Tag: maldives

Z-DRP faction officially commences work, denies backing presidential candidate

The Zaeem-DRP (Z-DRP) faction today announced that it has officially commenced its work as a separate branch of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

Formed amidst an ongoing dispute between serving DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Z-DRP aims to represent the former national leader and his supporters.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahouf told Minivan News today that the Z-DRP faction has now formed a council and a committee to officially organise and coordinate the work of the faction.

“Last night, our first meeting was held and it was chaired by Azima Shukoor,” Mahlouf said. “In the meeting, we decided to set up our own office.”

Mahlouf said that during the meeting, the group’s members raised concerns that DRP Leader Thasmeen had disconnected the phone lines of island-based party offices and that the Z-DRP faction was unable to have contact with them.

DRP MPs, including Thasmeen and Deputy Leader Ibrahim Shareef, were unavailable for comment about these claims when contacted by Minivan News at the time of going to press.

“The committee we formed consists of Umar Naseer, MP Ilham Ahmed, myself, [Gayoom’s daughter] Yumna Maumoon, Azima Shukoor and Dr Saud” said Mahlouf.

Mahlouf also said that Thasmeen was accusing the Z-DRP faction of promoting the People’s Alliance (PA) party leader and half-brother of the former president, Yamin Abdul Abdul Gayoom as its candidate in the next presidential elections.

‘It’s all false accusations, we have decided to elect a person as presidential candidate only after going to a primary,” he said. “It could be anyone.”

He claimed that out of the 40,000 registered members belonging to the DRP, 30,000 were in support of the Z-DRP faction.

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Police urge caution following false officer report

Police have warned the public to be vigilant against individuals falsely posing as its officers following an isolated incident outside a bank in the capital this week.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that the Maldives Police Service had issued a warning against so called “fake” police after it received a report from a member of the public that claimed they had been approached outside a bank by a man claiming to be an officer.  The so-called police officer was alleged to have offered the person  assistance with money they were carrying.

“An individual approached a member of the public saying he was a police officer and offered to assist in transporting their money,” he said.  “This occurred near a bank and we are urging the public to be aware of these type of things.”

Shiyam added that the individual was not wearing a police uniform, though he was dressed smartly and looked “decent”, according to the report of the incident.  When asked about the identity of the individual who was alleged to have posed as a police officer, the sub inspector said that the incident was at present believed to be an isolated event and not an ongoing criminal endeavor.

However, police stressed that the any member of the public being approached by an officer should ask for their name, proof of identity and a follow-on phone number to verify if they are a law enforcement official.

“We do offer to escort the public with amounts of money, but only when they officially request support first,” he said.

Shiyam added that official officers would also wear full police uniform.

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Drug Enforcement Department seizes illegal narcotics worth Rf1 million

A haul of illegal narcotics valued at more than Rf1 million was seized over the past two weeks, Superintendent Ahmed Jinah, head of the Police Drug Enforcement Department (DED), told local media today.

Jinah revealed that the total street value of the seized illegal drugs was estimated at about Rf1,040,000 (US$80,900).

“During  a special operation conducted by police, [we] seized 425 large packets of illegal drugs that were yet to be distributed to the streets,” he said. ”Two men have been arrested in connection with this case.”

Jinah did not divulge the names of the two persons adding that the investigation was at an early stage.

”The capture of these packets was a great success, as it could potentially have been out in the streets,” he said.

He added that police were now trying to determine who else may be involved in the case as well as how the drugs were smuggled in to the country.

Jinah claimed said that the past two weeks had been very successful in terms of the work of the police DED.

“We have seven very serious drug related cases now currently under investigation,” he said.

During the press conference, Inspector Ibrahim Nawaz, deputy head of the Serious and Organized Crime Department (SOC), said that police were currently trying to ensure that public parks and other public areas were safe and free of criminal activity.

“We are now monitoring the public parks and places made to comfort people at their free time, to make sure it is really used by the public,” Nawaz said.

Meanwhile, said Nawaz, a second round of rehabilitation programmes for minors was now underway at the Feydhufinolhu correctional training centre for juvenile delinquents.

“The qualification of some of the children we have at Feydhufinolhu is such a low level that it is hard for us to believe,” he said. “There are some children that do not even know how to read and write.”

The programme was intended for young people between the ages of 16 to 18.

“We advise parents to be more attentive to their children,” he said. “Sometimes, it has been reported that children threaten their parents telling them they will be physically attacked if their names were given to police to send them to Feydhufinolhu.”

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam meanwhile referred to a recent decision to publicise the identities of 17 high-profile “dangerous criminals” together with their crime records and alleged gang affiliation. Shiyam revealed that police have since received complaints from residents of certain areas in Male’ saying that they did not wish to be linked with the names of the gangs.

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Gayoom loses defamation case over NYT “looters” article

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has lost a long-running defamation case against the editor of Miadhu newspaper Abdul ‘Gabey’ Latheef.

Gayoom sued Latheef over an article published on June 13, 2010 which referenced allegations of corruption against the former President made in a New York Times (NYT) report.

That story was based on an audit report of former Presidential palace Theemuge, published by Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, a damning indictment of the former government’s spending habits.

These, according to the NYT article, included an estimated “US$9.5 million spent buying and delivering a luxury yacht from Germany for the president, US$17 million on renovations of the presidential palace and family houses, a saltwater swimming pool, badminton court, gymnasium, 11 speed boats and 55 cars, including the country’s only Mercedes-Benz.”

“And the list goes on, from Loro Piana suits and trousers to watches and hefty bills for medical services in Singapore for ‘important people and their families. There was a US$70,000 trip to Dubai by the first lady in 2007, a US$20,000 bill for a member of the family of the former president to stay a week at the Grand Hyatt in Singapore. On one occasion, diapers were sent to the islands by airfreight from Britain for Mr Gayoom’s grandson.”

Onus of proof

The Civil Court ruled today that as both articles were based on a state audit report, the information made public by the country’s first independent auditor general should be considered valid unless proven otherwise.

The court judgment added that there was no legal basis for individuals or media outlets to be held responsible for proving the truth or falsehood of an official audit report.

Delivering the judgment, Judge Mariyam Nihayath said that while the court believed the articles in question could be damaging to Gayoom’s reputation, information publicised in an audit report must be considered factual unless proven otherwise.

“Regardless of how damaging statements made or information provided is to the plaintiff’s honour or dignity, if the statement or information is true, [defamation law] states that it cannot be considered defamatory,” she said.

Latheef told Minivan News today that the court case was the first case Gayoom had lost in 32 years, and was a landmark case for freedom of the media.

“The media must be able to report on independent authorities such as the Auditor General’s Office or the Anti-Corruption Commission,” he said. “His lawyers said in court four or five times that they wanted to stop the media writing about these things.”

The court’s ruling meant that Gayoom was obliged to sue the source of the allegations, the Auditor General’s office, rather than the media that reported on it, Latheef said.

“[Gayoom] has been saying for three years he would take the Auditor General to court, but he hasn’t because he knows he will lose. But he thinks that, because I’m just an ordinary man, he can sue me,” he said.

Latheef said that one of Gayoom’s lawyers had approached him to settle out of court, but said he had refused as that would not have resolved the issue of media freedom at stake.

“They also approached me indirectly through some of my close friends to say why didn’t I settle and say sorry in court, and then they could support me. I said it was not compensation I needed.”

Latheef said Gayoom’s lawyers had told him after the verdict that they intended to appeal in the High Court.

“I am ready to go all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Latheef.

Gayoom’s spokesperson Mohamed ‘Mundhu’ Shareef had not responded to Minivan News at time of press.

Head of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, said he agreed with the ruling and felt that it was a good precedent for the country’s journalists.

“The NYT reported on the audit report and Mr Latheef reported on the NYT story. I agree with the court’s judgement,” Hiriga said, concurring that the media was not under obligation to prove the veracity of official government reports.

“The authenticity of the audit report is a different question, and the accusation is that the Auditor General was biased and that the report was politically motivated. That was the basis of the argument by Gayoom’s lawyer,” Hiriga said.

“Politically motivated”

The opposition have steadfastly maintained that the report was a politically-motivated attempt to sully the then-president’s reputation prior to the election. Naeem was however appointed by Gayoom.

“It is common knowledge that Naeem’s audit reports were both politically-motivated and riddled with inaccuracies. References from such documents are unbecoming of professional journalists, albeit the MDP government utilises them as handbooks to achieve their political objectives,” said the DRP in a statement following publication of the article.

“The MDP government, in an year and a half of searching through its ‘presidential commission’, has failed to find anything that they can pin against President Gayoom to defame his character. The MDP government will continue to fail in their sinister plots,” the DRP statement read.

“The DRP will take all necessary action to alert the international community to the government’s sinister motives behind the allegations against the former president. We condemn the government for its continued attempts to shroud its incompetence in running the country behind cheap propaganda gimmicks.”

Naeem’s tenure following publication of over 30 audit reports, alleging rampant corruption and “organised crime” by the Gayoom administration, was short-lived.

On March 24 last year, Naeem sent a list of current and former government ministers to the Prosecutor General, requesting they be prosecuted for failure to declare their assets.  Naeem cited Article 138 of the Constitution that requires every member of the Cabinet to “annually submit to the Auditor General a statement of all property and monies owned by him, business interests and all assets and liabilities.”

He then held a press conference: “A lot of the government’s money was taken through corrupt [means] and saved in the banks of England, Switzerland, Singapore and Malaysia,” Naeem said, during his first press appearance in eight months.

Five days later he was dismissed by the opposition-majority parliament on allegations of corruption by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), for purportedly using the government’s money to buy a tie and visit Thulhaidhu in Baa Atoll.

The motion to dismiss Naeem was put forward by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Deputy Speaker and member of opposition-allied People’s Alliance (PA), Ahmed Nazim, who the previous week had pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the former Ministry of Atolls Development while he was Managing Director of Namira Engineering and Trading Pvt Ltd.

Nazim was today dismissing claims from opposition MPs that he has dodged Criminal Court summons regarding the matter eight times to date.

The parliament has meanwhile yet to approve a replacement auditor general, with the finance committee refusing to endorse any of the candidates put forward so far by President Mohamed Nasheed.

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Comment: Maldives on path to Right to Information Act

Three years after conducting elections, the Maldives is on a path to participatory democracy by trying to finalise the Right to Information Bill, with the Bill under review by the Majlis Committee on Social Affairs. The Bill was drafted with inputs from civil society.

It’s a challenge for Maldives to implement Right to Information as a part of functional and participatory democracy. In general, both politicians and bureaucrats in Maldives accept that despite experiencing higher levels of human development compared to its neighbors in the South Asia region, the Maldives wasn’t an open society under 30-year long President Mamoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration. In a paradigm shift, the current President Mohamed Nasheed after being elected in the October 2008 general elections acknowledged that the previous administration was characterised by several examples of corruption and human rights abuses. Furthermore, the Maldives media was completely under the control of the government with little freedom for free and unbiased reporting until 2003. The right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the then Constitution wasn’t in practice.

Earlier, the exercise of democratic reform initiated by Gayoom’s regime in its final years had given some meaning to the idea of freedom of expression. Censorship of the media was reduced considerably by the year 2006 which can be attributed to pressure from civil society and the opposition parties. However information from government bodies was disseminated by their public relations officers on a need to know basis only. The old Constitution did not contain any reference to the people’s right to information.

As part of the process of initiating democratic reform in 2007, the then Minister for Information and Legal Reforms drafted a Bill on the right to information. This Bill was closely modeled on the access laws of the Common Wealth countries such as United Kingdom and Canada. Article XIX an international resource organization on freedom of expression and access to information assisted the Government with drafting this Bill. The Bill could not pass muster in the People’s Majlis as it fell short of majority support by one vote.

Despite this debacle the Minister for Information and Legal Reforms took the initiative of converting the Bill into a set of regulations applicable to the executive only. The regulations were notified by Presidential decree on 03 May 2008 on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. The objectives of the regulations were to: provide Maldivians with the right to access information held by government administrative specify the situations and conditions under which information shall not be disclosed.

The Government gave itself a lead time of eight months to prepare for the implementation of the regulations which were to become fully operational in January 2009. Under the regulations there was a provision to appoint an Information Commissioner to guide its implementation and adjudicate over access disputes. However by May 2008 the Civil Service Commission was created in order to shoulder the responsibility of recruiting and overseeing the civil service. The erstwhile Presidential function of recruiting people to the civil service was transferred to this Commission. The then Government took this step bowing to pressure from the opposition parties ahead of the Presidential elections. It is said that these procedural difficulties came in the way of the appointment of the Information Commissioner forthwith.

The new Constitution enacted in 2008 after the October 2008 elections guarantees not only the right to freedom of speech and expression but also the freedom to seek receive and impart information. Subsequently in November 2009 the Attorney General of Maldives tabled the Right to Information Bill 2009 in the People’s Majlis. This Bill is closely modeled on the existing RTI Regulations.

Challenges to Implementing RTI in the Maldives

Legislature challenge: As Maldives is presently undergoing a process of democratic consolidation the legislative agenda of the People’s Majlis is heavy and the law makers they will serve their purpose well if they acquaint with law-making and drafting legislatures. The RTI Bill is one of the important pieces of legislation waiting the approval of the Majlis.

Executive challenge: A large majority of the members of the bureaucracy continue to be unaware of the RTI Regulations. Further, the systematic challenges are compounded by the fact that government is going through a process of large scale restructuring, ministries and departments are being abolished and their duties and responsibilities reassigned to others. Instances of loss or misplacement of documents of the abolished offices during this transitional process are not rare. The existing departments will have difficulties when people start asking for information about the activities of the abolished offices. The communications system within executive is an obstacle in the infantry stages of the implementation of the RTI law.

The Maldives is currently engaged in the process of democratic consolidation and restructuring of government. Despite this onerous task the Government has placed transparency high on its agenda. The introduction of the RTI Bill in the People’s Majlis is the first step in fulfilling the MDP alliance’s electoral promise of transparency in the administration. Still the bill needs several major changes for it to be matched up to international standards. The bureaucracy also needs to be more efficient to provide people with access to information in real time. Mass awareness raising programmes must be initiated to educate Maldivian about their right to information and its responsible use. In this way, advocacy in the Maldives can be both top-down and down-top.

Meanwhile, civil society has also pitched in with effective changes to be made in the Maldives Right to Information Bill for effective implementation of the RTI. The recommendations on the bill made by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative would like to point out the following changes that are applicable at various places throughout the RTI Bill:

Gender sensitive language must be used: It is common practice in both developed and developing countries to use gender-sensitive language in the drafting of legislation.

Replace ‘records’ with ‘information’: The RTI Bill purports to provide access to people to the ‘records’ held by public authorities. However as the title of the Bill suggests it is a law intending to provide for the right to access ‘information’ and not merely ‘records’ which is a sub-category of the former.

In practice, the use of the word ‘record’ is much more limiting than the use of the term ‘information’. Providing access to “information” will mean that applicants will not be restricted to accessing only information that is already in the form of a hard copy record or document. The current formulation excludes access to materials such as scale models; samples of materials used in public works and information that may exist in disaggregate form in multiple records that may require compilation or collation. Replacing the term ‘records’ with the term ‘information’, unless otherwise required by the context is required.

Ensure stricter harm tests in the exemption clauses: Several exemptions clauses listed in the Bill have a lower threshold of harm test than what is considered as international best practice. The term ‘prejudice’ is used to define the harm caused to a protected interest if information is disclosed under specific circumstances [For example S27 (a), 28, 30]. ‘Prejudice’ is a vague term and is amenable to varied interpretation. Instead the phrase ‘serious harm’ is a much better usage as it requires that sound arguments and logic be put forth to refuse disclosure.

Public authorities must have a duty to confirm or deny possession of information: most of the clauses stipulating the circumstances in which information is exempt from disclosure do not place a duty on public authorities to confirm or deny the existence of a record in their possession. For example, S23 relating to personal information, S24 relating to protection of professional privilege, S25 relating to business affairs and trade secrets, S26 relating to health and safety, S28 relating to law enforcement, S29 relating to defence and security, S30 relating to economic interest, S31 relating to administration and formulation of policy and S32 relating to a Cabinet document all empower a public authority to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of a record in its possession.

This rider is characteristic of the second generation of access laws passed after World War II. The access laws of Canada, Australia passed in the 1980s and more recently the access law in UK contain such provisions. However several access laws belonging to the third generation enacted during the 1990s and later place an obligation on public authorities to confirm or deny the existence of a record. The change in international best practice is most welcome as the absence of an obligation to confirm or deny the existence of a record opens the path to commit a lot of mischief.

In conclusion, the implementation of the RTI in Maldives means that beginning of decentralization and participatory governance and a citizen-friendly orientation to government. This will help Maldives in effective nation-building and empowering citizens.

Venkatesh Nayak is Coordinator, Access to Information Programme and Balaji is Volunteer with Media Unit of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

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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Low number of submissions means “high chance” of scholarships for Maldivian students, says UK High Commission

The British High Commission to Sri Lanka and the Maldives has announced that applications for the Chevening Scholarship Scheme for 2011-2012 will close this Saturday April 30.

The High Commission expressed surprise at the fewer number of applications submitted this year from the Maldives compared with last year.

“Although disappointing for us, this is great news for prospective Maldivian students – those who apply in the next few days stand a higher chance than normal of being granted a fully-funded scholarship,” the High Commission said in a statement.

The Chevening Scholarship Scheme – which is the UK’s most prestigious scholarship scheme for foreign students – is opened to graduates in the early- to mid-stages of their professional or academic career in the government/private sector or at a non-governmental organisation. The emphasis is on study at the postgraduate level.

Applicants could be considering study in any field relevant to one or more of the UK government’s strategic international priorities, which can be accessed at www.fco.gov.uk. However, particular priority will be given to applicants who will work to promote good governance or benefit socio-economic or environmental development in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Candidates should have some work or academic experience relating to their field of study as well as an offer from a UK higher education institution for the academic year 2011/2012. Preference will be given to those who have attained, or have demonstrated, the potential to attain, a position of responsibility and influence within their field in Sri Lanka or the Maldives.

The applications, available only online, can be accessed at http://www.britishcouncil.lk/chevening

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ACFJ offering scholarships in multimedia journalism

The Asia Center for Journalism (ACFJ) in the Philippines is offering a one-year program and 10 scholarships for journalists to undertake cross platform multimedia journalistic projects.

The work combines both theoretical and practical approaches with lectures and discussions as well as hands-on exercises and projects, the ACFJ said in a statement.

Admission is limited to 15 students. Scholarship grants are available to Asian journalists on a competitive basis.

Prospective students must have at least one full year of work experience as a photojournalist, photo-editor, photographer or journalist.

Application forms and scholarship details can be downloaded from the resources section of http://acfj.ateneo.edu/

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Fees paid “in full and complete compliance with the concession agreement”: GMR

GMR Male International Airport (GMIAL) today sought to clarify the payment of the airport service charges, fuel re-export royalty and concession fees to the government, following reports in newspaper Haveeru that it was undergoing a tax audit due to “inconsistencies”.

Commissioner General of Taxation Yazeed Mohamed was reported in Haveeru as saying that the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) was conducting an audit of the payments as “we looked into the speculations and found that there are some issues with the amounts paid.”

Yesterday, Haveeru reported the Managing Director of the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) Mohamed Ibrahim as saying that the concession fee GMR had paid was US$2.6 million less than predicted.

“The payment was made in the first week of this month. We have informed the company that the amount does not match our estimations. The Finance Ministry has also informed the company that the actual amount would be more than that,” Ibrahim was reported as saying.

GMIAL issued a statement today claiming that concession fees up until March 31 had been paid “in full and complete compliance with the concession agreement.”

“MACL had certain observations to which GMIAL responded on April 11. MACL has not approached GMIAL with any further comments on the issue,” the statement read.

GMIAL further claimed the airport service charge was collected from airlines on behalf of the government until March 31 and paid to the MIRA on April 24, while the fuel re-export royalty was paid to MIRA on April 24 “as per the terms of the fuel re-export agreement.”

“GMIAL has not received any official communication from MIRA, other than acknowledgement of receipt, in relation to the above,” the statement concluded.

Speaking to Minivan News today, MIRA’s Director of Assessment and Audit Aiman Ibrahim said that the audit was “routine, as conducted for all tax types” and that the only inconsistency was that the airport service charge payment “was lower than our forecast.”

“Our forecast for the first three months, based on arrival and departures and factored into our 2011 budget, was that the airport service charge revenue would be US$4 million. The payment for November 25 to March 31 was US$3.9 million, so either there has been an underpayment or our forecasts were optimistic,” Ibrahim said.

The confusion was complicated, he said, “by an administration failure on behalf of the government. The Ministry of Finance was not aware it was supposed to be receiving the money. There is also conflict in the concession agreement: the agreement itself states that the [airport service charge] is to be paid monthly, but an annex in the agreement says payments are to be made on a quarterly basis. GMR had been keeping the money in a separate bank account.”

MIRA had not formally notified GMIAL that it was being audited, he said, as it was a routine audit and no notification was required unless further documentation from GMIAL was required.

GMR had met with MIRA today, Rasheed added, “and were very cooperative. They were concerned about the negative publicity.”

Indian infrastructure giant GMR, in consortium with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), last year won a bid to develop and manage Male’ International Airport under a 25 year concession agreement which includes a spend of almost US$400 million on a new terminal.

Under the agreement the consortium paid the government US$78 million upfront, and will pay one percent of its profits and 15 percent of fuel trade revenue until 2014. From 2015 it will pay the government 10 percent of airport profits and 27 percent of the fuel trade until 2035.

The agreement has been a major point of contention with the political opposition in the Maldives, which opposed it on nationalistic grounds.

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Hassaan released to house arrest

The Criminal Court last night released Hassaan Ali of Faresmaathoda in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, identified by police as one of the country’s most dangerous gangsters.

Hassaan has previously been arrested 13 times for violent assault and robbery, with two cases sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO).

Police arrested Hassaan last month for alleged assault during a special operation conducted to avoid potential clashes between gangs after the fatal stabbing of 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer in March.

After keeping Hassan in pre-trial detention for several days he was released by the Criminal Court to house arrest, but was arrested again shortly afterward.

The Criminal Court at the time extended his detention for three days, and after keeping Hassaan in pre-trial detention for a further three days he was released when he was presented to the court by police requesting an extension of detention.

While Hassaan was on his way home from the court he was arrested yet again and taken to court by police, who requested yet another extension of detention. This time the judge ordered Hassan be placed under house arrest.

Local media have reported that police are now watching Hassaan’s house as on several occasions persons kept under house arrest have fled.

Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General brought criminal charges against Hassaan for his involvement in a fight that occurred in Boduthakurufaanu Magu on December 3, 2010.

In court this morning, Hassaan denied the charges and invoked his right for a lawyer, which the judge provided him.

Police requested the court allow them to keep Hassan in detention in a place of their choosing for the duration of the trial. The decision is pending.

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