Tag: minivan news

India needs to re-examine relationship with neighbours: Hindustan Times

Recent developments in the Maldives and Sri Lanka suggest a need for a re-examination of India’s relations with its neighbours, write Charan Singh and Arvind Virmani for the Hindustan Times.

Some political pundits have expressed concern about China’s build-up on the Tibetan plateau, its plans to build numerous dams on the Brahmaputra and takeover of the management of Gwadar, a commercial port in Pakistan. China’s growing defence expenditures ($119 billion in 2013) — three times that of India’s $40 billion (2013-14) — have allowed it to extend its naval presence into the Indian Ocean, making it imperative for us to use our limited resources more efficiently.

Military and political strategy are generally intertwined, and sometimes buried inside a commercial one. The world respects power. India’s growth acceleration in the 1980s and 1990s created the conditions for a greater role in global politics, but it was Pokhran II that catapulted India onto the world stage. China’s military might, focused mission and astute diplomacy have been successful in resolving many border issues and fostering strategic economic relations with its immediate neighbours.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

BML chief auditor dies during air travel

Bank of Maldives (BML) Chief Internal Auditor and Chief Compliance Officer Lucian Jayakody has died while travelling on an aircraft from Dubai to Canada, according to local media.

Jayakody, a Sri Lankan national who has been working with BML since 2006, had 25 years experience in the finance sector and was reported by Sun Online to also be a member of BML’s Corporate Management Team and Executive Committee.

BML Managing Director and chief Executive Officer Peter Horton told local media today that Jayakody’s passing would be a huge loss for the bank.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Palestinian Embassy announce Masjid Al-Aqsa conference

Maldives Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed and Palestinian Islamic Minister Dr Mahmoud Al Habbash have announced the Masjid Al-Aqsa conference will be held in the Maldives during a joining press conference Sunday (April 7).

Shaheem said the Mufti and Imam of the Masjid was invited and various “renowned” religious scholars will participate, reports local media. A joint committee with officials from the the Maldives Ministry of Islamic Affairs and the Palestinian Embassy will finalise the conference date and participants.

The purpose of the conference is “to increase the love in the hearts of Maldives citizens, and other Muslims around the world towards [the holy mosque] Masjid Al-Aqsa,” according to Shaheem.

The joint committee will address “troubles” Maldivians face visiting Masjid Al-Aqsa, enable 10 Maldivian men (religious scholars, students, journalists and members of the public) to visit the holy mosque, and “facilitate opportunities” for Maldivian students to study in Palestinian universities.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

New Indian High Commissioner arrives

Rajeev Shahare, the new Indian High Commissioner, arrived in the Maldives Thursday (April 2) but has not yet set a date to present his credentials to President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, reports local media.

Shahare is replacing D M Mulay, who left the Maldives last month to take the position has India’s Consul in New York.

Previously Shahare was a joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, West Asia North Africa division.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Ministers slam Nasheed for “bluffing” over guesthouse commitments

Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s pledge to expand guest house tourism in the country has been strongly criticised by senior government figures, who accuse him of lacking sincerity and “bluffing” over his commitments to mid-market tourism.

State Minister for Finance Abbas Adil Riza and Minister for Tourism Ahmed Adheeb both this week slammed Nasheed, claiming guesthouse bed numbers more than doubled last year after President Dr Mohamed Waheed came to power.

The ministers, who represent the government-aligned Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) and  the Progressive Party of Maldives respectively, also criticised Nasheed over previous remarks he made in international media calling for a boycott of the country’s tourism sector.

However, Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has claimed that after reintroducing the guesthouse concept to the Maldives during its administration, the party’s latest manifesto gave further importance to growing mid-market tourism.  The MDP claims such growth will be vital to tackling what it called a “total disconnect” between the lucrative island resort model and local people.

With the inclusion of development of small and medium businesses – particularly in the emerging guesthouse sector – in a “mini-manifesto” drawn up by the MDP, mid-market tourism has emerged as a key potential issue for elections in September 2013.

Bed numbers

Speaking to Minivan News, Abbas Adil Riza accused Nasheed of lying in regards to his commitments to mid-market tourism development, criticising him for a wider failure to protect small and medium businesses in the country.

“My concern is that Nasheed is bluffing. Between 2009 to 2011, there were 16 new guest houses built,” he said, claiming these properties amounted to some 180 tourism beds.

Abbas said that in 2012 alone, the number of guesthouse beds available to tourists in the country had almost doubled as a result of programs implemented by the Waheed government to provide smaller-scale loans leading to 37 guest houses being developed.

“During Nasheed’s administration, outsiders were given public land and there was no funding supplied,” he said. “After February 7, we gave small-scale loans to 37 individuals.”

Abbas also accused former President Nasheed of failing to support small and medium enterprises and local industry in general.

He added that small and medium scale businesses had to be set up in harmony with local culture and traditions, particularly on small islands.

“He can’t just say that he is the champion of these things,” Abbas added.

Boycott concerns

Traditional holiday staples for large numbers of tourists coming to the Maldives, including being able to wear bikinis and drinking alcohol, are not permitted by law on local islands that are classed as being inhabited.

Speaking to local media, both Abbas and Tourism Minister Adheeb have hit out at claims by the MDP published in international media last year calling for travellers to boycott Maldives tourism.

Adheeb told Sun Online that Nasheed had not made sense by previously calling for the promotion of guest houses in the build up to this year’s presidential election after calling for a boycott last year.

“President Nasheed had made a global call to boycott Maldives tourism, and now he is calling to promote guest house businesses, targeted at Maldives tourism. This does not make sense,” he was quoted as saying.

Nasheed last year called for a tourism boycott of the Maldives, as he continued to question the legitimacy of the government of President Waheeed – his former vice president.

However, these calls were soon dropped by Nasheed and supporters of the now opposition MDP.

The Ministry of Tourism last year fell short of its stated aim of welcoming one million visitors to the country during 2012, citing difficulties resulting from media coverage of political turmoil following the change of government that brought President Dr Mohamed Waheed to office.

However, authorities in the country have since pledged to surpass the one million visitor goal in 2013, claiming late last year that the “hard days” were over for tourism in the country following 2012′s political turmoil.

Despite this stance, as part of a so-called silent protest at this year’s ITB event, anti-government campaigners distributed leaflets entitled ‘the cloudy side of life‘ – a play on the country’s official ‘Sunny Side of Life’ tourism slogan to draw attention to alleged human rights violations under the new government.

“Paradigm shift”

MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor responded that Nasheed’s government had sought to reintroduce and expand guest houses in the Maldives – a development the party claimed was needed to bring a “paradigm shift” in general thinking and economic development in the Maldives.

After 40 years of concentrating primarily on exclusive island-based resort tourism, Hamid accused former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom during his 30 years of power of creating a “total disconnect” between local people and the country’s famous high-end tourism product.

“They local people Islamic rhetoric while talking something very different to tourists,” he claimed.

Pointing to the ‘mini-manifesto’ released by the MDP in the build up to this year’s elections, Hamid claimed that was capacity for an additional 600,00 tourists to travel to the Maldives annually, yet there was not enough options to accommodate them.

“All across this country, you see that many islands are ready for [middle-market tourism]. There are impressive cafes. People who have worked in the tourism industry are setting up businesses based on their experiences,” he said. “Tourism is very much a business we know and some of these places are quite sophisticated.”

As part of the MDP’s election pledge, Hamid claimed that some MVR120 million was set to be pledged as part of a policy to provide “seed money” to help establish guest houses and supporting industries.

He said that guest houses have always been a central policy of the MDP to support national development.

By comparison, Hamid claimed that before coming to power, the previous government under former President Gayoom had tried to paint tourism on local islands as “haraam” to discourage interest and investment.

He claimed such a strategy was overseen by certain resort owners and tourism magnates alleged by the MDP to being central in bringing the present government to power on February 7, 2012.  Nasheed himself resigned following a mutiny by sections of the police and military.

Both Nasheed and the MDP have continued to contend that the transfer of power was a “coup d’etat”, despite the findings of a Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) last year.

Responding to the party’s previous reported support for a tourism boycott, MP Hamid claimed the party had always committed itself to what it called selective boycotts – rather than calling for tourists to outright reject the destination.

“We are not saying that all resort operators are bad. But some of them were directly involved in the coup and have sought to exploit their positions,” he said.

Hamid denied the party had sought to boycott the industry outright, claiming instead to be targeting resort owners that he alleged ran their businesses unethically in the style of “cartels”.

Nasheed’s tourism potential

Just last month, in an open-editorial piece reprinted in Minivan News, former President Nasheed claimed that only 50 people directly profited from the resort industry in the Maldives, limiting what he claimed were a wealth of economic and social policies.

“What the average Maldivian wants is basic. We want a way to increase our income. We want to broaden our narrow financial horizons through development.

It is not that we lack this capacity to develop. We have plentiful natural resources. If we settle for the current economic status quo, believing that what we have now is the limit to what we are entitled to, it will mean that our true wealth potential remains untapped,” he wrote at the time.

“What the MDP and I have always pointed out is this basic fact: we want to develop. To upgrade beyond the current status quo. The ordinary Maldivian’s complaint is that of poverty, of financial anxiety. We want a wallet with the wads; we want to realise that financial progress is possible. The political office is a place that should offer solutions to these complaints. This is its responsibility and obligation.”

Meanwhile, an island owner involved in the country’s burgeoning mid-market holiday sector last week slammed new regulations imposing financial restrictions on tourism joint venture projects with the government, claiming the legislation outright excludes small and medium-scale investors.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

High blood pressure “silent killer” of one in 10 Maldivians

High blood pressure is the leading risk factor for Maldivian deaths, and is much more prevalent among women than men nationwide.

One in 10 deaths in the Maldives, equaling over 100 yearly, can be attributed to this “silent killer” which often presents no symptoms.

High blood pressure – also referred to as hypertension – is a condition where blood vessels have a persistently raised pressure which can lead to heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, loss of vision, and premature death.

In the Maldives 32.9 percent of women, compared to 29.7 percent of men, are affected by hypertension, although the prevalence of men with hypertension is higher regionally and globally.

Hypertension has been increasing over the past decade in the Maldives. Economic progress has caused lifestyles to change drastically, reads a World Health Organisation (WHO) World Health Day report.

“In the era of globalisation, all countries are interrelated, rapid urbanisation, transition from agrarian life to wage-earning, and modern city life are considered to be the major contributors in the elevated blood pressure in urban areas,” WHO Representative Dr Akjemal Magtymova told Minivan News.

Unhealthy lifestyle and behavior risk factors for hypertension have increased, including consumption of processed foods containing excessive salt, low levels of physical activity, tobacco use, and obesity.

“Increasing levels of mental stress contribute to the adoption of unhealthy behaviors thus putting people at a higher risk of acquiring hypertension and related noncommunicable diseases,” the WHO South-East Asia Regional Director Dr Samlee Plianbangchang stated in his World Health Day 2013 message.

Magtymova explained “Some of the factors that may contribute to the higher prevalence of hypertension among Maldivian women include: no enough physical activity (affecting 41 percent of women in the Maldives compared with 37 percent of men), unhealthy diet (higher intake of salt, sugar and fat, – total cholesterol level in women is higher than in men), higher stress level, malnutrition in childhood and during reproductive age.”

For both men and women the prevalence of being overweight or obese is the highest in the Maldives compared to other countries in the South-East Asia Region.

“The 2008 data from the Maldives shows that among the adult population, 53 percent of women are overweight and 30 percent of men are overweight,” said Magtymova.

Over the past 14 years there has been an increasing trend of hypertension at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), physician Dr Ali Abdul Latheef explained in the WHO World Health Day report.

“What is alarming is that we now see a lot of young hypertensive patients. Many patients are in their early thirties and sometimes as young as early twenties,” said Dr Latheef.

Prevention

High blood pressure is both preventable and treatable, but remains a growing global public health issue, which is why ‘control your blood pressure’ is the WHO’s World Health Day 2013 (April 7) theme.

The WHO recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate physical exercise weekly to prevent diseases like hypertension, according to the WHO World Health Day article.

Eating a healthy diet including fruits and vegetables, while reducing salt and processed foods is also important.

Stopping tobacco use and reducing harmful alcohol intake must also be addressed.

However, regular blood pressure checkups are essential, because there are rarely warning signs of hypertension and it can also develop as blood vessels harden with age.

Magtymova stated the WHO recommends implementing evidence based strategies to address all behavioral risk factors for preventing hypertension.

“High level commitment is needed to reverse the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases in the Maldives.

“The WHO is assisting the Government of Maldives and working closely with the Ministry of Health to improve available data on risk factors, prevalence and trends, as well as address risk factors by establishing preventative measures,” said Magtymova.

She further detailed that the WHO closely collaborates and supports non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as the Diabetes Society of Maldives, SHE (Society of Health Education), Aged Care, the Autism Association, and Care Society.

Magtymova emphasised “A multi-sectoral approach is a key in addressing prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases as many determinants of non-communicable disease lie outside of the health sector.”

Thus, other UN agencies are also promoting healthy lifestyles, eating habits, school health education, as well as monitoring trends in malnutrition among children and mothers.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Comment: Maldivian leaders must act now to protect women, girls and the country’s reputation

In the last two weeks, nearly two million people across the world – including many people in the Maldives – have reacted in horror to the tragic story of a 15-year-old rape victim sentenced to be publicly flogged.

Sadly, this terrible case highlights a wider injustice: the yawning gap between the punishments applied to men and women in the Maldives.

A 2007 study by the Maldivian government’s own Ministry of Gender and Family showed that as many as one in three women between the ages of 15 and 49 have suffered either physical or sexual abuse. And fornication requires both a man and a woman, but 90% of those sentenced to flogging in the Maldives in 2011 were women.

How is this situation a reflection of justice, Islamic or any other kind?

It’s a good sign that the president has called on the attorney general to review the case of the 15-year-old girl, and that current laws and child protection mechanisms are being reviewed. But the citizens who signed this petition want to see further action: they want to know that other vulnerable women and girls in this country never have to go through such an ordeal. As we know, this is not the first time an incident like this has occurred: a similar sentence was handed out to a 14-year old during the last government.

This is why the petition calls for a moratorium on flogging and better laws to protect women and girls. It does so not to challenge the principles of Islamic law – in fact many people from across the Muslim world, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt have signed it, many of whom are practicing Muslims themselves and do not see flogging as ingrained in sharia law. This petition is not anti-Islamic justice: it’s pro-justice, particularly justice for women.

Contrary to some reports, the petition is also not an attack on the Maldivian people. Far from it. We stand in solidarity with the many Maldivians who are very concerned about this case, and the campaign urges the country’s leaders to act quickly to rescue the Maldives’ image, before this tragic case does any more damage to the vital tourist trade.

Around the world people are interested (and have a right to know) what kind of systems they’re supporting with their tourism dollars, and to make their holiday decisions accordingly. Richard Branson, head of Virgin Holidays groups and Virgin Airways, has warned of “enormous damage” to the country’s reputation unless serious action is taken.

Much of the media coverage has focused on a threatened “tourism boycott” – but we have never called for a full boycott of the important tourist trade and we’re engaging with the government right now to get action. What we do stand ready to do, however, is to inform tourists about what action is and isn’t being taken by the Maldives government to resolve this issue and change the law, and to identify those MPs and resort owners who are using their influence to push for positive change – and those who are not.

Furthermore, this petition is not aligned with any particular political party or faction in the Maldives. Avaaz is a 20 million strong global organisation that has campaigned for justice across the world on issues of the environment, human rights and conflict. One our most successful campaigns last year was to get countries to back Palestine’s bid for UN statehood – in the face of powerful, well-financed opposition from Israel and the United States.

There are countries that have poorer records when it comes to defending women’s rights, but when extreme cases spark the global public conscience it is crucial to call for respect for basic human rights whether it is the US, India or the Maldives. And this is just one of many battles for women’s rights Avaaz members have fought globally. In Afghanistan and Somalia, we’ve helped protect young women who bravely spoke out about horrific rapes by security forces; across the world, from India to the United States, we’ve lobbied for real action to counter the growing ‘rape trade’ in trafficked women and girls. This petition is part of that wider cause; to address flagrant injustices against women worldwide, and to build a better world for our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives.

Nearly a million tourists visit the Maldives every year because this country is known as a peaceful, romantic paradise. Now, double that number have signed this petition and that reputation is in jeopardy. But it’s not too late to rescue it. The Maldives is on a journey of democratic improvement. We want to support that journey.

Right now, it’s in the hands of the President and the People’s Majlis to protect Maldivian women – not only by ensuring this sentence is quickly overturned and this girl freed, but by speaking out against flogging now, and ensuring a bill that ends flogging and upholds girls and women’s right is tabled in parliament.

The fate of Maldivian women and girls, and the country’s progress and reputation, lies in their hands.

Ricken Patel is the executive director of Avaaz.org

This letter was first offered to Haveeru, SunOnline and Channel News Maldives, all of which declined the invitation to publish it.

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]

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldives government denies US$160 million arbitration talks with Axis Bank

The Attorney General (AG’s) Office has denied receiving any notice of arbitration from Axis Bank, one of the lenders backing a US$511 million airport development project voided by the government late last year.

In November 2012, President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s government declared void a concession agreement signed by the previous government with Indian firm GMR, to manage and build a new terminal at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), and ordered the company to leave the country within seven days.

Following the decision – later cleared by Singapore’s Supreme Court – project lender Axis Bank announced its intention to seek a repayment of loans taken out for the project, which were guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance and approved by the AG’s Office under the former government.

“Arbitration process”

The India-based Financial Express publication reported yesterday (April 5) that Axis Bank had initiated an arbitration process with the Maldives government as part of efforts to recover loans granted to GMR with an estimated value of US$160 million (MVR 2.4 billion).

Ahmed Usham, Deputy Solicitor General for the AG’s Office, told Minivan News today that although some discussions had been held with Axis Bank, there had been no notice of arbitration given to the state by the finance group over the loan issue.

“We have requested some documents from [the bank] and we are set to meet with them after receiving these,” he said.  “There has been no talk of arbitration.”

Usham added that the documents requested from Axis Bank by the AG’s Office pertained to loans taken from GMR as part of the INIA development.

Acting Minister of Finance Ahmed Mohamed said he too was not aware of any arbitration hearings concerning Axis Bank, or even if talks had been held on the matter.

“All I am aware of is that there was a teleconference held Thursday (April 4),” he stated.

GMR arbitration

The government meanwhile is set to participate Wednesday (April 10) in the preliminary hearing of a separate arbitration case with GMR over the decision to void its airport concession agreement .

Authorities have previously told local media that the meeting, scheduled to take place in London, was not an official arbitration hearing, but rather a means to outline the timeline for both parties to present their case. Once the process for the arbitration is agreed, official hearings are expected to begin in Singapore.

According to the Attorney General’s office, the Maldives will be represented by Singapore National University Professor M Sonaraja, while former Chief Justice of the UK, Lord Nicholas Addison Phillips, will represent GMR.

The arbitrator mutually agreed by both GMR and the government is retired senior UK Judge, Lord Leonard Hubert Hoffman.

Concession agreement

In 2010, GMR-Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) consortium, the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed and Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) entered into a 25-year concession agreement worth US$511 million (MVR 7.787 billion) – in which the GMR-MAHB Consortium was contracted with the management and upgrading of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) within the 25 year contract period.

However in November 2012, the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik declared the developer’s concession agreement void and ordered it to leave the country within seven days.

A last minute injunction from the Singapore High Court during arbitration proceedings was overturned on December 6, after Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon declared that “the Maldives government has the power to do what it wants, including expropriating the airport.”

GMR is seeking US$800 million in compensation for the sudden termination, while the Maldivian government is contending that it owes nothing as the contract was ‘void ab initio’, or invalid from the outset.

If decided in GMR’s favour, the outcome of the case could potentially see the Maldives facing sovereign bankruptcy, with millions of dollars in additional debt emptying the state’s already dwindling reserves, crippling the country’s ability to obtain further credit, and potentially sparking an economic or currency crisis.

If decided in the Maldives’ favour the case risks setting a legal precedent for effective nationalisation of foreign investments signed under previous governments, and placing existing investors further at the mercy of the country’s turbulent politics.

Kuwaiti interest

Discussing the future of INIA on Thursday, President Waheed was reported in local media as stating that authorities in Kuwait had expressed an interest to “assist in the development” of INIA, following a recent official visit to the country.

“Kuwait is really interested in the airport. It’s because we have received a great deal of assistance from the Kuwait Fund to develop the airport so far. They are well aware of it,” he was quoted in newspaper Haveeru as saying.

“They really believe that we have managed to develop the airport with the assistance of Kuwait. So there is a lot of interest. They are very happy that the government has now taken the initiative to develop the airport.”

President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad said he was in a meeting and unavailable for comment when contacted by Minivan News.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Fair trial for Nasheed “difficult to see” when judicial bench “cherrypicked to convict”: BHRC trial observers

Read the BHRC’s second independent trial observation

The UK’s Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) has expressed “serious concern” over the appointment of judges by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) in the trial of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Accounts of the appointment process, “if accurate, suggest egregious unconstitutional behaviour by the JSC in selecting the judicial bench to hear Mr Nasheed’s case,” stated BHRC Executive Committee member Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, who visited the Maldives to observe recent proceedings against Nasheed.

The committee has conducted several independent trial observations of proceedings involving the former President, who is charged over the detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed, during the final days of his presidency.

Nasheed and his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) maintain that the charges are a politically motivated attempt to prevent him contesting the 2013 presidential elections, challenging both the legitimacy of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court hearing the case, and the JSC’s appointment of judges to the case. The JSC itself includes several of Nasheed’s direct political opponents, including rival presidential candidate, resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim.

The Nasheed trial was meanwhile suspended by Chief Judge of the High Court last week pending a ruling into the legitimacy of the bench’s appointment – an action which led all other High Court judges to file a complaint against the Chief Judge with the JSC.

“It is difficult to see how proceedings presided over by a judicial bench, cherrypicked for their likelihood to convict by a highly politicised JSC, which includes a number of Mr Nasheed’s direct political rivals, could in any way be deemed to comply with constitutional and international fair trial rights, including the right to an ‘independent court established by law’,” stated Ghrálaigh, in her concluding remarks.

“The BHRC welcomes the current investigation by Parliament’s Independent Commission’s Oversight Committee into the judicial selection process in the case, but notes with concern the refusal by the JSC to cooperate with that investigation,” she added.

“Lack of transparency in the constitution of judicial benches and in the assignment of cases fundamentally undermines the proper administration of justice: fair trial guarantees and the requirements of natural justice demand not only that justice be done, but that it be seen to be done,” her report states.

The report provides a detailed overview of state of the judiciary and political context in the lead up to Nasheed’s resignation and prosecution.

Ghrálaigh states that given concerns about the JSC’s politicisation and “serious questions” concerning its appointment of judges to the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court, “it is perhaps surprising that the court should have decided of its own motion (“ex proprio motu”) to deny the request made by Mr Nasheed’s legal team to postpone the proceedings until after the elections, in the absence of any objection by the prosecuting authorities to such an adjournment.”

“Although there is nothing to prohibit courts from making decisions governing their process ex proprio motu, the allegations concerning the manner of selection of the Hulhumalé Magistrates’ Court panel render the Court’s stated reasoning for its decision all the more disquieting,” she stated.

The BHRC was not seeking to downplay the seriousness of the charges against Nasheed, she noted.

“However, what is clear is that the case is far from straightforward. Central both to the context of Judge Abdulla’s arrest and to the nature of the criminal proceedings against the former president are fundamental questions of judicial independence in the Maldives.”

“The charge against Mr Nasheed is that he acted “in a manner contrary to law” in ordering the arrest and detention of a senior judge. Although the details of the prosecution case have yet to be set out, it is clear that the Article 81 offence with which Mr Nasheed is charged is not a trivial one,” the report states.

“The BHRC notes with concern the increasing number of reports and statements by international bodies, including those referenced in this report, which conclude that the Maldives does not have an independent and impartial judiciary,” the report states.

“The BHRC further notes the view inside and outside the Maldives that the failure by the institutions of the State, in particular the JSC, properly to implement constitutionally mandated reforms to create an impartial judiciary, independent from political pressures, and the failure properly to investigate and/or sanction allegations of egregious, unlawful and/or unconstitutional judicial conduct, have served significantly to derail the State’s transition to a functioning constitutional democracy,”

Given extensive local and international concern over the state of the Maldivian judiciary, Ghrálaigh observes that the context for the criminalisation of Nasheed’s detention of Judge Abdulla, hangs on whether the Chief Judge is, as stipulated by Article 81 under which Nasheed is being charge, “an innocent person”.

“It is against that background, and in the context of a number of serious complaints against Judge Abdulla, that the order for his arrest was made. That background is intrinsically bound up in the nature of the charge against Mr Nasheed: the wording of Article 81, which criminalises a public servant for “us[ing] the authority of his office to intentionally arrest or detain an[…] innocent person contrary to the law” suggests that the context to the arrest, and in particular the allegations against Judge Abdulla, will necessarily be central to the determination of the charges against the former President,” the BHRC report states.

Ghrálaigh notes that the JSC was “also subject to significant criticism for its failure properly to oversee individual complaints against individual judges. One judge against whom a number of serious complaints were levied was Judge Abdulla, accused inter alia of “implicat[ion] in 14 cases of obstruction of policy duty”, including “strategically delaying cases involving opposition [Gayoom loyalist] members”, “twist[ing] and interpret[ing] laws so they could not be enforced against certain politicians”, “accepting bribes to release convicts”13 and “hijack[ing] the whole court”.

“I was informed that a JSC complaints committee charged in December 2009 with investigating Judge Abdulla, failed to issue any findings, following an injunction sought by, and granted to the judge by the Civil Court, preventing his further investigation by the JSC and/or the publication of any report concerning his conduct,” Ghrálaigh noted.

The JSC, responsible for reappointing judges including Judge Abdulla in 2010 at the conclusion of the constitutional interim period, “failed properly ‘to fulfill its constitutional mandate of proper vetting and reappointing of judicial candidates’, a failure regarding which international bodies, including the International Commission of Jurists, have expressed concern,” she added.

“Rather, in August 2010, amidst much controversy, it proceeded to confirm almost every Gayoom-regime judge, qualified or not, in office for life, finding that the constitutional provisions regarding judicial appointment were merely “symbolic”.

“Consequently, the Maldivian judiciary remains largely unchanged since the country’s transition to a constitutional democracy: the vast majority of judges in office, including Judge Abdulla, are political appointees of former President Gayoom, and many still lack any formal training in law.”

Furthermore, “The blocking in the People’s Majlis of key pieces of legislation including the Penal Code and the Criminal Evidence Act, that would provide for equality and uniformity in the application of a codified body of law, means that mainly untrained judges continue to wield considerable discretion in their determination of cases.”

Read the BHRC’s second independent trial observation

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)