Both the government and opposition have extended felicitations to the people of Sri Lanka on the occasion of the country’s 67th Independence Day.
President Abulla Yameen sent messages to the newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena, and his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, extending good wishes from the people of the Maldives.
Meanwhile, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party released a statement noting that Maldivians have always followed development in Sri Lanka, saying that “progresses in foreign and political affairs [in Maldives] have always reflected developments in Sri Lanka.”
“The Maldivian Democratic Party joins our cousins in Sri Lanka in reflection that this Independence Day holds much significance, as it reflects a history of great sacrifices made by many Sri Lankans in the attainment of its freedom,” said party Spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.
President Sirisena inflicted a surprising defeat on the ten-year incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in last month’s presidential polls.
Sri Lanka gained independence from British rule on February 4, 1948. The Maldives will itself celebrate 50 years since it gained total independence from the British Empire on July 26 this year.
Transparency Maldives has published its 2014 Majlis review, reporting that 10 bills were passed in 59 sittings of the 18th People’s Majlis.
Of the 85 members elected to the expanded parliament in March, only 16 have had a flawless attendance record since, with an overall attendance figure of 90 percent.
The members from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had the worst average attendance of the three main parties – 85 percent, compared with the Jumhooree Party’s (JP) 91 percent and the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives’ (PPM) 93 percent.
It was the Maldivian Development Alliance leader, and Progressive Coalition member, Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam who had the worst attendance of any MP, appearing at less than half the sessions, reported Transparency.
Other than the Adhaalath Party, for whom Makunudhoo MP Anara Naeem is the only MP, Siyam’s MDA was the only party whose representation in the 18th Majlis has remained stable.
Despite winning 33 seats in the March polls, the PPM has now gained an additional 11 MPs, while its former ally the JP has a net loss of 2 seats.
After winning a disappointing 26 seats in the house, the MDP lost 4 MPs to opposition parties as well as expelling Majlis Deputy Speaker ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik from the party.
Legislation
The most important legislative changes brought by the Majlis in 2014 were the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, the new Penal Code, the Special Economic Zone Act, and amendments to the Judicature Act.
The report describes the benefit of the money-laundering bill as preventing terrorism financing, kleptocracy, narco-trafficking, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, counterfeiting currency, corruption, and transnational organised crimes.
“Money laundering has potentially destructive social and economic consequences. It allows criminals such as drug traffickers, corrupt officials, and transnational organised crime syndicates to introduce illicit proceeds or ‘dirty money’ into legitimate finance streams as legal funds,” explained the anti-corruption NGO.
The new penal code – to be introduced in April this year – represents the culmination of 10 years’ work and will replace an old code that has been described by legal experts as obstructing the course of justice due to its “outdated” nature, read the review.
“In April 2004, the new penal code was finally passed, making it the first modern, comprehensive penal code in the world to incorporate the major tenets and principles of Islamic law.”
Parliamentary group attendance
The report described the government’s flagship Special Economic Zones Act as laying “an edifice for economic, industrial, social, financial and infrastructural development.”
“It allows economic activities to be carried out under a relatively liberal manner through tax exemptions to investors and developers.”
Despite the promise of major ‘transformative’ investment – yet to be realised, the opposition has argued that the bill will “allow the government to conduct transactions broadly with no transparency and no opportunity for oversight, as a result of which the possibility of losing the country’s independence and sovereignty would be high”.
Regarding the changes to the Judicature Act – which facilitated the removal of two Supreme Court judges – Transparency’s report pointed out its previous concerns over the “political influence on the judiciary in the Maldives”.
Amendments requiring the reduction of the bench from seven to five in December saw the JSC swiftly select Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz and Justice Muthasim Adnan in a decision marked for its lack of transparency.
The Majlis’ subsequent approval of the pair’s dismissal was described as a “black day for the constitution” by Faiz, while UN Special Rapporteur Gabriella Knaul predicted a “chilling effect” on the work of the judiciary.
Finally, the review of the Majlis’ work for 2014 noted the appointment of a number of key figures, including Prosecutor General Muhuthaz Muhsin – appointed after political wrangling saw the constitutionally mandated deadline for filling the position missed by six months.
After the Supreme Court removed the Elections Commission’s senior leadership less than a month before the Majlis elections, MPs appointed Mohamed Shakeel and Ahmed Sulaiman to the commission in November. They were also joined by Ismail Habeeb Abdul Raheem and Amjad Musthafa in receiving Majlis approval.
The Majlis appointment of President Abdulla Yameen’s nomination of Hassan Ziyath as the new auditor general in November was also a source of controversy, with outgoing auditor general Niyaz Ibrahim arguing that his removal had been unconstitutional.
Niyaz was ousted as a result of last minute changes to the Auditor General’s Act, proposed to the the Majlis by the PPM on the same day the audit office published a report implicating tourism minister and deputy PPM leader Ahmed Adeeb in a US$6 million corruption scandal.
Ahmed Murrath – the man sentenced to death for the 2012 murder of prominent lawyer Ahmed Najeeb – has told the High Court today that he was coerced into confessing by the police.
Speaking at his appeal hearing, Murrath was reported as saying that police threatened to arrest his parents before instructing him on what to say during his Criminal Court trial.
“The police even poked at my feet to remind me what to say while I was at the court chambers,” Haveeru reported the 29-year-old as telling the court today.
Murrath and his girlfriend Fathimath Hana, 18, were arrested and charged with Najeeb’s murder after his body was discovered by police stuffed inside a dustbin, badly beaten with multiple stab wounds.
Though she did not confess to murdering Najeeb, Hana was also found guilty of the crime and sentenced to death, less than a month after the murder. She has also filed an appeal case at the High Court and is awaiting trial.
Murrath had previously confessed to having killed Najeeb, saying the crime had been committed in a fit of rage, and under the influence of drugs, suggesting Najeeb had attempted to sexually assault his girlfriend.
His lawyer had previously told the High Court that Murrath confessed in order to escape punishments he received during the investigation period, including sleep deprivation.
In addition, the lawyer said his client’s responsibility was diminished due to the influence of drugs, and that he had the right to retract his confession as there were no witnesses to the crime.
Murrath’s appeal case was filed after the previous 90-day appeal deadline had expired, however the high court still chose to accept the case.
Meanwhile, in a ruling deemed unconstitutional by legal experts and the political opposition, the Supreme Court has shortened the appeal period to just 10 days.
Last year, the cabinet advised President Abdulla Yameen that there was no legal obstruction to implementing the death sentences, after Home Minister Umar Naseer ordered an end to the 60-year moratorium on executions.
The order closely followed the conclusion of the Dr Afrasheem Ali murder trial, in which Hussein Humam was sentenced to death. Similarly, Humam also claimed that his confession was given under duress.
Yameen’s government has since pledged repeatedly that it would not hesitate to implement the sentence, with the president reported as saying last week that it was only the lengthy judicial process that had prevented executions so far.
Most recently, the Criminal Court sentenced Mohamed Niyaz of Kaaf Thulusdhoo Redrose to death after he was found guilty of murdering 35-year-old Ali Shiham on the night of July 31 last year.
A recent report from Amnesty International estimated that around 20 individuals were currently facing the death sentence in the Maldives, though the Prosecutor General’s Office has yet to release official figures.
The first convening of the ‘Joint Meeting Mechanism’ to discuss the safety and security of Chinese tourists in the Maldives has been held between foreign minister Dunya Maumoon and Chinese Ambassador Wang Fukang.
Dunya spoke of the importance of strengthening tourism ties between China and the Maldives and stressed the significance of the joint mechanism to facilitate a line of communication regarding the safety of Chinese tourists, reported the foreign ministry.
“Ambassador Wang Fukang thanked the Government of Maldives for the coordination and cooperation extended in ensuring a safe environment to the Chinese tourists in the Maldives,” the statement read.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Maldivian foreign service and the embassy of China, along with representatives from the tourism ministry, the immigration department, the police, the Maldives Customs Service, as well as relevant tourism industry groups.
The joint mechanism was agreed under an MoU signed during Chinese President Xi Jinpeng’s official visit to the Maldives in September 2014, during which President Abdulla Yameen expressed his hope Chinese visitors would increase three-fold over the next four years – which would mean nearly one million Chinese visitors a year.
While one Chinese tourist was killed in a motorcycle collision in the capital last year, the majority of casualties are related to water sports – most often drowning.
Media reports say a former cleric of Malé’s Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and his wife have become the latest Maldivians to travel to Syria for jihad.
Police have told media it is investigating reports that Zameer Farooq, from Gaafu Alifu Kanduhulhudhoo, and his wife have travelled to Turkey via Dubai in order to enter ISIS-held territory.
With Haveeru reporting a group of six having departed last week, as well as a dozen more said to have gone at the start of January, the exact numbers of Maldivians abroad for jihad is unclear.
Police Commissioner Hussein Waheed last month estimated that around 50 Maldivians were working with foreign rebel groups.
Media reports today say that Farooq had been investigated by police in relation to a robbery just days before travelling to Turkey on January 29, though police media officials were not responding to calls at the time of publication.
The group said to have left in early January included Azlif Rauf – a suspect in the murder of MP and moderate Islamic scholar Dr Afrasheem Ali, an individual arrested over the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan, a man arrested for issuing a death threat, a man classified by the police as a dangerous criminal, and three men with criminal records.
Waheed has acknowledged the difficulty in tracking individuals intending to travel for jihad, though it was recently reported that four would-be jihadis were apprehended in Malaysia in January, while three were apprehended in Sri Lanka in November.
Haveeru reported that those returned last month were released after their passports had been seized by authorities.
Commissioner Waheed has said that police are working with the Islamic ministry and relevant government departments to prevent radicalisation , though he said the variety of people travelling for jihad made it hard to target the most vulnerable groups.
Those leaving the country for Islamic State-held territories have included couples and even entire families since the first Maldivian jihadis were reported early last year.
“We know who the foreign militants are,” Waheed told media last month. “We are monitoring their activities. My hope is, I believe we will be able to monitor them to the extent they are unable to [present a threat] in the Maldives.”
A UN report obtained by the UK’s Guardian has noted foreign jihadists are travelling to Syria and Iraq on “an unprecedented scale”, with 15,000 people reported to have travelled to the region from more than 80 countries.
In November, a jihadist group called Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) – which describes itself as ‘Maldivians in Syria’ – revealed that a fifth Maldivian had died in Syria.
Two months earlier, a protest march took place in the capital, Malé, with around 200 participants bearing the IS flag and calling for the implementation of Islamic Shariah in the Maldives.
The march followed a statement from foreign minister Dunya Maumoon condemning “the crimes committed against innocent civilians” by ISIS.
Defending the government’s stance on extremism and ISIS, Islamic minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed told the Majlis late last year that “Maldives will not allow Maldivians to go and fight in foreign wars”.
“We do not support their [ISIS] extremist policies. We have repeatedly appealed to our beloved youth to refrain from falling prey to these ideologies,” he said.
*Original headline changed from ‘IGMH Cleric’ after concern about potentially misleading issues regarding translation of the word ‘Mudhimu’ – meaning an official who gives out the call to prayer.
“With the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Jumhooree Party (JP), one-time ally of President Abdulla Yameen’s ruling combine, deciding to work together in ‘defence of the Constitution’, the stage seems set for another political showdown of unprecedented proportions, if the government does not take appropriate correctives at appropriate time(s),” writes N. Sathiya Moorthy for the South Asia Monitor.
“Adding spice, and possible urgency, to the show at present is the revived high court hearing on MDP leader Mohammed Nasheed’s suspended plea, challenging the constitution of a three-judge criminal court to try him on charge of illegally detaining Criminal Court Chief Judge, Abdulla Mohamed, in January 2012, when was president.
It had begun with the Yameen government having parliament amend the Judicature Act to reduce the Supreme Court strength from seven justices to five. It was followed in equal haste by the removal of then Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz and another. Though there was no love lost between the MDP and the two judges, and Nasheed had continually targeted Justice Faiz, the two ‘impeached’ judges had actually given dissenting observations when JP leader-cum-presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim challenged certain decisions and directions of the Election Commission (EC) as a prospective ally of fellow candidate Yameen during the two-stage presidential polls of 2013.
It’s thus a continuing irony of Maldives’ infant democracy that Gasim should now be turning against Yameen and his government, after the latter denied him parliament speaker’s post, a job he coveted after being the speaker of the Special Majlis which drafted the ‘democratic Constitution’ of 2008. The Yameen camp possibly had other suspicions as the speaker is the second in line of succession for presidency after the vice-presidency, should a contingency arose.”
President Abdulla Yameen has forwarded the name of Ahmed Saleem to the Majlis for approval as the Maldives’ new high commissioner to Pakistan.
The post was vacated when Major General (retired) Moosa Ali Jaleel was appointed as the minister of defence and national security after the dismissal of Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim on January 20.
Afiya Mohamed – the woman suspected of killing her three-year-old son Ibthihaal on Vaavu Rakeedhoo – has been remanded for 15 days.
The 26-year-old was arrested yesterday afternoon after having spent the previous 48 hours under police watch. Meanwhile, a protest march circled the capital Malé to raise awareness of child abuse.
A warrant was issued for Afiya’s arrest soon after the discovery of her son’s body, with signs of severe abuse, in their home on Wednesday (January 28).
After local authorities revealed that both the police and the gender ministry had been aware of the abuse prior to the incident, Attorney General Mohamed Anil has said the child was living in a safe environment when officials last visited.
“He was not living with the mother when our team visited the island. He was in a safe environment. But we acknowledge that the situation was not properly monitored afterwards, which resulted in the child being returned to the mother,” Sun Online reported Anil as saying.
Ibthihaal’s two siblings are currently in the care of family members, local authorities have said.
Suspicions of state negligence in the case have prompted investigations from Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), the Prosecutor General’s Office, and a Majlis special committee.
The gender ministry has now formed its own inquiry team, though not before angry protesters entered the ministry’s offices on Thursday morning after it had failed to make an official statement on the case.
NGO Advocating for the Rights of Children has pointed to deficiencies in the legal, judicial, and social sectors tasked with the protection of the rights of children, while the HRCM has condemned the state’s failure to protect him.
“The importance of preventing child abuse is a topic which is spoken of a lot, but it has not received adequate action. Every time such an incident occurs everyone talks of strengthening government institutions,” read an HRCM statement.
Protesters in Malé yesterday echoed the calls of civil society groups to immediately enhance child protection measures.
Speaking at a party rally on Thursday evening, Progressive Party of Maldives Parliamentary Group Leader Ahmed Nihan promised to prioritise social protection measures.
During the same rally, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said everyone should take some measure of responsibility for the boy’s death, calling the incident a national tragedy.
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has expressed concern about citizens’ right to appeal following a reduction in the time allowed for cases to be filed.
“MDP is severely concerned that the Supreme Court has passed a ruling which would deprive citizens of the right to appeal as mentioned in the Constitution, and that the Supreme Court is amending regulations passed by the parliament and is imposing upon the legislative power,” said a statement released yesterday (January 30).
“We would like to point out that the appeal period at the Supreme Court is now unclear,” suggesting that the removal of relevant articles of the Judicature Act were beyond the court’s prerogative.
The court’s decision reduces the time allowed to file appeals in the higher courts from 90 days (180 for cases from the atolls) to ten, prompting legal experts to accuse the court of infringing upon the constitutional right to an appeal.
“They have taken out the appeal process,” says former Judicial Services Commission member Aishath Velezinee. “Ten days for appeal will deprive people of the right to appeal.”
Another legal expert suggested that the new time frame would make it practically impossible for many people to lodge an appeal.
While the court has claimed that current time frames for appeal deny the right to “fair and public hearing within a reasonable time” – Article 42 of the Constitution, legal experts say the changes will in practice remove the right to appeal enshrined in Article 56.
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