Tag: minivan news

Parliament votes out CSC President Fahmy over sexual harassment allegations

Parliament on Tuesday voted out President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Mohamed Fahmy on charges of sexual harassment against an employee.

The 70 members who partook in the vote were split 38 for removing Fahmy, 32 against and 2 abstentions.

The parliament debated on the report on the case submitted by the Committee on Independent Institutions prior to the vote.

Chair of the Committee, Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed, said that in addition Fahmy himself and the employee who had submitted the complaint Aminath Shahma, other members of the CSC and staff members had been questioned by the committee.

Nasheed said that other staff members, including Fahmy’s personal secretary, had made statements which backed Shahma’s allegations, while Fahmy’s defense had nothing to support it. He added that the committee had asked both Fahmy and Shahma if they were willing to repeat their statements under oath, to which Shahma had agreed while Fahmy refused to respond.

After much debate by MPs with opposing views on the parliament floor, Nasheed responded saying the the Committee on Independent Institutions had oversight mandate over the CSC, and that it did not need to conduct a criminal investigation to remove Fahmy from his post.

“What we applied are widely accepted civil standards. Based on our findings, 7 out of the 10 committee members decided that it was more likely that Fahmy had committed this act than that he did not. And that is enough to remove him from his post,” Nasheed said.

He added that this had no relation to Fahmy’s role in the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) – of which the CSC president is by default a member. He also clarified that unlike the claims of some MPs who had spoken in Fahmy’s defense, the Prosecutor General’s office had not sent the case back to the police but rather had asked for additional clarifications.

Workplace harassment: a common problem for women

Many MPs, including independent, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs, spoke in favour of removing Fahmy from his post.

DRP MP Rozaina Adam, MDP MPs Eva Abdulla and Mariya Ahmed Didi spoke of workplace harassment being a common issue faced by Maldivian women.

Although MP Visam Ali stated that the matter needed further investigation and submitted an amendment asking for parliament to postpone Fahmy’s dismissal until the authorities looked into the matter more deeply, Rozaina stated that the parliament was not mandated to run a criminal investigation and that it should remove Fahmy as he was believed to have committed an act unacceptable from a man in his position.

“Honour is not something we get just by addressing each other as ‘Honourable MP’, as stipulated by the regulations. We need to prove to our constituents that we work in their interest,” Eva Abdulla said.

“Even the former Auditor General was removed because this parliament through its findings believed him unfit for his post. It was not done after a police investigation.”

“In the JSC, Fahmy actually voted in a way that benefited [the MDP], by voting that the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court is illegal. The MDP will work with principles and not a political mindset,” Ali Waheed said.

“Shahuma stood up and shared this issue with a lot of courage. We cannot turn our backs on this,” he went on, “And this HRCM report – They say they can neither prove whether he has or has not done anything. What have they found? What’s the point of releasing this one day before the vote?”

Removing Fahmy may lead to more allegations

Members of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) mainly spoke in defense of Fahmy, alleging that this could “possibly be a politically-motivated allegation”.

Most of them stated that since a criminal investigation was involved it was better to let the police and courts come to a decision on the matter before the parliament voted on removing him.

PPM MP Shifaq Mufeed said, “Let’s not turn this parliament into an investigative body”, adding that the police were more qualified to run a professional investigation.

“We might be faced with an unrecoverable loss if we remove Fahmy, as he is a member of both the CSC and the JSC. If we remove Fahmy, there may come planned false allegations against other members of independent commission,” he said.

“To Shahuma, I have to say: ‘be patient, madam’. Let the police investigate. We are not going to incriminate Fahmy and take Shahuma’s side, nor are we going to incriminate Shahuma and take Fahmy’s side.”

Adhaalath party member and MP Ibrahim Muthalib also spoke against removing Fahmy in parliament today.

“If we are to make our women nude and exposed, and then send them out to mingle with men, then why speak of protecting them? Honourable Speaker, this cannot be done in this manner. If a man and a woman are in a room alone, Satan will be there as the third person and will encourage sinful activities,” Muthalib said.

“Their place is in their houses, to serve their husbands and look after children. If we give them the opportunity to go out and mingle then we can no longer talk about their dignity and protection. It is people who harass women who are now speaking in their defense here today,” he further added.

Cannot confirm whether or not the harassment happened: HRCM

Meanwhile on Monday, a day ahead of the vote against Fahmy in parliament, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) released a report on the case.

HRCM claimed that they had not received enough evidence to prove whether or not Fahmy had harassed the employee.

The report further said that although Fahmy had sent a text to Shahuma with an apology, it was unclear what the apology had been meant for.

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President’s Office “not convincing” on abuse of workers’ rights: ITF

A letter from the President’s Office claiming to address the alleged rights abuses made by Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) management has been labelled “interesting, but not convincing” by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

The ITF previously raised concern over a lack of correspondence from the President’s Office, announcing earlier this month that it was calling on the government to intervene over “union intimidation”, or “face embarrassment wrought by widespread international solidarity action”.

The ITF sent two letters addressed to the President’s Office, the last of which was sent on October 29.

On Monday (November 19) the ITF received a letter from the President’s Office stating that the president had met with representatives from both the Maldives Ports Workers Union (MPWU) and the newly proposed Maldives Trade Union Congress, following the alleged labour rights violations.

Dated November 14, the letter further states: “The Maldives parliament has recently approved the eight conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The president is fully committed in promoting and protecting the rights of workers in the Maldives. The government will take the necessary steps to address the legitimate grievance of the Maldives Ports Workers Union (MPWU) and support the efforts of its members.”

In response to the letter, an ITF spokesperson told Minivan News: “We find it interesting, but not convincing. The MPWU informs us that the problems remain, and need to be addressed.”

President of MPWU Ibrahim Khaleel said that a meeting did take place with President Mohamed Waheed Hassan on November 7 to discuss matters relating to the allegations.

“The president said that he would address the issue, however two weeks have passed and there has been no sign of negotiation and I have had no contact with the President’s Office,” said Khaleel.

Minivan tried to contact President’s Office Spokesman Masood Imad, but could not get through at time of press.

MPL have previously denied all accusations of rights abuse, claiming that staff members in question were disciplined on the basis of “disobedience” and “punctuality”.

MPL CEO Mahdi Imad told Minivan News earlier this month that the company had responded to the ITF, which it said later “apologised” having raised the issue without checking facts.

However, the ITF has rubbished the claims, maintaining that it had so far had no reply from the MPL regarding the concerns. The global trade union dismissed the state-owned company’s assumption that it had “won us over”.

Whilst ITF received no response to the letters sent by the organisation’s general secretary, David Cockroft, it has since been learned that MPL did reply to an earlier letter sent from ITF’s Asia Pacific Office in India.

According to an ITF spokesperson, the Asia Pacific office did not consider MPL’s reply honest or useful, and instead referred the matter to London for further action.

In a letter obtained by Minivan News, originally addressed to ITF, MPL state that they were “extremely surprised” by the rights abuse claims stated in the ITF’s letter.

“We did inquire with the Maldives National Port Workers Union (MNPWU) which is a legally recognised union of any such complaints and they have categorically denied of any complaints they have made to any international body,” the letter read.

The MPWU accused MPL of forming the Maldives National Port Workers Union to shove aside the alleged violation of employee rights by the corporation.

The MNPWU was formed just five days after the MPL received a letter from the Asia Pacific Regional Office of ITF.

The letter concludes with a warning to ITF, stating: “Given the present political situation in Maldives, many such unfounded, unauthoured illegal so called associations and unions could be sending you more such letters, for [the purposes of] defaming the present government internationally.”

MPL CEO Mahdi told Minivan News earlier this month that the workers behind the allegations still had the options of taking their cases to the country’s employment tribunal to resolve any grievances that the company would then have to abide by.

Mahdi claimed that workers dismissed under previous MPL management in 2009 and 2010 had under similar circumstances been reinstated under his stewardship, as well as receiving compensation.

“These people who have been disciplined, they know a tribunal would not come out in their favour,” he said.

Mahdi also denied accusations that he operated MPL in a politically motivated manner, adding that the company was run in a “very technical” way.

“I will challenge anybody who says we are politically motivated, I believe no one has a bigger right than anyone else,” he added.

Mahdi alleged that one of the dismissed workers who had gone onto make accusations about political motivation had come into his own office and shouted at him, adding that billions of companies around the world would discipline such actions by staff of a senior representative.

“This is work disruption, no one is allowed to break work regulations like this. Belittling and scolding me when I’m on the street in public is OK. But here in the work place they must show me respect,” he said.

Earlier this year, sacked MPL employee and President of the MPWU, Ibrahim Khaleel, alleged that the MPL was trying to “fabricate the truth” about the violations of worker rights.

In a letter on July 12 to MPL CEO Mahdi Imad, Chairperson of the MPWU Ibrahim Khaleel said: “Although the constitution guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, it is now common within MPL to stop employees from expressing certain political views, and violate the Employment Act by unfairly dismissing employees and transferring employees to different departments without prior warning or explanation of any offence committed.”

Speaking to Minivan News earlier this month, Khaleel said the company mainly targeted employees who supported the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

“They send people with cameras to MDP protests to check which MPL employees take part in the protests,” Khaleel said.

In addition to the four employees who have been dismissed at the time, 30 had initially been suspended and 10 have been transferred from their position at the Malé port to Thilafushi Island port, Khaleel claimed.

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Case alleging corruption in parliament’s chamber automation project forwarded to ACC

A case submitted by the Auditor General alleging corruption in the Parliament Chamber Automation Project has been forwarded to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).

The audit report of the parliament for 2010 highlighted issues with the MVR 2.1 million (US$136,000) project to install touch screens on every desk inside the parliament chamber.

The case was forwarded to the ACC by parliament after Speaker Abdulla Shahid had informed the parliament secretariat to comply with the request of the Auditor General, a statement by parliament revealed.

The audit report alleges that sufficient assessment was not carried out for the project, despite it being required to have gone through the tender evaluation board.

This resulted in the company awarded the contract to allegedly reap excessive profits due to the oversight.

The project was installed to facilitate viewing documents and to create an almost ‘paperless environment’.

The audit report noted that the project was awarded to a Maldivian company for MVR 1.3 million (US$84,300) on March 25 2010.

Despite being given 37 days to complete the project, the company took a total of 81 days, costing an additional MVR 720,425 (US$46,720) to complete the work.

The report added that additional funds had to be spent on the project because the software requested by the Parliament Secretariat turned out to be incompatible with the hardware used in parliament.

The software, called Thin Client, also turned out to be incompatible with the touch screens and touch keyboards used in the project.

Despite MVR 24,000 (US$1550) being spent on obtaining expert advice, the consultant was not held responsible for the additional money spend on the project.

The mistake led to the 100 Thin Client touch pads being removed and replaced by Nettops.

A company was awarded MVR 830,000 (US$53,617) to provide Nettops after winning a bid to supply the hardware.

MVR 1.3 million (US$84,300) was then paid to the new company for the installation of six servers, eight server switches and 100 touch screens.

The audit report noted that the parliament secretariat had conferred undue advantage to the contractor.

The secretariat did not deduct liquidated damages following the contractor failing to complete the project before the agreed deadline, as required by the Finance Act.

It was instead stated in the contract that the secretariat can decide whether to deduct liquidated damages or not.

Several opinions were included in the report indicating that the project was undertaken without proper studies, and in a manner that was not beneficial to the parliament.

Despite one aim of the project being to create a ‘paperless environment’, the report noted that parliament expenditure on photocopying and toner cartridges had not gone down.

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Contraception use in the Maldives still too low: UN Representative Andrew Cox

Contraception prevalence rates in the Maldives are still “too low”, United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) Representative Andrew Cox has claimed.

Speaking at the launch of UNFPA’s State of World Population 2012 (SWOP) report, Cox said that while many aspects of family planning have greatly improved in the Maldives, contraceptive prevalence rates are lower in comparison to other countries of similar development rate and culture.

Figures revealed by Cox show that infant mortality in the Maldives has dropped from 63 deaths per 1000 births in 1986 to 11 per 1000 in 2009, and that a baby born in the Maldives today can expect to live for 74 years – more than 20 years older than a child born in 1980.

However, according to Cox contraceptive prevalence in the Maldives is considerably low in comparison to other comparable countries.

“The prevalence rate of contraception is too low, especially for a country like the Maldives. It is definitely something we need to work with the government on,” Cox told Minivan News.

Further figures revealed by Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen – who attended the launch to release the SWOP report – show that one in every four pregnancies in the Maldives were unplanned, while 16 percent were unwanted and a further ten percent mistimed.

Deen further stated that the family production unit at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital’s (IGMH) records show 33 percent of women aged 23 had ‘out of wedlock’ pregnancies.

Deen gave his assurance that the government will be part of the development of family planning, adding that “[family planning] is a must”.

“Very often this type of information is easier for non-government organisations (NGOs) to pass on. We support the gender ministry and the health ministry, and if it comes to financial support we would help them.

“Family planning affects the whole economy in a positive way, so we would definitely be willing to help out,” Deen said.

The SWOP report, entitled ‘By Choice, Not by Chance: Family Planning, Human Rights and Development’, focuses on the need for family planning both globally and in the Maldives.

UNFPA’s role in Maldives began in the early 1980s with the launch of national programmes on family planning and population. Since then, four country programmes have been launched addressing issues around family planning.

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President Waheed’s hand “almost impossible to play”: Mike Mason

Former Energy Advisor to President Nasheed Mike Mason has published an open reply to President Mohamed Waheed, following a letter Waheed sent to key international supporters of Nasheed seeking to justify his decisions and establish the legitimacy of his leadership. Mason, a former mining engineer and expert on renewable energy, carbon finance and offsetting, was the architect of a US$3 billion renewable energy investment scheme cut short by the events of February 7. Mason subsequently resigned. This letter first appeared on his blog.

Dear President Waheed,

Thank you for your letter setting out the position as you see it. Let me in turn set out my stall, before replying to the substance of what you say.

As you know, you and I have always had a cordial, even friendly relationship. I have always thought you a reputable and straightforward person and continue to believe in your personal integrity.

It is also the case that I am not Nasheed’s man. I have tremendous respect for him as a democrat, and a man of high principle and great vision, but I have disagreed with him very strongly on issues in the past, and believe he made many mistakes in his Presidency. That said, I suspect my assessment is fairly unreliable as I am sure he had pressures on him, as I am sure you have on you, which were invisible to the outside world.

I hope therefore what I say can be taken as offering you a helpful perspective from an outsider who came to like the Maldives and its people very much, and who made many friends there in the short time I was involved. The information I have about events in the Maldives, therefore, comes not only from the ‘Nasheed camp’ but from a range of sources with quite different perspectives.

Now to the substance of this response.

I have no reason to question that part of your letter which sets out the extent to which you personally were, and continue, to be committed to the Maldives, and democracy – or to the extent to which you put yourself and family at risk to support Nasheed. However I fear that your personal views and beliefs are not the driving issues here. It is the perception, not the reality, which matters more.

The key issues, I believe, are:

  1. The Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) was set up in the hope of setting the record surrounding your accession to power straight, and dismissing the smell of coup and corruption. Unfortunately it failed to do this.Two reasons come to mind: firstly the choice of Judge Selvam does not seem to have been designed to allay concerns about bias. The Burma/Singapore/Maldives/Oil/Heroin rumours and the Judge’s close connections to the ruling elite in Singapore make anything he does look suspect – especially when the former chairman of the STO is quoted in ‘The Week’ as allegedly saying he has friends in Singapore who would have told him if the police were investigating. Whatever the truth, and I cannot judge that, choosing Judge Selvam was guaranteed to create more dissent than agreement. Secondly, the rumours I have heard about the pressures that led to Saeed resigning from the CoNI will not make it easy to see the report as unbiased and complete – even if the substance of the content is correct and the rumours are false.
  2. The second issue is the perception that the courts and judiciary in the Maldives are corrupt and incompetent, and politically tied to their old masters. Judge Abdullah is, I fear, widely seen as a travesty of a chief justice, and if he represents the rest it is not surprising many have lost faith in the system.

Thus the circumstances of the transfer of power as seen on numerous videos, coupled with the handling of the CoNI and the actions of the judiciary, means that I fear there is no way you will ever remove the taint of corruption and coup from this government – however clean, honest and transparent you personally may be. Unfortunately that’s life – perception counts more than reality – whatever the reality is. There is, I believe, almost nothing that you can do as President to heal the country’s ills however hard you try, or however good you are.

Note though that I said “Almost Nothing”. There is, in my humble opinion, one way out of this which would set you up as a President to be remembered – whether or not you win the next election, and it is this.

It is quite clear that, in any future election, the MDP have to be free to campaign as they wish. It is also clear that Nasheed MUST be free to campaign also. Only if he loses a genuine, free and fair, election in which he was openly given every facility to campaign, will the world (and I dare say many Maldivians) put the doubts about the 7th Feb behind them. Indicting him in a court whose authority is being challenged will simply make things worse.

It is also clear that a real leader must recognise publicly the issues surrounding the judiciary, and I suspect some fundamental issues of a faulty constitution and legal system.

A secondary, related issue, is the wide perception that drugs and gross corruption are in some way related to politics in dark corners. Is it coincidence that Burma is a major heroin producer? It will take a brave man to sweep out the taint of past corruption which runs a real risk of becoming a current problem, and even fatally tainting the next election.

Now to something I do really know about – money, oil and energy. The Maldives runs the risk of becoming bankrupted by its oil use – at the very least its economic development will be curtailed and people will eventually become poorer. The solutions are there and both affordable and financeable – or rather they were. You will never attract the level of finance needed to wean your society off expensive oil unless you have an environment where contract law is sacrosanct, the threat of nationalisation is removed, and you have transparent and predictable government and structures. Even the talk of nationalising the airport will set the country’s investment plans back decades.

In summary – I think you have an almost impossible hand to play. There are some cards you can play – but I fear that your advisors and political colleagues may hold you back from the rather brave decisions needed to play them. Play them, though, and the world will sit up and notice.

I wish you all the best,

Your friend,

Mike Mason

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]

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Jabir responsible for items found in Hondaidhoo: Agriculture Ministry

Items found on Hondaidhoo island in Haa Dhaal Atoll during the police raid are MP Abdulla Jabir’s responsibility, the Agriculture Ministry has stated.

Ten people including Jabir were arrested for the alleged consumption of alcohol on Thursday during a police raid on the island. All but two suspects have been released by Kulhudhuhfushi Magistrate Court.

Speaking at a press conference held on Sunday (November 18) Jabir claimed that the island was being run by Hamdhan Zaki, son of Special Envoy to the former President Mohamed Nasheed, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki.

Despite this, Deputy State Agriculture Minister Ali Solih said that Jabir himself had signed on behalf of Yacht Tours – the company Jabir is Managing Director of – to lease the island for agricultural purposes with the Agriculture Ministry on January 30 2003.

“Hence anyone, including us, can only set foot on the island with Jabir’s consent. Jabir must be responsible for anything found on the island. Article 18 of the agreement states that there shall not be any activities which violates the Islamic Shariah and the Maldivian constitution.

“The bearer of the signature must be responsible in such a case. Jabir has said that some tourists from nearby resorts go to the island for picnics, however it is not an island leased for that purpose,” Solih added.

According to Solih, the party who leased the island is entitled to all the powers granted under the agreement, however in case of a violation of the agreement by the party; the article does not prevent the ministry from taking action against them.

“The island was not leased as a picnic island, hence the president or the home minister will not be held responsible for it. No one has to be held liable for something Jabir has to be responsible for,” Solih added.

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Maldives sacks Human Rights Minister, “now under military dictatorship” says ruling coalition MP

Jumhoree Party (JP) Deputy Leader and MP Abdulla Jabir has challenged the legitimacy of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan and his current government, alleging the country is now run by the police and military.

His wife Dhiyana Saeed, President Waheed’s Minister for Gender and Human Rights, was subsequently sacked.

At a press conference regarding the police raid of  arrests of himself, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, former President’s Special Envoy Ibrahim Hussain Zaki and other persons on charges of consuming alcohol, Jabir strongly criticized Waheed and the current government.

“They were so violent at first I thought they were some pirates or terrorists, they didn’t have badges or identification. Only after hours of brutality did they claim to be police and tell us we were arrested under charges of drug abuse,” Jabir said.

“I kept asking why theywere  acting in such a violent manner, but no one provided a reply.”

He said that they had been handcuffed for close to 12 hours before they had been transferred to the Kulhudhuhfushi court.

Jabir, who had refused to provide urine samples to the police, explained his stand: “I repeated this to the judge too. I said I’m ready to give urine, or even shave off all the hair on my head and give it to them, or even blood,but that they had to follow laws and procedures when making arrests.”

The MP in the ruling coalition party further alleged that “some persons” in the executive had lately been finding it “hard to digest statements in Majlis which were made in the public interest” and had resorted to tactics such as phone tapping. He also said that since military vehicles were involved, it was “reason enough” to believe that Minister of Defence and National Security Mohamed Nazim were complicit.

Jabir said he had made a phone call to the Minister of Home Affairs Dr Mohamed Jameel right after he was released by the court.

“The Home Minister, Dr Jameel, said he had no knowledge [of the arrests]. So I have to say now that this country does not even have a home minister.”

“I am a JP MP who has supported Waheed and voted with his interests in parliament. I am also a deputy leader of JP, which is a coalition member of this government. Why did they then beat us up like this?” Jabir continued.

“Zaki nearly died. I almost died, too. I must say now the government is trying to kill off MPs.”

Speaking of the ministers, Jabir said: “No one has yet submitted a case on their cabinet posts to the courts, and the courts have not decided whether they are in their posts legitimately.”

“Even though the CNI said that this is not a coup, under what law does that CNI even qualify as a legal court?” Jabir said, questioning the legitimacy of the government – of which his own party is a coalition member.

“I see no reason why the President does not have to take the responsibility for this. That is, if there is a president. I now question whether there even is a president here. I guess the courts will provide us with an answer to that,” Jabir stated.

“I was giving Waheed my full support. But now I have been brutally beaten up for no reason at all. How can I support him after this? I can only describe the people behind this as devils disguised as humans,” he continued.

“I now see that what we have in the Maldives is a military dictatorship. We need to hold early elections as soon as possible. I will do everything I can in my capacity as a parliament member to facilitate early elections.”

“You were not even elected”: former HR Minister to President

Waheed administration’s Human Rights Minister, Dhiyana Saeed,  also attended her husband Jabir’s press conference the previous day “as moral support to [her] husband who has been badly brutalised.”

She was subsequently dismissed from cabinet.

“In my career, I have always had to take the side of the police and defend their actions, although I have never found it easy to accept their brutality towards citizens,” Saeed said, adding, “But this time, I have seen too close the violence they dealt out. No one should be beaten up, regardless of what the charges for arrest are.”

Saeed then proceeded to demonstrate through role play the exact manner in which the police had brutalised her husband, acting out how and where the police had hit him.

“Police even hit Jabir on his private organs so hard that he is still bleeding. I would know, I have seen for myself,” Saeed said, sharing the doctor’s reports to support the point.

According to Saeed, she had sent a text message to Waheed upon learning of Jabir’s arrest: “I said to him that he would know very well which of the cabinet ministers have spouses who consume alcohol, and that I knew very well why Jabir was arrested. I was implying that it was politically motivated and had to do with Monday’s vote in parliament. If it honestly is about alcohol consumption, then I believe there’s a huge number of people that need to be arrested.”

“I also told him that I am very shocked to see the levels he is stooping to to hold on to his post, and said that he was not even elected by a public vote. I have quite a lot of things I can say under oath too.”

Saeed then claimed that Waheed had responded stating that he was unaware of the arrests, adding that he himself was questioning who could have done this and for what purpose. According to her, Waheed himself said that he suspected it had been done in connection to Monday’s vote, in order to create more hostility towards him among the MPs.

Dhiyana Saeed was terminated from her post as the Human Rights Minister on Monday, following her public criticism of the current administration.

Abbas quits JP over Jabir’s comments

Meanwhile, government spokesperson and council member of JP Abbas Adil Riza has quit the party today, stating as a reason that judging by the statements made by people in the party leadership, he did not like the direction the party seemed to be moving in.

“Jabir’s statements are not sentiments that I can agree with. I don’t accept that it is within my principles to stay with people who evade taxes and defame police and other people. That is why I am leaving the party,” Abbas said.

We acted professionally during the arrest: police

Police have made public their official video of the arrest on Monday. Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef denied that police had caused any physical harm to any of the arrested persons.

He however said that those who had restricted arrest had been pushed to the ground and handcuffed, adding that any damage caused through showing resistance was the responsibility of the arrested.

Haneef stated that police had followed normal procedures and acted professionally in the operation.

Abdulla Jabir and Dhiyana Saeed’s press conference:

Police footage of Jabir’s arrest:

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“Everybody running the state as they please”: President Waheed

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan told a rally on the island Kinolhas in Raa Atoll over the weekend that the Maldives “does not have a leader now.”

“As some people [say], the Maldives does not have a leader now. Lots of leaders are here, and all are of the same level. And so then everybody runs the state as they please,” Waheed told the rally.

“And the senior leader should not say anything. If he does, then it’s time to take away his post quickly,” Waheed said.

Waheed’s remarks came amid rising tension between parliament and the executive following the arrest of two opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs and an MP from the ruling coalition, Abdulla Jabir, on charges of a consumption of alcohol.

The Civil Court on Sunday also ordered the arrest of two MPs in the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) – another ruling coalition member – in connection with unpaid loans of several million dollars with the Bank of Maldives, through companies with ties to DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali.

DRP MP Azim alleged that President Waheed and other senior members of the executive had approached him, offering to cancel the court summons if he agreed during Monday’s vote on secret balloting to vote in the way they preferred.

The court hearing was scheduled at 1:00pm – the same time as the vote. The court order was subsequently cancelled.

“It is difficult to believe that the court order for the arrest of the two MPs, Azim and Nashiz, at the time the vote is scheduled is a coincidence. It proves the allegations made by a huge section of society that the courts are politicised,” said the MDP in a statement.

The wife of Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Jabir, Gender and Human Rights Minister Dhiyana Saeed, said following her husband’s arrest that President Waheed had sent her a text message denying any knowledge of the arrests.

“The leader of the country is saying that he himself is questioning the motivation behind this and who it was that did this. Police made the arrests, right? So this is an allegation against police by the President. And he said in the SMS that there is a possibility that some people might have done this to antagonise people against [the President] with regard to the vote on Monday,” Saeed told an emergency meeting of parliament’s privileges committee.

According to Saeed, President Waheed had alleged that the arrests were “directly connected to Monday’s vote.”

That vote concerned whether to allow a ‘secret vote’ in an as-yet unscheduled no-confidence motion against President Waheed. The MDP-initiated proposition was ultimately defeated during Monday’s parliamentary vote by a narrow margin of 34 to 39 votes.

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz meanwhile declared that President Waheed had no prior knowledge of the arrests of the MPs.

“Such operations are not carried out by police after informing the President or the Home Minister. This institution does not have any political influence. We have the room to function with professionalism,” Riyaz told local media.

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Thinahoo police station attack trial postponed due to suspect’s exams

Four suspects involved in the attack on the Thinadhoo police station in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll on February 8, 2012 are to have their trial postpone due to one suspect taking his GCE O’level exams.

A Juvenile Court official said that the trial has been postponed until 17 December.

The four suspects – all aged 17 – are accused of causing damage to  Thinadhoo police station and attacking police officers between 4:30pm and 8:30pm on February 8. They are also suspected of forcibly entering island’s Council Office on the same day.

They have been charged under article 6 (b), with reference to article 2 (f,g) of the Terrorism Prevention Act.

Article 6 (b) states that any person found guilty of the act of terrorism shall be sentenced between 10 and 15 years imprisonment or banishment.

Eighty-seven people have been charged with terrorism for torching government buildings and vehicles at the police station.

According to Media Official of the Criminal Court Ahmed Mohamed Manik, a trial for this case has not been scheduled.

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