Tag: mcs

President Yameen authorised Nasheed’s transfer to house arrest

President Abdulla Yameen authorised former President Mohamed Nasheed’s transfer to house arrest today, tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb has told Minivan News.

President Yameen made the decision at a meeting at 1:00pm this afternoon and sought advice from the attorney general, Adeeb said.

Home minister Umar Naseer was reluctant to approve the transfer, Adeeb added, but the president made the decision.

A family member told Minivan News that Nasheed was brought home around 4:00pm ahead of an appointment for an MRI scan on Thursday.

The opposition leader was brought to Malé around 8:30am this morning to consult a nerve specialist at the ADK private hospital. Nasheed was briefly detained at a custodial centre in the capital before being taken to his wife’s residence Yaagoothuge.

An official from the Maldives Corrections Service (MCS) told local media that Nasheed was transferred to house arrest for three days based on doctor’s advice.

The medical tests recommended by the doctor will take three days, the official said, after which Nasheed will be taken back to the Maafushi prison.

Adeeb said the duration of Nasheed’s house arrest will depend on the doctor’s advice.

The tourism minister is taking over as acting home minister tonight with Naseer due to depart for Singapore.

Nasheed’s lawyers have previously said he was being denied access to specialist medical attention despite recommendations from doctors.

The government had refused to authorise tests after doctors at the Maafushi Jail health centre and at a Malé military clinic recommended in May that he get an MRI scan, the lawyers said.

Nasheed was found guilty of terrorism in March over the military’s detention of a judge during his tenure and sentenced to 13 years in jail.

The 19-day terrorism trial was widely criticised over its apparent lack of due process and international pressure on the government to release the opposition leader has been growing in recent weeks.

MCS media official Moosa Rameez told Minivan News earlier today that the prison authorities will arrange the MRI scan.

Senior members of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) along with the former president’s family members and supporters gathered outside the Malé jail this afternoon when Nasheed was brought to the custodial centre from the hospital.

Following his transfer to house arrest, several MDP MPs and politicians have started posting selfies with the former president on Twitter.

Supporters have also taken to social media to express joy over the former president’s reprieve from custody. Nasheed has been held in detention since his arrest on February 22, a day before the surprise terrorism trial.

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Hundreds of inmates display artwork at national gallery

Some one thousand inmates displayed a variety of artwork showcasing their creativity and skills in an annual exhibition at the national art gallery today.

Nimal Ibrahim, who won first place for his painting, said: “This is a great opportunity to showcase our potential and be a part of the society.”

Ibrahim’s painting depicted a man in a suit holding a scale jeering at four people, one of whom carried the Maldives flag.

The three-day exhibition organised by the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) is open to the public and will continue till Saturday night.

Inmates from the Maafushi and Asseyri jails exhibited over 850 paintings and hundreds of handicrafts and furniture today. Plants grown by inmates in an agricultural training session were also on display.

Hundreds of inmates were present at today’s exhibition, accompanied by security guards.

Several paintings depicted interrogation rooms and courtrooms, demonstrating the trials inmates go through in the Maldives criminal justice system.

A member of the organising team, corporal Abdulla Ameen, said inmates had worked on their artworks over the last year.

“There are about 500 inmates who have participated every year since this exhibition began in 2011,” he said.

Winners are given a prize of MVR500 (US$32). Members of the public can purchase any artwork and proceedings are to go to the correction centre’s cooperative society.

inmate art 2

Mohamed Shifag, who made a large wooden sail boat, said inmates worked on their artworks for a few hours every day.

“I learned how to do craft work from the courses we are taught,” he said.

In addition to art classes, inmates are also given classes in agriculture and religion.

“We receive help from the authorities for the courses we hold, and inmates are always looking for such opportunities,” said superintendent of jails, Mohamed Asif.

Inmates are selected for the courses based on their discipline.

The exhibition will be open from 2-6pm in the afternoon and from 8-10pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

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Six senior government officials abused power in drug kingpin’s temporary release, says ACC

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has recommended charges be filed against six senior government officials for the temporary release of convicted drug kingpin Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak in February.

Former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Mohamed Hanim personally paid a visit to a doctor at their home to obtain a signature claiming Shafaz required urgent medical care abroad.

However, the ACC found no evidence to suggest Shafaz required urgent treatment or care unavailable in the Maldives. Shafaz had not consulted a doctor at all in the week before his release.

Hanim, who is now the deputy minister of environment, also oversaw the illegal preparation of Shafaz’s travel documents and allowed him to leave the country without obtaining approval from the Maldives Correctional Service’s (MCS) medical board.

The investigations also revealed former Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim lobbied the medical board to approve Shafaz’s release despite knowing his paperwork was incomplete.

In addition to Hanim and Azim, the ACC has recommended corruption charges be filed against two members of the medical board, a technical officer at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and a staff of the MCS.

Shafaz was caught in Sri Lanka in May in a joint operation by the Maldivian and Sri Lankan security forces when he failed to return to the Maldives in the three-month period he had been given.

The Criminal Court had in November 2013 sentenced the 30-year-old to 18 years in prison and had levied a fine of MVR75,000 (US$4,860) for drug trafficking.

Deputy Minister’s abuse of power

According to the MCS’s regulations, an inmate can only be allowed abroad for medical treatment if two doctors attest that the inmate requires urgent care that is not available in the Maldives.

The MCS’ medical board must then review the doctors’ referrals before endorsing the release.

According to the ACC, Chief Superintendent of Malé Prisons Mohamed Thaufeeg, on Hanim’s request, illegally entered the medical section and printed the forms required for Shafaz’s release.

Thaufeeq had entered the medical section’s premises in the absence of the officer in charge.

Hanim and Thaufeeq then paid a personal visit to a doctor at their home on February 2 to obtain signatures. Local media have identified the doctor to be Indian national Dr Ganga Raju.

The forms require signatures of two doctors, but a senior technical officer at IGMH, Abdulla Rafiu, filled in the second slot.

Hanim sent a letter to the Department of Immigration ordering Shafaz’s travel documents be prepared although such letters must in fact be sent by the individual who heads the Home Ministry’s Implementation Section.

The letter was prepared and dispatched before the medical board and the Commissioner of Prison’s approved Shafaz’s release.

When the head of the Implementation Section refused to allow Shafaz to leave Maafushi Jail on February 5, Hanim himself authorized the release.

According to the ACC, Hanim attempted to complete the paperwork only after Shafaz left the country.

Medical board’s role

The medical board met on February 4 to review Shafaz’s request for temporary release.

The board noticed only one doctor had signed his forms and that the forms did not provide details on Shafaz’s medical conditions or the type of treatment he was to receive abroad.

However, Azim assured the board that the proper paperwork would be submitted at the next meeting. Board members, Maldives Police Services Chief Inspector of Police Dr Mohamed Fazneen Latheef and Home Ministry’s Deputy Director General Ishaq Ahmed, supported the inmate’s release.

Fazneen admitted to the ACC that the medical board had not released any inmate without complete paperwork in the past, and said he believed he had failed to uphold the board’s stringent standards in supporting Shafaz’s leaving the country.

Azim only signed the medical board’s final approval after Shafaz had left.

Shafaz was arrested on June 24, 2011, with 896 grams of heroin from a rented apartment in a building owned by ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem.

Former head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told the press at the time that police had raided Henveiru Fashan based on intelligence information gathered in the two-year long ‘Operation Challenge’.

Jinah labeled Shafaz a high-profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

He claimed that the network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.


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Two detention officers seriously injured after attacks at Maafushi Prison

Two Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) detention officers have been seriously injured after they were assaulted by Maafushi Prison inmates while trying to conduct a routine head count last night (December 1).

Ministry of Home affairs spokesperson Thazmeel Abdul Samad told Minivan News that the officers have been brought to the capital and are being treated for head injuries.

“An officer went in to unit 3 at 10pm to conduct a routine head count and requested assistance after the inmates refused to cooperate, four officers went into the unit to assist him and then they were attacked by the inmates,” explained Thazmeel.

All four officers suffered head injuries with one officer getting bruised on the arm.

Maafushi Prison has been at the centre of a number of incidents this year, including escaped prisoners and deadly assaults on an inmate.

The head count was one of six conducted throughout the day and night, part of recently altered security measures following the escape of two dangerous convicts in October, who had broken through a ventilation shaft and left dummies in their beds to deceive the guards.

“The new security measures state that the detention officers have to enter the cells and check the identity of the inmates even if they are sleeping,” said Thazmeel.

While speaking about the escaped convicts, Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer accepted that there were loopholes in the prison system, that the necessary changes to the procedure have been identified and that they would now be implemented.

“There is no prison in the world from which someone or the other has not escaped from. The strength of a prison system is in how quickly we recapture escapees and return them to their cells,” said Naseer in an interview to Television Maldives.

The escapees in question were Ibrahim Shahum Adam and Fariyash Ahmed – both serving life sentences for separate murder incidents – were soon recaptured in the capital Malé.

While speaking at a ceremony in Maafushi Naseer said he would use a dog squad periodically in preventing the entry of illicit drugs into Maafushi Jail.

In addition to the 20-foot wall, surveillance cameras, increased lighting and automatic locks will be used to strengthen security at the jail, he added.

Last month, correctional services seized large amounts of illegal contraband from jails under its custody, including Maafushi. MCS confiscated 32 phone chargers, 33 SIM cards, and 200 packets of illicit narcotics from the high security facility.

Speaking at a press briefing on November 2, Superintendent of Prisons Mohamed Asif said MCS has been “continuously searching” jails for contraband as part of wider efforts to improve security.

Earlier this year, Maafushi inmate Ibrahim Azar died from serious head injuries he suffered following an attack by two of his cell mates.

A one page MCS report to the Parliament’s oversight committee stated that Azar had requested a transfer to another cell shortly before he was fatally assaulted.


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Hospitalised Maafushi inmate requested transfer from cell before assault

Drugs, mobile phones seized from jail

Manhunt underway for escaped convicts

Escaped convicts were on hunt for murder, theft deal, says home minister

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Second escaped convict Shahum apprehended in Malé

The Maldives Police Services have apprehended the second convict who escaped from Maafushi Jail, Ibrahim Shahum Adam, 23 years, in a guesthouse in Malé at approximately 7:40 pm today.

Although Home Minister Umar Naseer had said an armed team of soldiers would be working with the police to catch Shahum yesterday, only police officers were involved in the operation and weapons were not used, the police said in a tweet.

Local media have identified the guesthouse as Midnight guesthouse on Maaveyo Magu in Machangoalhi ward.

A SWAT team and officers from the intelligence, traffic and central operation command were active in the operation, a statement by the police said.

Shahum had escaped from Maafushi Jail on Friday (October 17) along with Fariyash Ahmed, 26 years. Both were serving life sentences for murder.

Fariyash was apprehended yesterday afternoon while drinking a coffee at Tatians café in the Henveiru ward of Malé. He had shaved his beard off, taken off his glasses and was wearing a wig.

Shortly afterwards, Naseer held a press conference in which he announced a prize of MVR 75,00 (US$4,854) for information and a second convict who had escaped from the authorities in 2010.

The two inmates had used a broken saw to cut through 22 bars on a window, climbed onto the Maafushi Jail roof and used a rope made of bed sheets to reach the ground.

Naseer in an appearance on state broadcaster Television Maldives on Sunday night revealed that investigations were ongoing to determine whether prison guards were complicit in the escape.

“Nothing we have so far found in the investigation indicates any negligence or involvement of prison guards. However, if such a thing comes to our notice, we will take immediate action,” he said

Jumhooree Party MP and former Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has called for an independent inquiry into the jailbreak.

Opposition MPs meanwhile contended that the government’s “negligence and irresponsibility” allowed the dangerous criminals to break out from a high security prison.

The Maldives National Defense Force’s (MNDF) appeal to MPs to stay in at night following the jailbreak is indicative of the prevailing state of fear and the government’s loss of control over “terror activity in the Maldives,” MP Imthiyaz Fahmy said.

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Drug kingpin Shafaz must return from Sri Lanka in May, says Home Minister

Convicted drug kingpin Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak must return from medical treatment in Sri Lanka by May 20, Home Minister Umar Naseer has said.

Shafaz’s temporary release in early February has garnered controversy with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) confiscating the passport of an expatriate doctor who signed the medical report recommending that Shafaz be sent abroad for medical treatment.

Shafaz is serving an 18 year prison sentence and was fined MVR75,000 (US$4,860) for drug trafficking in November 2013.

Speaking on Villa TV (VTV), Naseer said Shafaz’s authorized period to stay abroad will expire on May 20 and that the Home Ministry will seek assistance from the Interpol to find any inmates who flee.

Naseer defended the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS), claiming a prisoner will only be sent abroad on the recommendation of two specialist doctors. The MCS would only provide inmates with a temporary travel document instead of a passport, he claimed.

Shafaz has now appealed his 18 year jail term at the High Court.

Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim has previously told Minivan News that all due procedures had been followed in Shafaz’s release.

“A medical officer does not have to accompany the inmate. He was allowed to leave under an agreement with his family. Family members will be held accountable for his actions, including failure to return,” Azim told Minivan News at the time.

Shafaz was arrested on June 24, 2011 with 896 grams of heroin from a rented apartment in a building owned by ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem.

Former head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told the press at the time that police had raided Henveiru Fashan based on intelligence information gathered in the two-year long ‘Operation Challenge’.

Jinah labeled Shafaz a high-profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

He claimed that the network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

Since the formation of the new government late last year, the Home Ministry has made the combating of illegal drugs its top priority, culminating in the confiscation of a record 24kg of heroin.

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MP Jabir in Malaysia for medical treatment

Jailed opposition MP Abdulla Jabir is seeking medical treatment in Malaysia, local media have reported.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP was hospitalised on April 8 after suffering respiratory difficulties. He is currently serving a one year jail sentence for refusal to provide a urine sample to police.

Jabir left the Maldives at 9:15 pm on Friday night without a set return date, the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) told Minivan News.

Doctors at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) recommended Jabir go abroad for an examination of his heart, the MCS told local media. The service is not available in the Maldives, the MCS said.

Jabir was hospitalised for two weeks and transferred back to Maafushi prison on April 22 with a device to facilitate breathing – reportedly obtained from Singapore.

At the time of hospitalisation, the MP’s wife Dhiyana Saeed said Jabir had been born with birth defects which caused a sleep disorder called sleep apnoea. The disorder is characterised by pauses in breathing or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep.

In a text to MDP parliamentary group members, Dhiyana said at the time: “The pulmonologist who saw him says his previous surgeries for severe sleep apnoea has failed and needs to be admitted.”

In an interview with VNews earlier this month, Dhiyana said doctors had informed her that Jabir’s breathing stopped four times every hour.

Jabir was sentenced to jail in February for failure to provide a urine sample for a drug test during a police raid on the island of Hondaidhoo in November 2012.

A total of 10 people were taken into police custody at the time. Officers alleged they found large amounts of drugs and alcohol upon searching the island.

Seven people, including the MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, face separate charges for refusal to provide urine, alcohol possession and cannabis possession. They include former President’s Office Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair and his wife Mariyam Faiz, the manager of Jabir’s Alidhoo resort Jadhulla Jaleel and son of former Special Envoy to the President Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, Hamdan Zaki.

All seven have accused the police of brutality during their arrest.

The Prosecutor General also charged Jabir for possessing cannabis but the Criminal Court acquitted by the MP citing insufficient evidence.

Charges of alcohol possession remain outstanding, with the last hearing of Jabir and Hamid’s joint trial being suspended due to Jabir’s hospitalisation.

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Hospitalised Maafushi inmate Ibrahim Azar dies from injuries

Former inmate of Maafushi prison, Ibrahim Azar, who suffered severe injuries during a fight in his cell has died while receiving treatment.

Local media has reported that Azar died at Ananthapuri Hospital in India at 12:15 p.m. local time, quoting members of the deceased family.

The injuries were sustained on February 24 during after being attacked by his two cell mates. According to a report on the incident at the prison shared by the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS), Azar had requested to be transferred from his cell more than an hour before the assault.

Azar – of Maafannu Dhodhilge – was brought to Malé after the incident with serious head injuries, although police were said to have assured his mother at the time that his injuries were not serious. He was serving a five year drug abuse sentence.

A source familiar with the matter has previously told Minivan News that Azar’s cell mates attacked him using a razor blade. He received multiple wounds to his body, and his head was allegedly banged against the cell wall or the metal fence.

However, officials from the MCS had denied that any “sharp objects” were used in the assault when asked by MPs at a Majlis oversight committee meeting.

Following the incident, Azar was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, who recommended he be flown to an international hospital for specialist treatment.

Local media CNM has reported that Azar will be buried this afternoon after Asru prayers.

The correctional services said that they were unaware of the reports of Azar’s death at the time of publishing.

Azar made request to move cells before the fight

According to the one-page MCS report, on February 24, Prison Corporal Mohamed Mujthaba, the ranking duty officer at the time of the incident, was informed by guards of unrest in cell number 12 of unit three, wing one, at about 5:25pm.

Mujthaba questioned the prisoners and was asked by two of the three inmates in cell 12 – Ali Ashwan of Ma. Oasis Villa and Azar – to be transferred to a different cell.

“However, when [the inmates] were asked to explain the reason for wanting to change cells, they refused to do so until they were taken out of the cell,” the report revealed.

At about 6:00pm, the report stated, instructions were given to transfer the inmates, but the third inmate in cell 12 – Ahmed Liushan, also from Ma. Oasis Villa – obstructed prison guards who attempted to take the other inmates out of the cell.

At about 6:50pm, Mujthaba and Emergency Support Group officers made their way to the cell upon hearing a commotion from the unit – finding the “severely beaten” Azar inside.

The source familiar with the matter had told Minivan News that Azar was attacked by his cell mates after calling prison officers when a fight broke out between two of his cell mates on February 24.

“Azar was kept in A-B/Unit-3 of Maafushi Prison with two other inmates, and that day the two inmates had an issue and started fighting,’’ the source said.

“Azar called the prison officers and the prison officers talked to the two that were fighting and resolved the issue – but as soon as the prison officer left they started fighting again.’’

“It repeated three times, and after the fourth time prison officers were called Azar was attacked by his two cell mates,’’ the source said.

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Doctor’s passport held as drug kingpin’s medical release investigated

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has confiscated the passport of an expatriate doctor who signed the medical report recommending that Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzaq be sent abroad for medical treatment.

Shafaz was sentenced to 18 years in prison last November for drug trafficking, but was permitted to leave the country unaccompanied in February. Shortly after his arrival in Sri Lanka, Shafaz asked the High Court to review his sentence.

The ACC has told the local media that the doctor’s passport was held last week after a warrant had been obtained  from the Criminal Court.

Speaking to Minivan News today, President of ACC Hassan Luthfy said that he could not give any information except to confirm that the passport of an expatriate doctor had been held by the commission.

He said that detailed information on the case will be revealed to the media as soon as the commission concludes its investigation.

Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim has previously told Minivan News that all due procedures had been followed in allowing Shafaz to leave to get medical treatment.

“A medical officer does not have to accompany the inmate. He was allowed to leave under an agreement with his family. Family members will be held accountable for his actions, including failure to return,” Azim told Minivan News at the time.

Shafaz was arrested on June 24, 2011 with 896 grams of heroin from a rented apartment in a building owned by PPM MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem.

Former head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told the press at the time that police had raided Henveiru Fashan based on intelligence information gathered in the two-year long ‘Operation Challenge’.

Jihah labeled Shafaz a high-profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

He claimed that the network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

Since the formation of the new government late last year, the Home Ministry has made the combating of illegal drugs its top priority, culminating in the confiscation of a record 24kg of heroin.

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