Tag: maldives

Letter on High Court appointments

Dear President Mohamed Nasheed,

Since the committee has not followed the criteria set up by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to allocate marks for the potential judges of the high court, and since constitutional problems are apparent in the process of appointing judges to the High Court, I voluntarily participated in case forwarded by Baa Kendhoo Abdul Bari Yousuf, in the hopes that an independent and fair verdict would be reached.

But to the surprise of the whole judiciary, this particular case has been rejected by the courts and as a result the trust I, myself and the people have placed in the judicial process has grown faint.

Therefore as I am responsible for heading an official institution, I am obliged to work towards correcting this matter. And according to the article 115 of the constitution, since it is your responsibility to maintain the rule of law, I am obliged to report this to you. I sincerely request you to bring an end to this process which is violating the rules and laws of the State. Due to the inconvenience and shortage of time, I am unable to provide you with all the details of the matter.

Yours sincerely,

Hassan Saeed

Chief judge of Family Court

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter, please submit it to [email protected]

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JSC appoints five judges to High Court bench

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has appointed five judges to the High Court bench. The five took their oaths of office last night.

The five were Shuaib Hussein Zakariyya, Dr Azmiraldha Zahir, Abdurauf Ibrahim, Abbas Shareef and Ali Sameer.

The appointment of the judges had been previously scheduled however right before the five were about to take the oath and officially commence work, Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baary Yousuf filed a case in the Civil Court claiming that there was discrimination between men and woman in the appointment.

Judge Baary’s case, which was later taken to the Supreme Court, ended up as a void complaint after the court ruled that Judge Baary had left the town without informing the Supreme Court.

The High Court has said on its website that the five new judges have taken the oath of office last night.

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Maldives marks Earth Hour

Many shops along Male’s main street of Majeedee Magu, as well as houses and even television stations turned the power off for an hour last night to mark Earth Hour.

At the Bangladesh independence day celebrations held yesterday at Dharubaaruge, attended by President Mohamed Nasheed, the lights were ceremoniously dimmed then restored.

The international event, organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was first held in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million residents turned off the electricity. Power utilities estimated that electricity consumption dropped 10 percent.

Earth Hour 2011 took place across the world at 8:30pm-9:30pm local time.

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Islamic Ministry says alms payments up during 2010

The Islamic Ministry has claimed that the number of Maldivians paying alms has raised “dramatically” due to its own efforts in raising awareness of the religious rite.

The claims were made as the “Nisab”, defined as the minimum amount of income that should be earned before people are required to donate 2.5 per cent of their savings and revenue, rose 14.2 per cent to Rf8,573.95 based on the ministry’s guidance, according to Haveeru.

This guidance is formed around calculations made by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) based on factors such as comparing market prices for gold and silver.

The paper reported that by December of last year, Rf36,000,478.05 in alms was paid by 2,225 people. The figure was up from the Rf 27,412,507.83 collected over the same period in 2009.

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Child Abuse Prevention Society to hold workshops for parents

Local NGO, the Child Abuse Prevention Society (CAPS), will lead a series of educational workshops and camps for parents on the prevention of child abuse in the Maldives in conjunction with the Juvenile Justice Unit, Society for Women against Drugs, and Maldives Police Service.

Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed launched the programme at a function held at Aarah on Saturday afternoon, expressing concern over the prevalence of child abuse in the Maldives.

Noting that legal framework, although basic, to stop child abuse was in place, he underscored that a positive relationships within the family and between parents and children were as important as legal system to prevent all forms of violence against children.

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Zaki resigns from MDP Disciplinary Committee

Current President of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, who is also the chair of the party’s Disciplinary Commitee, has resgined following the upcoming elections to appoint members to the party including the party’s president and vice president.

MDP’s official website said that Zaki had sent a letter to the Chairperson of MDP, Mariya Ahmed Didi, saying that his resignation was to ensure the MDP elections were conducted “free and fair.”

In the letter Zaki requested Mariya appoint Home Minister Hassan Afeef as the chair of the committee to deal with complaints concerning the elections until the elections were over.

Afeef is currently a member of MDP’s Disciplinary committee.

Zaki is running for the presidency of the party during the elections, challenging former Fisheries Minister Dr Ibrahim Didi who is also running for the same post.

Recently a voice clip of a conversation between Zaki and a person named Anandhu, purportedly in the UK, was leaked to the local media, concerning negotiations for the delivery of T-Shirts for the MDP ahead of the Presidential election.

The General Elections Act article number 70 states that “products or money” given by foreigners shall not be used by a Presidential Candidate or any person on behalf of a Presidential Candidate, and article 70[a] states that ”Products or money given by foreigners, foreign parties or foreign administrations shall not be used.”

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Maldives finishes top of AFC Challenge Cup group after Tajikistan draw

The Maldives’ national football team has inched past rivals Tajikistan to finish top of their qualifying group for next year’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup finals on the basis of goal difference following a 0-0 draw between the two nations in Male’ yesterday.

After winning the opening two qualifying matches in Group C, which have all been hosted this week at the national stadium in Male’, a goalless draw with second place Tajikistan was enough for the Maldives to finish leaders of their group after scoring a higher number of goals.

According to the AFC table, in subtracting the number of goals conceded to those scored, the Maldives finished above its second place rival 5-4.

However, the draw between the top two teams of group C proved to be a very different game to the day’s other match held in Male’; where Cambodia finished at the bottom of their respective qualifying table after losing to Kyrgyzstan 4-3.

Kyrgyzstan led the match from just five minutes in as Aziz Sydykov put them ahead before Kouch Sokumpheak responded with an equaliser by the 39th minute of the game. Cambodia still finished the half a goal down though after Rustem Usanov scored in stoppage time.

Cambodia’s Sokumpheak responded once again to open the scoring in the second half to ensure the game remained 2-2 up until ten minutes before the final whistle.

Cholponbek Esenkul Uulu allowed Kyrgyzstan to once again take the lead in the 80th minute before scoring his second of the match five minutes later to put the score line at 4-2.

With just a minute to go until the final whistle, Cambodia’s Sok Rithy scored the team’s third goal of the match, but the effort wasn’t enough to prevent a third defeat out of the three qualifying games the team has played in Male’ this week.

With the qualifiers now concluded, the Maldives will compete with seven other nations including India, Turkmenistan and fellow Group C rival Tajikistan in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. A host nation has not yet been selected for the tournament but is expected to be drawn from among one of the eight finalists under AFC rules.

The last AFC Challenge Cup tournament was held in Sri Lanka during February 2010 and won by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

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Criminal court releases suspect in alleged World Cup terror plot

The Maldives Police Service says it has no knowledge of claims made in international media that a Maldivian national was been arrested for alleged involvement in a planned terrorist attack on the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup currently being held in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.

A spokesperson for the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) told Minivan News that it was unable to comment on allegations relating to security in another country, while a police official said that they had no information that a Maldivian was involved in any terrorism offences linked to the event and would not comment further on the matter.

According to the Times of India newspaper, Maldivian national Iqbal Mohamed, whom Minivan News reported earlier this month had been taken into custody at Male’ International Airport over his suspected involvement in the 2007 Sultans Park bombing in Male’, was arrested on suspicion of trying to attack this year’s Cricket World Cup event.

Police spokesperson Lance-Corporal Abdul Majeed Moosa confirmed to Minivan News today that the Criminal Court yesterday refused to extend Iqbal’s detention and ordered his release.

Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed said he would provide more information on the decision when staff returned to the office.

The Times has meanwhile reported that that Iqbal was suspected to have been part of plans to strike the cricket World Cup.

“A ‘terrorist’ suspected of planning to attack the cricket World Cup has been arrested after help from authorities across South Asia including in Pakistan,” the Times of India wrote, citing International Police Organisation Interpol’s Chief Ronald Noble.

According to Noble, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Maldivian authorities had worked together to identify, locate and arrest a “terrorist” on his way to the Maldives from Karachi on the grounds of “criminal intent”.

The arrest was made amidst a strict security crackdown in the region during the World Cup, with Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik claiming that fears existed of a major unspecified terrorist attack at the high-profile event.

“There was a serious attempt of an act of terrorism during this (World Cup),” said Malik.

According to the Times of India report, local police authorities have already issued a general alert ahead of the tournament’s final match scheduled for April 2 in the city of Mumbai, while Australia was said to have yesterday updated a travel advisory for its citizens calling for a “high degree of caution” for anyone in the region during the event.

Speaking to Minivan News on 15 March, Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that Iqbal Mohamed had been arrested on arrival at Male’ International Airport from Pakistan earlier in the month, after regional authorities had alerted their Maldivian counterparts of his movements.

The arrest, according to Shiyam, was made in connection to an attack in Male’ in 2007, where a device built from components such as a gas cylinder, a washing machine motor and a mobile phone exploded injuring 12 tourists – several seriously.

Shiyam told Minivan News at the time that although Iqbal Mohamed was believed to have been in Pakistan at the time of the Male’ attack, he had been wanted by police as part of their ongoing investigations into the 2007 incident due to an alleged role in the plan.

The sub inspector claimed that the Maldives Police Service was waiting for the Prosecutor General to present a case against the suspect ahead of any potential trial in the Maldives and had not been aware of any motivation for his return to the country.

“We really don’t why has had travelled back to the Maldives, but we have now arrested him.”

Mohamed was himself the subject of a red notice issued by Interpol, which was said to have drawn police attention after Interpol’s Major Events Support Team (IMEST) operating in Sri Lanka during the Cricket World Cup identified the suspect as he was travelling through the country back to the Maldives.

According to Interpol, red notices are a system used to keep the 188 nations that make up its members informed of arrest warrants issued by judicial authorities. Although the notices are not formal arrest warrants, the organisation said that they are used to identify individuals wanted for crimes under a national jurisdiction.

Following Moahmed’s arrest, Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that he did not believe the suspect’s return to the Maldives raised concerns about further potential attacks in the country.

He claimed that the country’s National Security Advisor had recently addressed the issue of religious fundamentalists after a request from the country’s Immigration Commissioner and found no additional concerns.

Zuhair added that the advisor had concluded that there was not thought to be any terror cells operating within the Maldives and claimed there was no need to further heighten national security against such threats.

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