the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the first round of the presidential elections in October.

Images and symbols depicting scenes from the sex-tape formed a prominent part of protests against the court’s repeated interference in the election.

The videos appeared shortly after a film – also involving Judge Hameed – began circulating on social media in which the Supreme Court Judge appeared to be discussing political influence in the judiciary with a local businessman.

The appearance of the videos also coincided with the arrest and release of Ahmed Faiz – a council member of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party and the then-project advisor at the Housing Ministry – while he was allegedly trying to sell a sex-tape of the judge.

As of yet, despite public circulation of the videos and widespread media coverage on the scandal, Judge Ali Hameed still continues to sit in the Supreme Court.

He had been one of the four judges who formed the majority ruling in the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the initial first round of the 2013 presidential election as well as the ruling that unseated two opposition MPs over a controversial case of undecreed debt.

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Comment: Maldives should honor its history by supporting the rights of the Iranian people

In the coming days, the United Nations General Assembly will adopt a human rights resolution passed last month by its humanitarian committee aimed at improving the lives of Iran’s citizens. The human rights conditions of Iranians have been abysmal for three decades now.

This includes entrenched political repression, state-sanctioned gender and religious discrimination, and institutionalised violence and torture of government critics. Today, nearly a thousand political prisoners and prisoners of conscience languish in Iranian prisons due to the exercise of their guaranteed rights to expression, conscience, and religion.

While newly elected President Hassan Rouhani has provided hope to Iranians who voted him in on a platform of citizens’ rights, limits to presidential power are already undercutting his administration’s ability to usher in the human rights reforms he promised during his campaign for president. Policymaking in Iran also rests with unelected officials, so for Rouhani to advance his reform agenda, support from Iran’s Supreme Leader is necessary. What the Iranian people desperately need, therefore, and what President Rouhani can benefit from, is sustained and elevated attention to their situation. This will help Iran’s entire leadership understand that episodic or cosmetic steps will not be accepted as a substitute for genuine, broad-based democratic human rights reforms.

Yet, when the vote on this issue was called at the United Nations in November, the Maldives’ seat was empty.  This is all the more astonishing since the Maldives, itself, recently emerged from authoritarianism following its first multi-party elections in 2008. Meanwhile, the Maldives asked the UN General Assembly not once, but twice, to be elected to the Human Rights Council. It was the UN that called attention to a lack of gender equality in the Maldives’ judicial appointments, which helped the Maldives end gender discrimination within the judiciary, leading to the appointments of the country’s first-ever female judges. In Iran, female judges were unjustly removed from the bench after the 1979 revolution. They should be returned to their rightful posts.

Remembering the role of the international community

It was just eight years ago when in 2005, the UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, and human rights defenders sent an urgent appeal to the government of the Maldives concerning the now-defunct Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs’ declared ban on the possession of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The government responded within a week affirming its support for the UDHR and explaining that the Council’s statement was not legally binding. Moreover, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs responded a month later to confirm the initial response and to inform the UN experts that the government notified the Council to desist from such pronouncements without prior consultation. For these reasons, and more, the Maldivian people understand firsthand the vital role played by the international community in assisting nations to make human rights progress.

The Iranian people deserve the same support from the international community. They certainly deserve the backing of the Maldivian people who have faced similar challenges and benefitted from the UN’s attention.

The Iran human rights resolution focuses on many critical issues, such as the lack of freedom of expression and assembly in the country – as well as the need to release the hundreds of human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and opposition members in prison. It catalogues how women and religious minorities continue to face severe discrimination in law and practice, sometimes amounting to persecution. It discusses the country’s exorbitant execution rate, the highest per capita in the world. It requests Iran to end the practice of juvenile executions, public executions and other executions carried out in the absence of respect for internationally recognized safeguards, as well as to end inhumane and degrading forms of punishment, including amputation.

Despite President Rouhani’s election, more than 254 hangings have been carried out by Iran’s judiciary since his inauguration in August. The government has surpassed last year’s record by executing 529 people as of the end of November. Finally, the resolution calls on Iran to cooperate with UN human rights special procedures, including the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, who has not been allowed to visit the country since 2005.

The Maldives has the ability again this week to be present when the vote on the human rights of the Iranian people is called at the UN General Assembly. It has another opportunity to honor its own painful and inspirational history, and to honor the hundreds of prisoners of conscience in Iran who continue to fight for their freedom and for their human dignity. The Maldives should vote yes for its own people and for the people of Iran.

Dokhi Fassihian is an international human rights expert. Since 2003, she has led three non-governmental organizations working in the areas of human rights, democracy, and Iranian affairs

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Majlis passes landmark Anti-Torture Act, Prisons and Parole Act

The People’s Majlis voted unanimously today to pass the landmark Anti-Torture Act, and the Prisons and Parole Act.

The Anti-Torture Act declares freedom from torture as a fundamental right, penalises torture, ensures respect for human rights of criminal suspects, and prohibits torture in state custody, detention in undisclosed locations, and solitary confinement.

The act further declares any statement obtained through torture to be invalid in a court of law.

Speaking to Minivan News, MP Eva Abdulla said she had proposed the Anti-Torture bill to “ensure we do not carry forward the legacy of torture” inherited from Maldives’ authoritarian past.

The Prisons and Parole Act specifies rules for the management of jails and procedures for incarceration, rehabilitation and parole as well as rights and benefits due to inmates. It also provides for the establishment of an independent Maldives Correction Service to oversee jails.

The Anti-Torture Act passed with the unanimous support of the 53 MPs present and the Prisons and Parole Act passed with the unanimous support of the 54 MPs present at the time of voting.

The UN Human Rights Committee in July 2012 said incidents of torture in the Maldives “appear systematic and systemic” and expressed “grave concern” over the low number of cases that have undergone investigation.

Freedom from torture

Eva said the bill had been formulated based on international human rights conventions the Maldives had signed on to, including the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention Against Torture (CAT) and the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).

The act defines torture as any action committed by a state official, or committed with the orders, consent or knowledge of a state official to cause physical or psychological pain to obtain information or a confession or to inflict punishment or to threaten or humiliate an individual.

The act guarantees freedom from torture as a fundamental right of every individual even in circumstances of war or imminent war.

Physical torture includes but is not limited to beatings, kicking, applying heated rods, inflicting electric shock, restricting daily meals, and forceful feeding of rotting food, another individual’s excrement or substances unfit for human consumption.

Pouring heated oil or acid on a person, waterboarding, rape, forceful removal of teeth or nails and subjecting a person to drops of water at a consistent rate are also noted as methods of torture.

Acts of psychological torture includes – but is not limited to – blindfolding, threatening to harm family members, solitary confinement, long and continuous interrogation, public humiliation, physical abuse of family members in front of detainee, stripping, shaving hair, and branding skin.

Officials who torture people to death or cause insanity, memory loss or infertility will be imprisoned for 25 years.

The act further penalises those who use rape as a method of torture, or cause insanity and loss of memory with a prison sentence between 15 and 20 years.

Imprisonment between 10 and 15 years is set for causing loss of speech, hearing, sight, sense of taste and damage to the backbone.

In prosecution, a person who orders, helps, or assists in committing an act of torture will be treated the same as the individual directly responsible for the act of torture.

The act also affords victims compensation and mandates rehabilitation for perpetrators, torture victims and their families

The act mandates the state declare all detention centers in the Maldives, and submit monthly reports of detainees and inmates at detention centers specifying reasons for detention.

Parole

The Prisons and Parole Act proposed by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Rugiyya Ahmed was vetoed three times by former President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

According to MDP MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik the bill was drafted after “thorough research” including visits to jails in Sri Lanka, Australia, and Singapore.

The act mandates the state allow inmates to pray, exercise, food, do laundry, meet family and provide reading and writing materials.

According to the act, subsidiary regulations must be compiled to ensure good food and basic medical services are provided. Jail buildings must have adequate light and ventilation and amenities.

Men, women, and children must be incarcerated separately and the state must ensure proper documentation of all inmates.

The act establishes complaint mechanisms, but also penalises offenses carried out by inmates during their incarceration.

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New taxi regulation raises maximum fares to MVR25

The Transport Authority of Maldives has gazetted a new taxi regulation, changing the maximum fare from MVR20 to MVR25. Maximum fares from midnight to 6:00am will be MVR30.

An extra MVR5 can be charged for a single item of luggage put in the trunk of the taxi, and MVR10 for more than one item.

Taxi centers are yet to decide upon changing the fare to this amount. In the past, all centers have changed fares together. One taxi driver talking to Minivan News said he is still charging MVR20 during unsociable hours, but hopes that all centers will agree to a fixed fare as soon as possible.

The new regulation prohibits both taxi drivers and customers from playing any audio or video without permission from each other, with the exception of mobile phones and communications set in the taxi.

The new regulation require taxi drivers to carry luggage into and out of the vehicle.

It also requires taxi center name and phone number to be printed on each taxi and to have ‘taxi-top’ signs that indicate whether it is vacant or not. A transport authority SMS hotline will also be introduced for complaints against services.

The Taxi Regulation can be found here (PDF in Dhivehi).

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“Right now decentralisation in this country is just for show”: Addu City mayor

Mayor of Addu City Abdulla Sodig has suggested the financial difficulties facing his council are a result of the failure to implement the decentralisation act properly.

“Right now decentralisation in this country is just for show,” Sodig told Minivan News.

“The government and Majlis need to resolve these issues if the citizens are to benefit from decentralisation in a meaningful way.”

Addu City will be hit hard by the government’s proposed budget cuts, said Sodig, expressing concerns that the proposed budget for the city is insufficient to adequately provide essential services.

From the MVR421.4million budget requested by the council for 2014, only MVR45.6million was allocated in the budget proposed by Ministry of Finance to the People’s Majlis.

According to the mayor, the initial amount proposed in July 2013 was MVR54.8 million, in response to which the council informed the ministry that MVR123.1 million would be required for recurrent and capital expenditure – excluding Public Sector Investment Programmes (PSIPs).

When the council again requested a minimum of MVR85 million, the ministry proposed a reduced amount of MVR45.6 million. Of this amount, MVR35.2 million was allocated for salaries, MVR5.7 million for pre-schools, and MVR3.7 million for council office administrative costs.

Sodig says this amount would not cover the expenses of repairing mosques and roads.

“Addu City roads are badly in need of repair, whenever it rains most roads are flooded” he said. No funds were allocated for road reconstruction and repair in 2012 or 2013, he added.

Funds for some services in the council’s mandate, such as maintenance of roads and mosques, are included in the budgets of the relevant state departments, Sodig noted.

“It is very difficult, time consuming and costly to carry out our obligations like this.”

The MVR45.6 million budget currently proposed by the ministry does not include any additional projects, for which the council had requested MVR291.9 million.

“The amount we requested includes money needed for land reclamation projects in Hithadhoo, Maradhoo, Maradhoo-Feydhoo and Feydhoo. It was initially included in the budget, but has been removed now” Sodig explained.

In 2013 MVR6 million was proposed for PSIP projects, but the council received no money when the budget was finalised. The land reclamation projects were first proposed in 2008 but have been repeatedly delayed.

The actual budget allocation for the council in 2013 was MVR33.7 million, though it reached MVR55 million by the end of the year. The council still has pending electricity bills and up to MVR3 million and MVR186,000 in phone bills.

“At the budget committee we requested at least MVR25 million to pay our pending bills and for other existing contracts such as security and legal services, and they said anything that is absolutely essential will be included” Sodig said.

In 2014 the Council will earn an estimated MVR12.9 million in land lease payments and other fees collected for services provided by the council. A number of issues with financial independence of local councils, however, makes it difficult for the money to be properly utilised.

In 2012, the Finance Ministry requested all local councils to deposit all their revenues with Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) – a decision which Sodiq believes has discouraged local councils from investing in income generating programmes. Fees collected for public services provided with the council’s own resources are also collected by the central ministries.

Sodig blamed laws contravening the ‘Decentralisation Act’ as a primary cause for these issues.

Article 81 of the act requires national authorities to allocate an amount (decided by Ministry of Finance) from state facilities in which the council does not have any participation but are within it’s administrative area.

The mayor noted that no such payments have been made so far, and that some of the natural resources currently utilised by the state were sources of income for locals through traditional economic activity prior to their development for other purposes.

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Island council feared sheikh’s sermon would disrupt social harmony

Omadhoo Island Council stopped controversial preacher Sheikh Adam Shameem from delivering a religious lecture at the local mosque Saturday evening, fearing it might “disrupt the stability and social harmony of the island” reports CNM.

Council member Mohamed Ibrahim was quoted as saying that the imam of the Friday Mosque Ahmed Ramzi had confronted a group of senior Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members from the island, saying that the party’s Mohamed Nasheed is a ‘laadheenee‘ [irreligious] person and that it was because of that he lost the presidential elections.

“They said he is a disbeliever. So, a senior MDP member said, even if the council gives permission, that lecture cannot be held on this island. From that point things got bad,” continued Ibrahim.

Haveeru reported that when the council asked for a formal request for permission, the organisers sent a text message to the council president saying the lecture would go on with or without the council’s permission.

The lecture on ‘backbiting’ was later held on the street, accompanied by a heavy police presence.

In May 2013 Sheikh Imran Abdulla and Sheikh Ilyas Hussein were obstructed from preaching in Vaikaradhoo, in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, whilst Kamadhoo Island Council – Baa Atoll – prevented Sheikh Nasrulla Ali from preaching. In Vaikaradhoo the sheikhs continued with Police protection in the presence of local opposition activists.

Current laws and regulations require religious preachers to obtain permission from local councils in order to preach at mosques in their administrative areas.

The ministry of Islamic Affairs, particularly the current Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, have been trying to bring all affairs of the mosques under the ministry.

Sheikh Shameem, 37, studied at Jamia Salafiyya in Pakistan, Medina Islamic University, and has a Masters degree in Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage from International Islamic University in Malaysia.

The Sheikh has attracted much controversy following his “mega-lecture” ‘Andalus‘ during the recent presidential elections, the live broadcast of which was interrupted by the national television for violating state broadcaster’s guideline.

The lecture, seen as highly political, was condemned by the MDP as “incitement of hatred among the public with the intention of influencing the election”.

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Revenue raising measures remain biggest obstacle to budget, says Finance Minister

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has said that new revenue raising measures remain the biggest obstacle to the passing of the new budget.

He has, however, expressed his opinion that the collection of lease extension payments up-front – anticipated by the government to raise MVR1.2billion (US$77million)- would not be a problem.

“I don’t think it is a problem because we are giving them for 99 years – that’s quite a long time,” Jihad told Minivan News today. “The property belongs to everyone – it’s the people’s property.”

Maldives Association for Tourism Industry Secretary General Ahmed Nazeer reportedly told the Budget Review Committee yesterday that he anticipated that 50 percent of resort owners would refuse to pay the sum up front.

When asked for additional opinion on the proposed budget today, Nazeer told Minivan News that he felt it would be inappropriate to give further comment whilst the budget was still under review.

The Finance Minister was able to confirm that the government had requested approval for three loans – totalling MVR814million (US$52million) – from the Majlis, of which MVR453million will go towards budget support.

Earlier this month, the Auditor General suggested Jihad had foregone the mandatory parliamentary approval when obtaining MVR300million (US$ 19.45 million) worth of budget support from the Bank of Maldives in May 2012.

Jihad responded that the onerous procedural obligations were circumvented in order to avoid an impending financial disaster.

Budget support

The budget-support loan will come from the Bank of Ceylon, whilst additional loans await approval from Denmark’s Nordea Bank (€2.5million) for the upgrading of Malé’s electricity grid, and OPEC (US$20million) for sewerage projects.

After details of the high interest to be paid on the Bank of Ceylon’s loan emerged, Jihad last week use the term “beggars cannot be choosers,” noting that the Maldives has no choice but to borrow from commercial banks at high interest rates.

“We could go to Bank of New York, but they will not lend to us. The best bet now is Bank of Ceylon,” he said.

An agreement to receive 50 million yuan (US$ 8.2 million) in development aid from the Chinese government has already been approved this month, whilst Indian media has reported that President Abdulla Yameen’s state visit will see the resumption of a currently-dormant standby-credit facility.

The Budget Review Committee is expected to conclude deliberations upon the 2014 budget by December 20-21, explained Jihad, after which it will be sent to the full floor for further consideration.

Discussion of revenue raising measures is scheduled for Wednesday (December 18).

Similar issues

Failure to realise new streams of revenue, alongside an inability to curb expenditure saw the previous government – under which Jihad also served as finance minister – forced to divert capital expenditure to recurrent costs.

The proposed budget for 2014 is a record MVR 17.5 billion (US$1.1 billion), with a 6.7 percent growth in total expenditure mainly due to a MVR 1.1billion (US$72,687,239) increase in recurrent costs, accounting for over 73 percent of outgoings.

Both Jihad and Maldives Monetary Authority Governor Dr Fazeel Najeeb have told the Majlis committee that the proposed 2014 budget must be reduced if the government’s new revenue streams were not realised, with Jihad targetting the billion dollar tourism industry.

“The main revenue generator is tourism. From where else can we generate extra revenue? I don’t believe that we are presently charging taxes that are too high for the tourism sector,” local media reported him as saying yesterday.

The proposed revenue raising measures will provide the state with a total of  MVR3.4billion (US$ 224million). However, the People’s Majlis will need to amend laws including revisions to tax laws and import tariffs to realise the expected revenue.

Proposed measures include raising Tourism Goods and Service Tax by 50 percent, delaying the abolition of tourism bed tax, raising airport departure charges for foreign passengers by 28 percent, and leasing a further 12 islands for resort development.

In his inauguration speech, Yameen warned the country’s economy was in “a deep pit” and pledged to reduce state expenditure. Local media reports quote Yameen saying he would cut expenditure by amounts varying between MVR 1 billion and 4 billion.

A World Bank report on the state the Maldives’ economy last week described the country as “spending beyond its means”.

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Criminal Procedure Code Bill to include strong measures against hard-line offenders

The Chair of Parliament’s National Security Committee, MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik has said that the Criminal Procedure Code bill currently being drafted in parliament will include strong measures to protect witnesses and ensure successful prosecutions.

The Hulhu-Henveiru constituency MP told local media that the parliament’s National Security Committee – charged with reviewing the bill – had decided to restrict the rights of those accused of major crimes as well as introducing strict procedures during criminal investigations.

Among the measures to be made part of the legislation include setting a limit for the maximum detention period of such suspect, reducing the right to remain silent and the right to obtain legal counsel while in custody.

Furthermore, Moosa said that the bill, once ratified, would make it mandatory for a suspect to consent to urine tests and DNA tests, as well as submitting fingerprint and handwriting samples.

Moosa said that the National Security Committee members have also agreed that 135 days ought to be the maximum period a person can be detained by police for criminal investigations.

Under the new provisions included in the bill, explained Moosa, police would be expected to conclude investigations and file for prosecution within a 60 day period, while the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office must press charges within a 15-day period.

“The bill also allows suspects of major criminal offences to be placed under custody during police investigation and up until the trial is over,” Moosa told local media.

Mandatory tests and restrictions on right to remain silent

The Criminal Procedure Code bill was originally proposed during the 16th parliament session under former ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, before being re-submitted by President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration during the next session.

The bill has been pending in parliament for the past five years, with the legislature coming under heavy fire from NGO’s and the public over the delay, particularly during the record high number of murder cases in the past three years that included the murder of former MP Dr Afrasheem Ali.

The Criminal Procedure Code bill identifies terrorism, murder and manslaughter, causing grievous bodily harm, offenses against minors, drug trafficking, money laundering and other similar acts as major criminal offences.

Those accused of less serious offences may be kept in detention for a period of 70 days – which includes 30 days for criminal investigations, 10 days for prosecution, and an additional 30 days to conclude the trial.

Moosa argued that, although the right to remain silent is enshrined in the constitution, no criminal suspect should have the liberty to refuse to undergo urine and DNA testing, which he argued would prove to be central for prosecutions.

“We believe the right to remain silent and consenting to taking urine and body samples are two different things.  This is the practice in all developed countries,” Moosa claimed.

Earlier this year opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor was sentenced to six-months in jail after he refused to cooperate with the courts investigation into an alleged refusal to provide a urine sample. The High Court, however, quashed his conviction on the grounds that the Criminal Court had not followed due process when deeming him guilty.

Witness protection

In order to safeguard possible witnesses to a crime, the committee members have also agreed to bar those accused of major crimes from privately meeting attorneys and family for a period of 36 hours from the time of arrest – a decision supported by both the police and the judiciary.

Both High Court Judge Abbas Shareef and Criminal Court Judge Muhuthaaz Muhsin have spoken in favor of such a provision during the committee’s discussions, which have also seen contributions from the PG’s Office, Human Rights Commission (HRCM), and the police.

“In 80 percent of the murder cases, witnesses were tempered through threatening and intimidation, after the accused meets with his lawyers and family members. This is something that is being talked about and this is how it is done,” Judge Muhsin told the committee.

Meanwhile High Court Judge Shareef told the committee that in some jurisdictions a suspect of a major criminal offence is denied of the right to obtain legal counsel or to meet their family and relatives for a period of three days, while in others family and relatives are not even informed of the suspect’s location.

“In some US States, [such a suspect] is not even at all allowed to meet family or obtain legal counsel. There are countries which have laws that allow a suspect’s location of detention be made confidential for a period of 72 hours,” Shareef explained.

HRCM member Jeehan Mahmood objected to the provisions, however, citing violations of fundamental human rights.

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Corruption case against former media council members continues

The Anti-Corruption Commission has forwarded the cases of seven former members of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) accused of ignoring a directive to return allowances deemed illegal, local media has reported.

Sun Online has reported that charged are being pursued against a total of 10 former MMC members.

A 2011 Auditor General’s report revealed that members took almost Rf 900,000 in additional allowances – fees which the MMC subsequently asked to be returned.

The report stated that the living allowance was an illegal expense, despite parliament having approved the MMC’s budget which included the allowance. It was noted that the MMC had behaved inappropriately for an institution that was required by nature to have the trust and confidence of the public.

The following year’s audit report revealed that 13 of the MMC’s members had failed to return the MVR7,500 (US$478).

A recent survey conducted by local NGO Transparency Maldives revealed that only 12 percent of those interviewed believed public officials and civil servants to be free from corruption.

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