Tag: maldives

President appoints members of Maldives Broadcasting Commission

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed members to the Maldives Broadcasting Commission following their approval by parliament.

Members appointed were: Badhuru Naseer, Aishath Hana, Mohamed Shaheeb, Mariyam Shauqy, Ibrahim Ashraf, Moomina Adam and Abdulla Shujau.

Letters of appointment were presented at a ceremony held yesterday, during which the President emphasised the important of the media to governance and development, and urged the commission to take no action that would constrain media freedom.

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Dhiraagu announces usage limits for billed data services

Telecoms provider Dhiraagu has said it will be introducing usage-limits for its postpaid billed services after customer feedback highlighted concerns over smart phone owners using “excessive data” amounts.

In a statement issued today, the company claimed that it will be issuing usage limits as well as sending SMS alerts detailing when certain amounts of a monthly data allocation had been used by each of its customers.

The limits being set by Dhiraagu will be based on each customer’s previous individual usage as well as their payment history, the company has claimed.

A spokesperson for the company was unavailable to detail which specific services the limitations will apply to at the time of going to press.

“This is an initiative based on feedback from customers and will facilitate customers to better understand and control their usage levels,” Dhiraagu said in a statement.  “Customers will also have the option to change their usage limit in discussion with Dhiraagu, should they wish to do so.”

According to the company, the new usage limit scheme is anticipated to be fully implemented as of June 2011, by which point contracted customers will receive an individually set usage-limit.  This limit will be accompanied by SMS alerts indicating when customers have used 70 and then 85 percent of their total data allowance.

Dhiraagu said that customers will also be able to check the balance of an individual bill as well as their usage limits by sending an SMS to 727 or calling 123 on their phones.

Rival telecoms group Wataniya was unable to respond to Minivan News at the time of going to press over whether it has considered implementing similar usage measures for its data services.

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Court warrant issued for arrest of MDP MP Adil on child molestation charges

The Criminal Court has today issued a court warrant for the arrest of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hassan Adil.

A police spokesperson confirmed that court warrant was issued and for charges of child molestation, but declined to provide further information.

When asked about Adil’s future in the party should he be found guilty, MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi told Minivan News that if Adil was found guilty “then of course the party should [take action]. The party does not condone such acts. But we should only speculate after the court has come to a verdict.”

She referred Minivan News to Parliamentary Group Leader ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, however his phone was switched off at time of press. MDP Parliamentary group’s former spokesperson MP Ahmed Shifaz said that he had heard about the incident but declined to comment on the matter.

Last month local newspaper Haveeru published an article reporting that police and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) were conducting a joint investigation regarding child molestation allegations against a MP, which was later removed from the newspaper’s website.

HRCM President Maryam Azra told Minivan News at the time that she did not know whether the commission was investigating the case.

”We are trying to find out who it was that has told Haveeru so,” she said at the time.

Azra did not respond to Minivan News today at time of press.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan said he had no information on the issue.

Over the past year there has been an increase in reports of child abuse, including by high-profile individuals in the Maldives. Prominent Quran reciter Hussein Thaufeeq, who appears every day on TV and teaches Quran to children, was recently arrested on numerous child molestation charges.

Adil, a former member of the opposition-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), did not appear in parliament today.

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Four Maldivians questioned for allegedly committing bestiality with a goat

Police have questioned four men from the island of Makunudhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll following allegations the men had sex with a goat.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed police had questioned the men, but said no arrests had been made.

President of Makunudhoo Island Council Mohamed Rilwan said that all four of the men were aged between 19 and 21.

Two of the men were from Makunudhoo while the other two were originally from the neighboring island of Neykurendhu, he said.

‘’Lately the owner of the goat had been suspicious that something was wrong because he was finding things such as condoms on his farm where he keeps 50 goats,’’ said Rilwan.

‘’Early one morning when he went to the farm he saw two goats outside the fence and thought it was odd because there was no way a goat could have climbed over the fence.”

Rilwan said the owner then counted the goats and realised one goat was missing, and started searching for it.

‘’He found the goat near the beach, it was laid down on a cardboard paper. He observed that it could not walk properly and that its sexual organs were injured,’’ he said. ‘’He then reported the matter to the concerned authorities.’’

Rilwan said  more than five goats on the farm had been subjected to similar assaults.

‘’The owner has noted that he has frequently seen this group of four men near the farm. They have been selecting healthy muscular goats to do this,’’ he said.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the goat found on the beach had now died.

Haveeru also reported that the deceased animal was a billy-goat, however Rilwan told Minivan News that it was a nanny goat.

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Mahlouf resubmits resolution cutting Rf20K committee allowance, after MDP forces Mariya to withdraw it

MDP MP and Party Chairperson Maryia Ahmed Didi today withdrew a resolution to cut the controversial Rf20,000 (US$1550) committee allowance from the MP Privileges Bill.

Mariya told Minivan News today that she withdrew the resolution following a vote by the MDP Parliamentary Group.

“I was not at that meeting,” she said, “but I bowed to the party’s rules and took it out. However I told parliament that I did not want the Rf20,000 committee allowance myself and urged group members not to take the committee allowance. That got a good reaction from quite a few MPs.”

Mariya acknowledged that there was strong public sentiment against MPs receiving the committee allowance, including among the party’s own member base, which on top of their Rf 62,500 (US$4860) salaries would place Maldivian MP income on par with that of Sweden.

“The Rf 20,000 committee allowance was in the small print of a report from the monetary committee on the salary of all institutions,” Mariya noted.

Leader of MDP Parliamentary Group ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik was not responding to calls at time of press.

Following Mariya’s withdrawal of the resolution opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf resubmitted it.

“I was the first one to raise it before Mariya, but the Speaker [DRP MP] Abdulla Shahid went with Mariya’s changes, perhaps because of the factional fight [the opposition] is having. When Mariya withdrew it today I resubmitted it.”

Mahlouf’s submission means the resolution will go to committee stage which will debate the matter before submitting it to the floor for a vote.

Increasing MP salaries by Rf 20,000 would be a huge blow to parliament’s credibility, Mahlouf said, “as the public do not believe we are working to their expectations.”

He said he believed Mariya had been pressured by the MDP Parliamentary Group to withdraw the resolution.

“I decided this by myself. Nobody pressures me any more because I don’t follow DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen in parliament,” said Mahlouf, who has sided with the party’s dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer and its Honorary Leader, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, against Thasmeen’s faction.

The core issue regarding the salary increase, he explained, was the number of people petitioning MPs for money and assistance. This, he said, was the reason he had initially voted in favour in favour of the increase.

It was, he said, “very normal” for him to give away US$2000 (Rf 25,700) of his salary every month, “not only to constituents, but people from other parts of the country. People who are very poor come forward and ask me to please help them, and get very mad at me if I don’t.”

“At first I voted in favour [of the increase] because so many people were coming to me for help. This was something that was done for a long time back, and people now expect aid from parliamentarians. I was not a rich person before I was elected and I can’t give all my salary away, so that was the main reason I voted [in favour]. But maybe the next time somebody asks I can [justify] myself. When the general public are asking us not to do this, we should stop doing it.”

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CSC says Shakir retirement not linked to Facebook sex photo scandal

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has said that its decision to retire a former Director General of Male’ Municipality on his request was not linked to his suspension over a police investigation into his alleged appearance in the Facebook blackmail images.

CSC Director General Abdulla Saeed said that despite the suspension of Adam Shakir in relation to his alleged inclusion in graphic images obtained by a suspected online blackmail ring, the decision had been taken to grant his retirement and all related benefits as he had not been found guilty.

“Shakir requested to the commission (CSC) that he retire at his current age of 58 and according to the Maldivian Civil Service Act he was eligible to do so,” he said. “When the CSC got the request we decided to retire him.”

The Director General position at Male’ Municipality has since been changed to the title of secretariat for Male’ City Council.

Pointing to the Civil Service Act that outlines regulation for public sector employees, Saeed said that it was possible to retire staff once they reached 55 years of age. He added that Shakir’s suspension in relation to an ongoing police investigation had not impacted on this decision to grant retirement or his right to receive benefits as a result.

A number of high profile government and public figures are reportedly suspected of being depicted in the images already thought to be circulating the internet, although the CSC claimed it would not be acting on allegations alone.

“There is no relation between the suspension and the retirement decision. Shakir was suspended on information we had received but this has not gone to court yet and does not mean that he is guilty [of the allegations],” the CSC director general added. “Normally after a police investigation, it is for the court to decide whether a suspect is guilty.”

Newspaper Haveeru yesterday claimed that retirement had been granted on the grounds of the suspended civil servant’s health.

Although the investigation over the legitimacy of the alleged indecent images was continuing, Saeed said that Shakir was no longer a civil servant following his retirement and that there would not be a review of the decision to grant retirement benefits following the outcome of any potential trial in the future.

Blackmail investigation

The investigation into the alleged Facebook blackmail scandal has not yet led to any arrests regarding those alleged to have obtained or appeared in the images, though police have stressed that they are continuing to look into the case.

Police Sub Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News today that officers were unable to confirm the identity of any individuals under investigation on suspicion of involvement or inclusion in the videos and images due to the “complex nature” of the potential crimes. However, Shiyam confirmed that the CSC has sent information to the police that is was currently looking into as part of its investigations.

On Saturday, the Maldives Police Service confirmed that it was now holding four individuals in custody over their suspected involvement in the alleged plot to blackmail high profile figures with graphic images obtained via social network site Facebook after releasing another three suspects as part of its investigation.

The case first came to light in February, when police revealed that 14 individuals including a minor had been arrested on suspicion of obtaining hundreds of nude pictures and videos that were stored on computers and external hard drives. It was alleged that these images had been obtained through fake Facebook profiles that used the identical image of a young woman.

Police said at the time that two profiles with the names of ‘Lyshiaa Limanom’ and ‘Angelic Sharrown’ respectively were used by the suspects to gather files of individuals pictured in some cases performing explicit acts in the presence of minors. Investigators stated that they would also be investigating people pictured in the files to verify if any crimes had actually been committed within the images themselves.

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Maldives dismisses Gaddafi’s government as illegitimate, backs rebels

The President’s Office has issued a statement refuting the legitimacy of the Libyan government, and recognising the rebels as the country’s official representatives.

“The Maldives has decided to recognise the Libyan National Transition Council (LNTC) as the sole legitimate representative body of the Libyan people,” the President’s Office said.

The decision followed Qatar’s decision on March 28 to recognise the LNTC, a body given legitimacy on March 10 by France following a meeting with rebel leaders in Paris.

“The Maldives will always support people who stand up against human rights violations,” said President Nasheed. “The Libyan National Transition Council has become the sole legitimate representative of Libya and its people.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem said that Muammar Gaddafi’s government had lost legitimacy through “gross and systemic human rights violations, which appear to amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The rebel advances made in the wake of NATO airstrikes after Gaddafi’s tank columns came within miles of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi have stalled. Both sides have entered a push-pull statemate over key towns such as Brega

Al Jazeera journalist Hoda Abdel-Hamid, present in Ajdabiya, reported that the rebels were only advancing when Gaddafi’s forces retreated and lacked the discipline to hold ground when pushed back, or coordinate with NATO.

In once instance of friendly-fire, rebels confessed that an air-strike that killed 13 fighters near Brega on Sunday was triggered during a celebratory firing of an anti-aircraft gun while NATO aircraft were operating in the area.

“If you compare where we are today to where we were a few weeks ago, then we are in the exact same position,” Abdel-Hamid said.

Western powers are seeking a diplomatic end to the civil war by persuading Gaddafi to give up his rule of the country, while US President Barack Obama signed an order authorising the use of covert action in Libya, obstentiously providing training and possibly weapons to the rebel fighters.

However Western – and Maldivian – support of the LNTC is likely to be complicated by the complex tribal power struggles in the country once the rebels reach Tripoli.

Veteran war correspondent Robert Fisk, writing for the UK’s Independent newspaper, previously observed that the West has largely ignored that the powerful tribal group leading the rebellion in Libya, the Senoussi, were overthrown in 1969 when Gaddafi deposed their King Idris, and the red, black and green ‘rebel’ flag – the old flag of pre-revolutionary Libya – is in fact the Idris flag, a Senoussi flag.

“Now let’s suppose [the rebels] get to Tripoli. Are they going to be welcomed there? Yes, there were protests in the capital, but many of those brave demonstrators themselves originally came from Benghazi. What will Gaddafi’s supporters do? ‘Melt away’? Suddenly find that they hated Gaddafi after all and join the revolution? Or continue the civil war?”

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Parliament “failing” both constitutional and public expectations, NGO claims

Local NGO Transparency Maldives has said that recent claims by parliamentary speaker Abdulla Shahid that the Majlis has failed to meet the expectations of the public were not critical enough, and that the institution was also failing to meet its constitutional obligations.

The NGO’s comments followed a Minivan News interview with Shahid last week where he praised the Majlis for significantly increasing its work rate and increasing the amount of legislation being passed, despite accepting that it had fallen short of the “high expectations” of a public new to democratic reform in the country.

The speaker said that despite overcoming the challenges created by partisan political interests, official statistics had shown that 42 bills had been passed out of a total of 52 submitted to the Majlis last year compared to 2005, where 17 bills were proposed and only five were completed.

Aiman Rasheed, Projects Coordinator for Transparency Maldives told Minivan News that although it shared some of Shahid’s sentiments that there had been improvements within the effectiveness of the Majlis regarding the amount of legislation passed, the NGO was concerned that parliament had failed to work independently and pass vital bills such as a national Penal Code.

“Shahid is right when he says that parliament has failed to meet public expectations,” he claimed. “It is not just in meeting public expectations that is has failed, but constitutional expectations as well.”

Rasheed said that although parliament was holding the president and the executive accountable for their actions, he believed that there was a failure to review legislation in terms of financial and political impacts before it was being being passed from parliamentary committees back to the Majlis.

Rasheed said that the NGO had spoken with 15 MPs from across a number of political parties including the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) as part of a project called Parliament Watch designed to try and put a spotlights on governance and political decision making. From these discussions, Rasheed claimed that the NGO had uncovered a wide consensus of concerns over parliaments ability to review and research the legislative process.

“All the parliamentarians that we have spoken to said that they believed that the current set up is not sufficient for parliament to meet its constitutional requirements,” he said. “There is no proper system of review mechanisms [within parliament].”

Rasheed said that although there was a common practice to send bills to committee for review, the members were themselves MPs and authorities rarely sought to bring in outside assistance to help in the formation of new legislation.

“New regulations were adopted [by parliament] in May 2010 that would allow for external experts to be brought in to be used to help form legislation on certain uses,” he said. “MPs could do this. But they don’t.”

Rasheed claimed that independence was definitely an area parliament “could improve on”. Among other notable concerns raised by Transparency Maldives regarding parliament, the NGO project coordinator said that despite having passed a number of important regulations, the Majlis had still failed to prioritise passing vital regulations such as a Penal Code that has remained in parliament for two years.

“There is constant criticism of the judiciary when MPs know that the legal framework is not sufficient for the laws currently going to courts,” he said.

In addition to calling for greater use of independent review mechanisms within the legislative workings of parliament, Rasheed added that Transparency Maldives was preparing to launch the Parliament Watch project that he claimed is aimed at raising scrutiny and try and external assistance for bills in parliament.

“The aim of Parliament Watch will be to try and make sure bills are up to standard by speaking with MPs and the committees that review them and also try to offer assistance from international NGOs to help overcome any difficulties,” he said.

Speaker’s view

Speaker Abdulla Shahid last week accepted that bills such as outlining a clear and clarified Penal Code, as well as an Evidence Bill to outline judicial reform and policing, had been set back by partisan behaviour between rival parties within the Majlis that had potentially created the impression that there was no interest in having such bills passed.

In order to facilitate a faster moving reform of criminal legislation, Shahid claimed that talks had been opened between the various political stakeholders required to finalise any agreements.

“I met with party leaders and also the chair of all the committees yesterday. There is the general desire amongst the leadership to find ways of increasing the productivity rate of the house. We feel even though we continue to do work ahead of what any other parliament had done, still we are far behind in meeting the public’s expectations,” he said. “The reality is that we need to meet these public expectations. The committee chairs have given me an agreement that they will try and finds ways of fast tracking many of the bills, while political parties supplied an agreement that on issues on which they may disagree, they will endeavour to deal with the technical and more mundane bills faster.”

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Authorities investigate arrival of self-proclaimed ‘Messenger of Allah’

The arrival of a Canadian man in the Maldives claiming to be a messenger of Allah was “a false alarm”, said Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam.

”According to information we have received we have been unable to confirm that it is true,” Shiyam said.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said the President’s Office was also informed of the man’s arrival.

”The Islamic Ministry requested police investigate the matter,” he said earlier today.

Local media reported that Hussein Iqbal, a Pakistani national who lives in Canada and claims to be a messenger of God, arrived in the Maldives on the invitation of Maldivians who follow him. A group was reportedly scheduled to leave for Sri Lanka on a pilgrimage.

Ibrahim Fauzy, President of local religious NGO the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM), told Minivan News that there were “hundreds” of Maldivians who followed Iqbal.

”I met last night with some of his followers in Male’,” Fauzy told Minivan News. “I learned that his call first reached the Maldives seven years ago and since then people have been joining him.”

Fauzy said that he also understood that Iqbal preached against the Sunnah and Hadith and encouraged his followers to believe solely in the Quran.

”Their original call comes from a person called Khaleefa Rashad who dismissed the Hadith and Sunnah,” Fauzy said.

He said Iqbal and his followers used verse 30 and 31 of the Surah Mudhassir to support their argument and try to convince others they were right.

”They use a mathematical formula and subtract some numbers from 19, and claim that the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) was the last Prophet but not last messenger,” he said.

Verse 30 of the Surah Mudhassir reads ”over it are nineteen” and 31 reads ”And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers, in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith, and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, “What symbol doth Allah intend by this ?” Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.”

Fauzy said that those following Iqbal were only praying three times a day. He also said that one of Iqbal’s followers  had a divorce case pending in the Family Court, contesting that his wife was a disbeliever, “which raises many complicated legal issues.”

Khalifa Rashad was an Egyptian-born, US-educated biochemist who claimed that the Archangel Gabriel had “most assertively” told him that chapter 36, verse 3, of the Quran referred specifically to him. He was stabbed to death in 1990 at an Islamic school in Arizona and his body drenched in xylol, a flammable printing solvent.

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