maldives – Page 405 – Minivan News

“We met Brigadier General Didi at MNDF Headquarters the night the judge was arrested”, police tell court

Two police witnesses presented to court by the prosecution against retired Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi have said they met Didi inside the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) Headquarters the night Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed was taken into military detention.

Ibrahim Didi is charged for the controversial military detention of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed in January 2012.

Along with Didi, former President Mohamed Nasheed, his Defense Minister Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaanu, former Chief of Defense Force retired Major General Moosa Ali Jaleel and Colonel Mohamed Ziyad are all facing the same charges, of arbitrarily detaining an innocent individual as stipulated in article 81 of the Penal Code.

Article 81 of the Maldives Penal Code states: “It shall be an offense for any public servant by reason of the authority of office he is in to detain to arrest or detain in a manner contrary to Law innocent persons. Persons guilty of this offense shall be subjected to exile or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding MVR 2,000.00.”

Didi however denied the charges levied against him during the first hearing of the trial, contending that he should not be facing charges as an individual for an act carried out by the then Defence Ministry.

The former Brigadier General claimed that the charges levied against him by the state were unfair and raised question over the credibility of the witnesses presented by the state against him. He also argued that the arrest was made by the Defence Minister under the direct orders of the president, and that he had no role to play in it.

During the hearing of the trial held at Hulhumale Magistrate Court on Wednesday, two witnesses, Police Sergeant Hassan Irash and Police Lance Corporal Ibrahim Hameed, told the court that they had met the former Male Area Commander at Bandaara Koshi together with a group of police officers.

Sergeant Irash claimed that he and the group of police officers including Lance Corporal Hameed went to the MNDF headquarters on the order of former Police Superintendent Mohamed Jinah. He added that Didi met the group and had asked whether they were the police.

However, Lance Corporal Hameed claimed that he did not know whose order the group of police officers were following, when they were on their way to the MNDF headquarters on the night of February 6, 2012.

State prosecutors did not disclose what they were trying to prove through the witness statements given by the two police officers.

Prior to the witness statements, Didi’s defence lawyer Ismail Wisham took a procedural point contending that the two police officers was not required to be brought before the court to give evidence.

This, he said, was because neither of the two statements given by the two officers had anything to do with the arrest of the judge and therefore, their statements did not carry any weight.

Dismissing the point, State Prosecutor Aishath Fazna Ahmed contended that the defendant’s lawyer had not objected to the list of witnesses presented to the court during the first hearing.

She also argued that debate on witness statements would take place after all the witness statements had been made in court and added that the state wished to prove certain elements through a combination of multiple witness statements.

Deciding on the matter, the panel of judges concluded that every party under the constitution was entitled to submit as much evidences as they could, and that therefore the court had decided to take evidences from the two police officers in a bid to respect that constitutional right.

The court concluded the hearings announcing that another would be scheduled on March 31 (Sunday).

Judge Abdulla Mohamed was taken into military custody in January 2012 after the former Home Minister Hassan Afeef wrote to Defense Minister Tholhath asking him arrest the judge, stating that he posed a threat to both the national security of the country and a threat to the country’s criminal justice system.

Minister Afeef at the time of the judge’s arrest accused him of “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist”, listing 14 cases of obstruction of police duty, including withholding warrants for up to four days, ordering police to conduct unlawful investigations and disregarding decisions by higher courts.

Didi was the Male Area Commander at the time the arrest took place.

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Court sentences Humam for six years on charges of using cannabis

Criminal Court has sentenced Hussain Humam of Henveiru Lobby House, who was arrested in connection with the murder of late MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, to six years’ imprisonment on two counts of using cannabis.

The Criminal Court ruling stated that in May last year Humam was arrested by a patrolling officer on suspicious of being intoxicated. Police officers tested his urine which was tested positive for cannabis, police said.

The court said that Humam has confessed in court to using cannabis.

The Court said that in October 2012, Humam was arrested while he was near Jalapeno Restaurant on suspicion that he was intoxicated.

Humam was brought to Male’ Custodial by patrolling officers and his urine tested positive to cannabis,\, the criminal court said.

According to the Criminal Court, Humam confessed to using cannabis in the court during the trial.

Last month the Criminal Court sentenced Humam to one year imprisonment after the court found him guilty of refusing to provide a urine sample for a drug test.

The Court said Humam has violated the 17/2011 Drug Act’s article 113[a] and was therefore sentenced under 113[b] of the Drug Act.

The trial of Dr Afrasheem’s murder case is still going on in the Criminal Court. Humam is the only person to be charged in the case.

Humam is also charged in another case for allegedly attacking a police officer. He has denied the charges in court.

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President Waheed calls on Maldivians to improve conditions of expatriate workers

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has called upon Maldivians to “do everything possible” in order to improve the working conditions of Bangladeshi expatriate workers in the Maldives.

Speaking at a function to mark the Bangladesh Independence and National Day on Tuesday (March 26), Waheed stated that Bangladeshi expatriate workers make a huge contribution to the economic growth and development of the Maldives.

Acknowledging to the fact that Bangladesh accounts for the largest group of expatriate workers in the Maldives, President Waheed stated the importance of reflecting on the conditions of foreign workers in the country.

“Let me reiterate here the government’s unfailing commitment to ensure the rights of the expatriate workers in the Maldives are fully protected in accordance with the relevant laws of the Maldives.

“I take this opportunity to appeal to my compatriots in the Maldives to reflect on this current condition and do everything possible to improve the working conditions of our brothers and sisters and to ensure that their rights are always guaranteed,” said Waheed.

In 2010, it was claimed that the exploitation of foreign workers in the Maldives rivals fishing as the most profitable sector in the Maldivian economy after tourism.

High Commissioner of Bangladesh Rear Admiral Abu Saeed Mohamed Abdul Awal said that the commission was working closely with the Maldives government to address the issue.

Awal stated that the commission is dedicated to ensuring the treatment of expatriate workers by Maldivian employers, adding that the working conditions and rights of the employees need to be protected.

Last month, the head of Maldives Association of Construction Industry Mohamed Ali Janah alleged that almost half of all foreign employees in the construction industry were thought not to be legally registered.

A report on human trafficking in the Maldives saw the country remain on Tier 2 of the US State Department’s Watch List for Human Trafficking for the third year in a row, only narrowly avoiding a decent to Tier 3 – the most severe category.

Various government ministries claim to have stepped up efforts to address the problem in the past few months in the build up to this year’s human trafficking categorisation by the US State Department.

In January, President Waheed expressed concern about the rising number immigrants in the Maldives, claiming that the “foreign influence” threatens the country’s “Maldivianness”.

In regard to a potential decent to Tier 3 of the US State Department’s human-trafficking watch list this year, Waheed warned that the Maldives would face difficulties in seeking foreign assistance should it slip to the most severe category.

Speaking at the function on Tuesday night, President Waheed said that in order to become a modern democracy, Maldives must follow the “democratic experience” of Bangladesh and other developing countries in order to learn from their experience.

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Preliminary hearing on GMR-Maldives arbitration case scheduled for April 10 in London

The preliminary hearing of the arbitration case concerning the government’s voiding of its concession agreement with Indian Infrastructure giant GMR is scheduled to take place on April 10 in London, reports local media.

On February 3, the parties announced the appointment of arbitrators for the case. According to the Attorney General’s office, the Maldives will be represented by Singapore National University Professor M Sonaraja, while former Chief Justice of the UK, Lord Nicholas Addison Phillips, will represent GMR.

The arbitrator mutually agreed by both GMR and the government is retired senior UK Judge, Lord Leonard Hubert Hoffman.

Speaking to the newspaper, Deputy Solicitor General Ahmed Usham said that the meeting will take place at the presence of three arbitrators appointed to hear the case along with lawyers representing the government of Maldives, Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) and GMR.

“It is not an official hearing of the arbitration case. It is a hearing in which a date for the commencement of the hearings would be agreed and to agree as to how the case should proceed. Decisions concerning how the proceedings should take place will be agreed,” Usham told Haveeru.

He also said that although the preliminary hearing was to take place in London, the official hearings of the case will be heard in Singapore.

In 2010, GMR-Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) consortium, government of former President Mohamed Nasheed and Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) entered into a 25-year concession agreement worth US$511 million (MVR 7.787 billion) – in which the GMR-MAHB Consortium was contracted with the management and upgrading of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) within the 25 year contract period.

However in November 2012, the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik declared the developer’s concession agreement void and ordered it to leave the country within seven days.

A last minute injunction from the Singapore High Court during arbitration proceedings was overturned on December 6, after Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon declared that “the Maldives government has the power to do what it wants, including expropriating the airport.”

GMR is seeking US$800 million in compensation for the sudden termination, while the Maldivian government is contending that it owes nothing as the contract was void ab initio – meaning the contract was invalid from the outset.

Should the argument of void ab initio fail, the government have claimed that its second legal ground on which it would argue in favour of termination of the contract would be that the contract had been ‘frustrated’.

‘Frustration of a contract’ is an English contract law doctrine which acts as a device to set aside contracts where an unforeseen event either renders contractual obligations impossible, or radically changes the party’s principle purpose for entering into the contract.

“The government has given a seven day notice to GMR to leave the airport. The agreement states that GMR should be given a 30 day notice but the government believes that since the contract is void, it need not be followed,” said Attorney General Azima Shukoor at the time of announcement of the contract.

The awarding of the bid in 2010 was overseen by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), which the Waheed government has accused of being “negligent” and “irresponsible”.

Should the matter be decided in the government’s favour, uncertainty remains as to the potential impact on foreign investor sentiment given the prospect of sudden asset seizure under the ‘void ab initio’ precedent.

If decided in GMR’s favour, the outcome of the case could potentially see the Maldives facing sovereign bankruptcy, with millions of dollars in additional debt emptying the state’s already dwindling reserves, crippling the country’s ability to obtain further credit, and potentially sparking an economic or currency crisis.

In December 2012, the Maldives government paid back US$50 million to the State Bank of India, after it refused to extend the period of the treasury bonds issued by the bank during the previous government. India has called in further installments of US$50 million, forcing the government to draw on the state reserves.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has said the government is yet to come to an arrangement to pay the next US$50 million installment to SBI, explaining that the money will have to come from the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

“The US$50 million due in February will have to be paid from the reserve. We have been ordered to pay the amount. There has been no change to the order so far. So it must be paid,” Jihad told local media at the time.

At the start of 2013, state reserves had shrunk to MVR 4.9 billion (US$317.7 million), according to the MMA.

“Gross international reserves at the MMA have been declining slowly, and now account for just one and half months of imports, and could be more substantially pressured if major borrowings maturing in the next few months are not rolled over,” an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation observed during a mission to the Maldives in November last year.

Moreover, one of GMR’s lenders, Axis Bank, is also seeking the repayment of loans for the airport project, which were guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance and approved by the Attorney General’s Office under the former government.

Attorney General’s office was not available for a comment at time of press.

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DRP party congress scheduled for April

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has announced its party congress is to take place between April 23-25, local media has reported.

DRP Spokesperson Zeena Zahir told local media that the congress had initially been scheduled for March, but was later cancelled due to the unavailability of the Dharubaaruge conference centre.

“We will be able to conduct it [congress] next month. Male’ City Council has notified us with a letter that Dharubaaruge will be available for that date,” Zeena was quoted as saying in local media.

The party is to hold elections for two deputy leader positions, youth wing leaders and women’s wing leaders during the congress.

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FDA close two pharmacies in Male’ for failing to reach authority’s standards

Maldives Food and Drug Authority (FDA) has ordered the closure of two pharmacies in Male’ after they failed to meet the authority’s standards.

An FDA official told local media that both Point Three Pharmacy on Sosun Magu and Furadhaana Pharmacy on Maaveyo Magu were ordered to close on March 23.

Point Pharmacy Chief Executive Officer Hamza Gasim said that Point Three Pharmacy was forced to close after the FDA found medication stored in pharmacy’s toilet, local media reported.

According to Hamza, only ointments and bandages had been kept in the toilet block, and that no ingestible or injectable medication had been stored there.

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Police assist with sea turtle rescue

Local police assisted with the collection and release of hatchling sea turtles by putting them in a freshwater pond and feeding them biscuits and rice.

The baby sea turtles were found in January on Nilandhoo island in Faafu Atoll.

A source involved in the rescue spoke to Minivan News about the incident.

“When there is too much light on an island, the baby turtles become confused and head inland instead of towards the sea [after being hatched]. People found the baby turtles all around and in the interior of the island,” the source explained.

“The Maldivian mentality is to keep the turtles as pets. They completely lack awareness. The police know this is illegal, so they collected all the turtles and put them in a freshwater pond.

“They also fed them biscuits and rice, because they were unaware of the proper diet for sea turtles.

Some of the turtles were injured and shrank, given their change of habitat and irregular diet, claimed the source.

“The police don’t know the proper conditions to keep sea turtles and lacked the facilities. A few died,” the source stated. “We don’t blame the police. At least they tried to save them.”

“They were very efficient and checked with the proper government authorities [regarding where they could be transferred for rehabilitation],” the source added.

Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed that many hatchling sea turtles were found on Nilandhoo and the local police intervened.

“The local police identified who had them, where they were located and then they were collected and released,” stated Haneef.

“At the time the local police were briefed and they coordinated with the Marine Research Centre in Male’,” he added.

Haneef was unaware of what the turtles were fed or if they were transferred anywhere to be rehabilitated.

Captive sea turtles

In late 2012, 104 hatchling turtles were taken from the uninhabited island Kakaaeriyadhoo in Shaviyani Atoll and sold to islanders on Kan’ditheemu.

“These baby turtles were kept in cooking pots with freshwater or small freshwater ponds and tanks,” a resident of Kan’ditheemu and conservationist Hassan Solah told Minivan News.

“This is very detrimental because they develop fungal infections and they cannot regulate their buoyancy since salt water is denser than fresh.

“The turtles become severely weakened and cannot survive in captivity or even in the ocean, assuming they are eventually released,” Solah added.

Kakaaeriyadhoo was previously leased by the island council to a local from Kan’ditheemu.

“I spoke with him and he agreed not to take any more baby turtles and sell them as pets. Now no one is caring for Kakaaeriyadhoo, it is under the care of the Atoll Council,” said Solah.

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Maldives overcome Singapore in second ACC Twenty20 tournament match

The Maldives has bounced back from defeat in its opening match of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC’s) Twenty20 elite cup tournament in Nepal with a five wicket victory over Singapore yesterday (March 27).

Having previously been defeated by host nation Nepal by 76 runs on Tuesday (March 26), the Maldives secured a narrow victory over Singapore during its second match of the tournament, held at the cricket ground at Pulchowk’s Institute of Engineering, the Himalayan Times publication has reported.

According to the ACC, the Maldives will now face Hong Kong on Friday (March 29), before playing its final Group A fixture against Malaysia on Sunday (March 31).

The Maldives squad is competing in the group for one of two spots available at the World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament to be held in the UAE in November.

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India should monitor developments closely: Eurasia Review

“All indications are that every effort will be made by the authorities in Maldives to prevent [former President Mohamed] Nasheed from contesting [in elections scheduled for later this year],” writes S Chandrasekharan for the Eurasia Review.

“The Maldivian President’s Spokesman Masood Imad had said that the elections will free and fair but will be ‘exclusive’ – in the sense will exclude those not meeting the legal criteria. The intention is clear- use all means constitutional or otherwise to prevent Nasheed from contesting.

Nasheed has already threatened that any verdict barring him from contesting the elections would result in a lot of people rising against the decision and trigger a very dangerous political insurgency.

From the Indian point of view the situation needs careful monitoring. It is hoped that international pressure to have a free, fair and more importantly, an ‘inclusive’ election will continue.”