Tag: male

Robbery targets offices of senior politicians and Six Senses group

Police are investigating a robbery that yesterday targeted a building containing offices belonging to Vice-President designate Waheed Deen, luxury resort operator Six Senses, and the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) Interim Chairperson Reeko Moosa Manik.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed that police teams were currently investigating the thefts at the offices, which are all based in the Jazeera Building on Boduthakurufaanu Magu in Male’. However, Haneef was unable to confirm what had been taken during the raids or if anyone had been hurt as a result, adding that it was “too early” to establish whether there was a political motive to the crimes.

According to the local media, a large sum of money is reported to have been taken from the office of Bandos Island Resort, owned by Waheed Deen, whilst significant damage was said to have been caused to the properties targeted during the alleged break in.

Local media reported that a sum of around Rf 1 million was taken from the Bandos office, whilst two safes at the Six Senses office said to contain Rf 200,000 (US$13,000) and US$5000, were also emptied during the raid. Six Senses operates several of the country’s more upmarket properties, including Soneva Fushi.

News agencies said that no money was believed to have been taken from the offices of Reeko Moosa Manik’s Heavy Load company. However, electronic equipment including computers and fax machines were reportedly destroyed as well as official documents, including staff passports.

The intruders also reportedly left several messages for Moosa Manik including, “Moosa, you may have escaped this time but you will be killed,” and “We will vote for you next time if you put some cash next time”.

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Three men and a teen sought by police in VTV attack probe

Police are currently searching for three men and a teenager suspected of having involvement in the attacks on Villa Television’s (VTV) offices during confrontations between security forces and alleged anti-government protesters in Male’ on March 19, local media has reported.

According to the Sun Online news service, four male suspects aged 29, 26, 19 and 17 are wanted by police for questioning over the attacks, which caused significant damage to the media organisation’s building on Sosun Magu.

VTV was briefly brought off air following the incident – an act claimed by the station’s owner to be tantamount to “terrorism”.  Local media bodies also criticised protesters for allegedly threatening journalists and media personnel covering the clashes.

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Teased, touched and assaulted: foreign women facing harassment

Walking down a crowded street two weeks ago in the Maldives capital of Male’, Lisa*, 25, had one of the most horrific experiences of her life.

Teased, touched and assaulted by two young men on the street, the Australian foreign worker was left deeply upset and stunned over the harassment that occurred in broad daylight.

“I was walking near the swim track when these two boys in their 20s came behind me and grabbed my ass. I screamed and they walked away. I kept walking forward and then suddenly saw the two boys approaching me again. I was really scared because I did not know what they were going to do next,” Lisa recalled.

“They came back, surrounded me and started to pass comments at me. They touched me inappropriately, grabbed me and one of them slapped me,” she continued. It lasted for about 20 seconds I think. I took my phone and warned them I was calling the police. Then they grabbed me once more and just ran off.”

She had travelled from Australia to work in the Maldives just a few months before the incident, and had not expected to face harassment or attack, she said.

In the last few weeks foreign women from diverse nationalities working in Maldives have come forward and told Minivan News about various attacks, ranging from verbal abuse to physical and sometimes sexual assaults.

Clarice*, a 23-year-old French woman, was teased and stalked on the street while she was walking home on March 1.

“I was walking past the artificial beach around 12:30pm in the afternoon. A group of four local boys, maybe in their 20s, started following me. They passed comments like ‘you are my angel’ and one of them grabbed my arm and said ‘oh your skin is so beautiful’. I really did not understand what they wanted and I was really scared because they kept following me,” Clarice explained.

“Because they were following me I went back to the office, instead of going home. I live alone so I was did not want them to find out where I live,” she added.

Clarice decided not to inform police because it was mostly verbal abuse, she said.

Unsafe at home

Meanwhile, several other women interviewed exclaimed that the “threats have extended from streets to homes”.

Katie*, a 34-year old American who has worked in Male’ for almost a year, said she thought she had figured out the Maldives, its culture and its people. Respecting the Muslim background, she said she was sensitive to societal rules, dressed modestly and until recently, thought of Maldives as a safe place.

What changed her impression was a horrific incident last month which a local man sexually assaulted her while she she was unlocking the door of her apartment.

“It was early morning around 4:00am. I was unlocking the door to my house when I felt someone grab my neck from behind. At first I thought it was my friends who had left just seconds ago. But the grip was very firm so I turned around and saw a man wearing white shirt and pants. I screamed at the top of my voice,” Katie recalled.

“He grabbed my breasts, ripped the t-shirt I was wearing. I tried to hit him with my hands, screamed and tried to escape. At that time the door was unlocked and he had pushed me inside. I managed to hit his groin with my feet. That’s when he let go of me and ran out. I tried to follow him but he fled on a motorbike too quickly,” she said. “I was so distraught, I could not even call the police.”

Neighbors who heard her screams called the police. Around five to six officers arrived on the scene with a forensic team.

Disappointed with police

However, according to Katie, the police did not take her statement until three weeks later and then got the details of the attack completely wrong.

“The police had stated my necklace was stolen. It broke off during the attack, I still have it. The attacker must have known the necklace I was wearing was not gold because it was made of multi-colored beads,” Katie pointed out.

She added that she had later found out from CCTV camera owners nearby her house that the police had not requested the footage or interviewed neighbors for clues. Frustrated over the lack of police assistance, she called the US embassy. “I don’t think they would have even taken the statement if the American Embassy had not called them,” Katie claimed.

Lucy, a 36 Irish woman, also talked to Minivan New about an attack, and a disappointing experience with the police, following a robbery and sexual assault she encountered last year.

She was attacked while walking up the flat’s staircase with two other female friends around midnight.

“The apartment was on the sixth floor and I was walking upstairs to my friends apartment. They were couple of steps ahead of me and I was walking up when, suddenly, a man came behind me and grabbed my breasts and tried to pull my clothes,” Lucy recollected.

“I go to the gym and I lift weights. But I couldn’t get him off. He was quite a large and it seemed he was under the influence of something. I hit him with my bag several times. He did not attempt to grab it and run. I think his intention was to pull off my clothes. By then my friends had heard the screams and came running downstairs. That’s when he released me and ran off,” she added.

Lucy however noted that the attack had not affected her as much as when she was robbed just weeks before the attack, and found the robbery to be the “worst ordeal”.

“My laptops and phone was stolen from my apartment. That was the worst ordeal because somebody broke into my room while I was sleeping,” she observed.

Thanks to her strong personality, Lucy said she managed to get over both attacks and visit Maldives again this year. However, she echoed others’ grievances over the lack of support from police.

“When police came to the flat the only response I got from them was ‘this never happens’. They did not take my statement or follow up on me. I don’t think the case was investigated,” she claimed.

Lisa, who earlier spoke to Minivan News, also complained over the lack of police professionalism after she reported the harassment on the street and added that it seemed “police did not the case seriously”.

Police Spokesperson Sub-inspector Hassan Haneef responded that police investigate all the complaints and officers who investigate foreigners cases are skilled and capable in communicating in English: “But we do face difficulties in communicating with Bangladeshi expatriates,” he said.

He noted that it was difficult to state whether harassment of foreign women was on the rise, but confirmed that such cases had been reported.

Haneef also urged women to report such attacks, assuring that complete investigations would be conducted.

Lisa, Clarice, Katie and Lucy say they are awaiting justice and for a day they can walk the streets without being teased, touched or assaulted. A day when they don’t have to be extra cautious on streets, scan around for possible stalkers or triple check their locks.

In the meantime all they ask from the local community is “not to assume we provoked the attacks and step in to help a woman being harassed”.

*Names changed

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Security forces clear MDP protest camp area

After a morning of violence that has rocked the capital, tension is once again on the rise as large numbers of police have begun to clear out the surf point area of the city.

The area has been home to an MDP protest camp since the controversial resignation of former President Mohamed Nasheed last month.

Minivan News will be providing live updates as they happen.

Refresh this page for further updates as the day progresses.

Previous updates from throughout the day can be read here.

22:49 – Meeting has finally begun at MDP Haruge.

22:19 – MDP report that their meeting will take place at MDP Haruge after police blocked their efforts to meet elsewhere.

22:08 – MDP reports that police are preventing its supporters from approaching the Usfasgandu to the west of Dharubaaruge area.

21:50 – Approach to Dharubaaruge from north along Boduthakarufaanu Magu deserted as MDP supporters gather over at Usfasgandu.

20:21 – MDP announce on Twitter that they are to hold a meeting at 9:30pm at Usfasgandu behind Dharubaaruge, other reports say 9pm.

20:00 – MDP release a statement condemning the seizure of their camp saying, ” [Male’ City] Council has confirmed to MDP that the Maldives Police Service had not informed the Council of anything prior to them arriving/dismantling Justice Square.”

“In continuing this way, they are proving the public’s lack of confidence in the Police. We call on the Human Rights Commission, Elections Commission and the Police Integrity Commission to investigate this immediately,” said MDP Spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.

20:00 – Very few people remain at the western end of Dharubaaruge, the numbers have also declined on the northern side.

18:55 – Police have now set up barricades around the camp area to prevent entry to the site. Meanwhile, Haveeru has reported that security forces now claim to have discovered a cooking oil barrel containing a liquid substance that they believe smells like alcohol on the protest site.

18:40 – Police have been showing beer cans to local media that they have said were discovered at the MDP camp. Water canons have also been dispersed against protesters gathered near to Dharubaaruge at the other end of the camp.

18:32 – MDP MP Alham Fahmy is now outside the camp, which continues to be blockaded by security forces.

17:35 – Speaking to Minivan News, a police spokesperson was unable to confirm whether plastic bullets may have been used in certain situations to dismiss protesters during the day. The spokesperson said that police attempting to use “minimum force” where possible to control crowds.

“We have been using non-lethal weaponry,” said the spokesperson.

The claims come amidst media reports that tear gas has again been deployed at the Family Court area near to the former MDP camp.

17:20 – As police continue to dismantle the camp, local media are reporting that a bottle suspected of containing alcohol has been found along with hammers and wooden clubs. Haveeru has said that police are also asking for photos and videos that depict violence against public and private property as well as attacks on police personnel.

17:09 – MDP Spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy has claimed that the move reflects an ongoing reversal of human rights under the new government.

“The old days are back. They are violating freedoms of expression and association,” he told Minivan News. “They are now committing atrocities in daylight to intimidate the public.”

Fahmy said he was not surprise that security forces had been granted a court warrant to remove the camp. “The courts function as they want.”

17:04 – Police have cleared the MDP Camp area after Azima Shukoor told the press that the area belongs to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) according to certain laws and claimed the Male’ City Council does not have authority to give the area to MDP.

Police also warned that they will use equal force against that which is used against them and warned everyone gathered to leave the area.

Media persons were also asked to leave the area, but they have later granted permission to stay.

16:55 – Haveeru has reported that security forces have been given a court warrant to proceed with dismantling the camp.

16:50 – Minivan News has witnessed security forces beginning to dismantle the camp, known among MDP supporters as “Justice Square.”

16:40 – Police confirm that they have made 64 arrests reportedly in connection to the violence that has taken place in the capital today.

16:40 – A police spokesperson told Minivan News that the decision to clear the area by MNDF and police officials was taken in response to the violence that engulfed the city this morning.

“All of the unlawful acts that are taking place across the city have been planned in this place,” the spokesperson claimed.

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Foreigner receives minor injuries after Male’ stabbing – police confirm

Police have confirmed that a foreigner received minor injuries after being stabbed yesterday afternoon following an attempt to cross an area where a protest was taking place in Male’.

The Maldives Police Service confirmed that it was investigating an attack on a foreign national that took place between 4:30PM and 5:00PM yesterday whilst a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest was taking place in the capital – though it declined to speculate on any possible motive for the attack.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that the foreigner, whose exact nationality could not be confirmed, had now been released from ADK Hospital in Male’ after receiving treatment for a minor head injury resulting from being stabbed by an assailant.

A suspect who tried to flee the scene was taken into custody, though the police spokesperson said that no motive for the attack has been established at present.

“We do not at present know of the motive for the attack, there were a lot of people at the gathering,” Shiyam added.

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The Maldives and the Arab Spring: Institute of Development Studies

A number of recent editorials have referred to the recent coup in the Maldives as the undoing of the country’s own ‘Arab Spring,’ which began with the landmark 2008 elections that brought to an end 30 years of autocratic rule, write Gabriele Koehler and Aniruddha Bonnerjee for the Institute of Development Studies.

Indeed, while the status of democratic process in the Maldives more closely resembles other South Asian nations than nations involved in the Arab uprising, economic and social strains in the Maldives are akin to those that preceded the Arab Spring.

Economically and socially, there are three Maldives:

‘Maldives I’ is that of the sparkling tourist resorts isolated from the rest of the country on coral islands. Tourism is the Maldives’ largest industry and resort leasers represent a substantial and powerful economic interest group. The other Maldives are local economies.

‘Maldives II’ is made up of 1,192 islands dispersed across 90,000 square kilometres, where 205,000 Maldivians make a living from coastal fishing and related occupations.

‘Maldives III’ is the capital island of Malé, home to 103 thousand and one of the most densely populated places in the world.

Under the autocratic Gayoom regime, the Maldives made substantial progress on education and health criteria, despite the high costs of delivering services to widely-scattered islands. By 2000, the country had achieved universal primary and lower-secondary education and had almost eliminated communicable diseases.

In 2008, the central challenge for the newly-democratic government under President Nasheed was to maintain good performance on social services despite a high fiscal budget debt. At the same time, the global financial crisis affected the tourism sector as well as domestic prices of food and energy.

In response, Nasheed’s government focused on expanding inter-island transport, universalising health insurance, protecting the social sectors (health, education, child and family welfare) while trimming the public sector bill. It sought investment through a programme of public-private partnerships.

The financial strategy revolved around monetising the deficit, seeking grants and loans from donors, and rescheduling medium and long term debt obligations. Combined with rising food and fuel prices, this strategy fuelled inflation. Political opposition and low capacity restricted other reforms.

Read more

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Governments issue travel warnings for Male; resorts unaffected

A number of governments have issued travel warnings for Male’ amid spiraling political chaos across the country.

No tourist resorts have been reported affected, and airport island remains calm – few tourists to the country even set foot on the capital island of Male’.

However Minivan News has received reports – confirmed during a press conference held on Wednesday night by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) – of people seizing courts and police stations on a number of inhabited islands, particularly in the country’s south. In some cases the buildings have been reported burned to the ground.

The UK High Commission from Colombo arrived in numbers on Wednesday morning to assist British nationals in the country. High Commissioner John Rankin called a meeting of UK nationals in Male’, who included teachers, doctors and resort representatives, and asked them to register their presence in the Maldives.

Rankin, speaking prior to the dramatic protests and crackdown late this afternoon, said that the High Commission had advised against non-essential travel to Male’. He expressed concern about a reported ‘travel ban’ list that was circulating, which he said was believed to include several non-Maldivians and at least one UK national. Rankin said President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan had informed him that he had issued no such list and had no intention to do so, but that he would respect the right of the courts to do so.

Meanwhile the MDP on Wednesday night expressed concern that it was unable to send its seriously injured chairperson and MP, ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, overseas for medical treatment because his name was on a travel blacklist issued by the courts. Moosa was injured during a brutal police crackdown on MDP protesters on Wednesday afternoon.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine issued a warning recommending that Ukrainians avoid travels to the Maldives at the present time.

“In view of the unstable situation in the Maldives the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine advises the citizens of Ukraine to postpone visits to that country, if possible, and closely monitor the official information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the world media about the political situation there,” the statement said. Eastern Europe, particularly Russia, is an increasingly lucrative market for the Maldives’ luxury tourism industry.

The Australian government also advised its nationals to reconsider travel to Male’, but noted that the rest of the Maldives was safe for visitors.

“Further protests, political unrest and violence could occur in coming days. You should avoid public gatherings and protest, particularly in Male, as they may turn violent,” today’s update read.

AFP has meanwhile cited several travel agencies reporting cancellations.

“We had four to five honeymoon couples who made bookings for Maldives and were due to travel in the coming week to be there around Valentine’s Day but they called to cancel their trips,” AFP quoted one operator, Flexi Tours travel agency in New Delhi, as saying.

Another tour operator told AFP that all hotels in the Maldives “are booked up until February 14. The unrest is restricted to a few islands. We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” he said.

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Swedish death metal band Opeth comes to Maldives

Swedish heavy metal band Opeth will perform live in the Maldives on February 7 at Dharubaaruge in capital Male as part of its Asian tour.

Opeth agreed to play in the Maldives after Maldivian heavy metal band Nothnegal contacted its manager Northern Music Company.

The band previously played in India, however the Asian tour will take Opeth to new audiences in China, Taiwan and South Korea, said managing director Andrew Farrow.

In its lengthy compositions Opeth fuses progressive, folk, blues, classical and jazz elements with black metal and death metal. The band has released ten studio albums, three live DVDs, three live albums, and two box sets.

The current lineup includes Mikael Åkerfeldt (lead vocals, guitars), Martin Mendez (bass guitar), Martin “Axe” Axenrot (drums, percussion), Fredrik Åkesson (guitars, backing vocals) and Joakim Svalberg (keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals, percussion.

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MDP to hold rally at Haruge as government considers demands

Ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has cancelled its protest, announced during last night’s MDP rally, because no opposition parties have announced plans to hold similar demonstrations.

MDP will instead hold a rally at 8:30 at Haruge this evening.

The MDP protest was announced as party members rallied last night in response to the demands made by leaders of the protest to “Defend Islam”, held yesterday by a coalition of opposition parties and religious NGOs at the Tsunami Monument area.

Demands of the government included removing SAARC monuments in Addu, four of which have been vandalised or stolen; condemning UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay for her comments about flogging as a penal response to extra-marital sex; denying Israeli airlines permission to operate flights to the Maldives; closing down Male’ brothels and reversing the decision to declare of inhabited islands uninhabited in order to permit alcohol sales.

As the night drew to a close, MDP party members issued statements claiming that they would march against the “Defend Islam” protest if it did not end by midnight.

The statement was respected, and aside from one protestor who was hassled as he passed MDP headquarters at Haruge on his way home, no confrontations occurred.

President’s Office Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair has said that although the government is unclear on which legal grounds and by which exact group the demands were made, the large public demonstration in support for these demands has prompted to government to give them due consideration, reports Haveeru.

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