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“Certain actions by protesters could be classed as terrorism”: Police Superintendent

Superintendent of Police Abdulla Nawaz has claimed that certain actions performed by protesters in the recent demonstrations in Male’ could be defined as acts of terrorism.

The recent protests in the capital have seen supporters of former President Nasheed clash with riot police, resulting in multiple arrests and damage to police property.

Nawaz told Minivan News on Monday (February 18) that certain acts performed by protesters over the last few days – including setting fire to a police vehicle – “could be classed as terrorism”.

“It is not that we [Maldives Police Service (MPS)] are directly saying it was terrorism, but more the setting fire to a police vehicle and barricade, as well as threatening phone calls to officers, could be defined under terrorism.

“We always ask protesters not to opt for violence, it doesn’t matter which party they belong to. I personally believe things should not have happened like they have been recently,” Nawaz added.

Superintendent Nawaz, who is also Head of Public Affairs Department, stressed that while the police welcomed peaceful protests, demonstrations over the last three days have not always remained that way.

Asked whether police would have to respond differently to tackle “actions that would be defined as terrorism”, Nawaz said: “From the torching of a vehicle to protesters throwing stones and bottles at police, of course police will have to act differently depending on how serious the crime is”.

On Saturday night (February 16) a police vehicle belonging to the Police Family and Child Protection Department was set on fire while parked in Male’.

Police also claimed protesters set fire to a police barricade in the early hours of Sunday (February 17) morning.

Following the recent protests, a statement from MPS released today announced that the Criminal Court had issued warrants for the arrest of 16 individuals allegedly involved in the “unrest and mob violence” in the recent protests of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

A police press briefing revealed that a total of 84 people, including two minors and four females, had been taken into police custody following the unrest.

Out of 61 individuals later presented to the court, 16 were allowed to remain in police custody in order to continue with the investigation.

According to the statement, Nawaz said police will also continue investigations into those who have also been released by court order.

Officers injured, harassed on the street

Speaking at the press briefing Nawaz said that in the last four days of the protest, 14 police officers and one Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) security officer had suffered injuries from protesters throwing bricks and glass bottles into police lines.

Nawaz said that the recent protests could be described as peaceful assembly adding that the protest “is rather believed as an act to impeded police duty and terrorise the capital city Male’”.

According to the statement, “Police officers of different ranks have received threatening calls and text messages from unknown numbers from abroad”.

The statement specifically notes an incident whereby a police officer on the street was harassed with inappropriate language in front of his three-year-old child, “who has since suffered from psychological trauma”.

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DRP overtakes PPM in member numbers

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has become the second largest political party in the Maldives, overtaking Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) in membership numbers.

According to local media, the number of members in the DRP now stands at 22,687 – a 64 member lead on the 22,263 members of PPM.

The largest party in the Maldives, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), stood at 47,192 members as of December last year.

However, local media reported that the latest Election Commission (EC) numbers for the MDP show that the party had lost 237 members this month alone.

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s Gaumee Ittihad Party (GIP) gained the most members in February, according to local media, increasing its membership by 372.

Amongst the 16 political parties in the country, Jumhooree Party (JP) currently has the most member registration forms pending in the EC with 2595 waiting to be approved.

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Health Ministry hand over MVR 68 million to complete new IGMH building

A MVR 68 million (US$4.4 million) project has been handed over to AMIN Construction in order to complete the new 11-storey building of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

Local media reported that an agreement was signed at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health by Health Minister Dr Ahmed Jamsheed and Managing Director of AMIN Construction Abdullah Mohamed.

Earlier this month the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had ordered a temporary halt to the construction of the building in order to investigate a matter regarding the project handover to AMIN Construction.

Dr Jamsheed told reporters at the ceremony yesterday (February 18) that construction of the building had been halted for various reasons, and that funds had been obtained to complete the project prior to the handover.

“The project was commenced to build private rooms to solve the problem of lack of space at IGMH. We have made major changes to the project. By the time the changes were made, the main concrete and construction work had been completed,” Jamsheed was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

The money for the project, according to local media, had been obtained as a loan from the Islamic Bank.

President of the ACC Hassan Luthfy said a complaint had prompted the commission to investigate the project handover over claims that the handover was made at an excessive cost.

“We received a complaint that the project was handed over a second time with an increase in cost. The commission is currently summoning and questioning the relevant parties,” he said earlier this month.

Investigations into the handover have now been concluded according to the ACC president.

MD of Amin Construction Abdullah Mohamed however, told local media that work had been halted due to payments owed to the company. Mohamed was quoted as saying that construction on the building will commence tomorrow.

The building was commissioned by the government to alleviate space constraints in the hospital, which was gifted to the Maldives by the Indian government.

Last month IGMH struggled to deal with the influx of patients prompting concerns as to whether the hospital was large enough to cope with the demand for medical care in Male’.

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175 foreigners deported in 2012: Immigration

The Department of Immigration and Emigration has revealed that 175 foreigners were deported from the country in 2012, local media reports.

Immigration Controller Mohamed Ali told local media a large proportion of foreigners were deported in relation drugs and sexual offences.

According to Sun Online, the majority of deported sexual offenders were from Thailand, while Bangladeshis committed the majority of other offences out of those deported.

“We deported 175 people by the end of last year. The majority of those were for sexual offences. Also for drug issues, financial fraud and robbery,” Ali said.

Immigration also revealed that roughly 3000 more foreigners had been deported upon their personal request.

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Indian comedy of errors in the Maldives: Deccan Herald

The Maldives — with a predominantly Sunni population of 400,000, the ending of President M.A. Gayoom’s 30-year rule and the US war on terror post-9/11 — was ripe for the emergence of radical Islamists and their convergence with Gayoom loyalists, writes for K C Singh for India’s Deccan Herald.

Mr Nasheed’s election convinced New Delhi that the Maldives was on a path of self-correcting liberal democracy. But even when warning signals began emanating that the tourism industry was being targeted on narrow principles of faith and that Mr Nasheed was alienating his alliance partners, corrective measures were not taken.

Firstly, India erred in quickly endorsing the transfer of power from Mr Nasheed to Mr Waheed without ensuring that the latter excluded sympathisers of radicals from critical Cabinet posts (the home minister went to a Pakistani religious school), announced early elections and struck a truce with the outgoing President.

The unseemly haste in India’s Prime Minister writing to the new President lost that opportunity. The next mistake was in neither anticipating the attack on the Indian company GMR, to whom the awarding of the contract to run the Male airport was a showpiece decision of the Nasheed government, nor defending it when a clear motivating factor was the business interests of Mr Waheed’s coalition partner.

Finally, the Nasheed affair has been handled without political finesse. Resting Indian interests on the fate of one obviously flawed personality, exposing his Indian links by having him sit cowering in India’s mission and thus letting anti-Indian and pro-Islamic sentiments swirl is foolhardy. Gayoom has positioned himself cleverly. He has neither supported India nor criticised it. His daughter, who is in the run for presidency, benefits from the division between Mr Nasheed and Mr Waheed. We should not have abandoned Mr Nasheed in 2012, and having done so not got stuck with him.

Disraeli, as Prime Minister in 1877, frustrated by his maladroit diplomats wrote, “They seem quite useless. It is difficult to control events, but none of them try to.” His ambassador in Berlin he felt was “… reporting all Bismarck’s bravado… in an ecstasy of sycophantic wonder”. Perhaps our Prime Minister needs to ask the same question to his diplomats and his national security adviser.

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Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court issues second arrest warrant for Nasheed

The Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court has issued a second arrest warrant for former President Mohamed Nasheed, an official from the Judiciary Media Unity has confirmed.

Five days after Nasheed sought refuge inside the Indian High Commission, the Judiciary Media Unity confirmed to Minivan News that Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court has now issued a new arrest warrant, ordering police to produce Nasheed at the court on February 20 at 4:00pm.

Police Spokesperson Sub Inspector Hassan Haneef also confirmed that the Maldives Police Service had received the court order for Nasheed’s arrest.

The former president has been taking refuge inside the Indian High Commission building in Male’ since February 13 to avoid arrest, after Hulhumale’ court previously ordered police to produce him at his scheduled trial.

Nasheed and his party have maintained that the charges put forward against him – of illegally detaining Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed during his final days in office – are a politically-motivated attempt to prevent him from contesting presidential elections scheduled for later this year.

The latest arrest warrant comes after Nasheed failed to attend the last two scheduled trial hearings on February 10 and February 13.

An official from the Indian High Commission told Minivan News they were waiting to see the arrest warrant and are “watching the current situation”.

The situation has contributed to an escalation in diplomatic tensions between India and the Maldives, which has accused the former of interference in internal Maldivian affairs.

High Commissioner D M Mulay was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Sunday and presented with a protest note from the government.

On Monday the High Commission released a statement “denying in entirety” allegations that it was being used by the former President “for political meetings and instigating street violence”.

Thousands of supporters of the former president have been protesting in the capital Male’ since Nasheed moved into the Indian High Commission last Wednesday.

On Saturday (February 16) over 5000 supporters marched through the streets of Male’ clashing with police, which resulted in 55 arrests during the night.

Nasheed’s decision to seek asylum in the Indian High Commission caught the attention of the international community last week. The US, UK, EU, UN and Commonwealth have since urged the Maldivian government to show restraint, whilst calling for “inclusive, free and fair elections” in September.

Arrest warrant is a threat to Nasheed’s life: MDP

Following the news of the latest warrant, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said that the party are “firmly” against the former President from standing trial in an “illegitimate court”.

“The party firmly believes that he should not go [to Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court] and we firmly believe that the arrest warrant threatens his life.

“The moment he steps out of the Indian High Commission, that will be the end of him. Even the international community have recognised this as a witch hunt,” Ghafoor told Minivan News.

When asked as to whether former president will comply with the court order, Ghafoor said “it is Nasheed’s call”.

“The question is, what do the Indians do now? The Maldives authorities will now have to approach the Indian High Commission and ask them to hand him over.

“The minute the Indian government gave him refuge, they took a position. I can’t see the Indian government dropping Nasheed like a hot potato,” Ghafoor added.

The MDP spokesperson claimed the government had alienated itself from the international community given their stance on the matter. Ghafoor further claimed that foreign governments and organisations “can see” that attempts to arrest Nasheed “are nothing more than a witch hunt”.

India’s involvement criticised by Maldives officials

India’s involvement in the political dispute has been criticised by members of the Maldivian government, with the Home Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed tweeting last week: “What’s happening now gives us an indication of the extent and level of interest some countries prepared to take in our internal matters,” he said.

“I would strongly urge everyone to let our institutions deal with the challenges, and allow the Maldives to uphold rule of law,” he tweeted.

President of the Maldives, Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik released his own statement yesterday condemning Nasheed’s actions on Wednesday.

“I am dismayed that the former President Nasheed sought refuge in the Indian High Commission in Male’ when he was summoned to the court. The court order which required the Police to arrest Nasheed and have him appear before the court was due to his refusal to attend court hearing. It had expired at 1600 hours on the 13 February 2013, and there is no reason for him to remain in the High Commission and to instigate street violence.

“The court order has nothing to do with my government. Upholding the rule of law means nobody is above the law. I would like to assure the people of Maldives that the law and order will be maintained,” the President’s statement read.

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Tourist paradise rocked by political uncertainty: Vancouver Sun

The United States and India have been watching with concern as radical Islam, fuelled by Saudi Arabian Wahhabi and Salafi charities, takes root in the Maldives, stoking fears the archipelago could become a terrorist haven, writes Jonathan Manthorpe for the Vancouver Sun.

At the same time Washington and New Delhi are mistrustful of China’s growing influence with the Male government.

There is apprehension the Maldives could become yet another supply base for China’s navy. India, Beijing’s regional rival, is already concerned that China’s naval link’s with Pakistan and the Bay of Bengal ports of Burma are part of a containment strategy.

The march of radical Islam in the Maldives began in the 1980s during the dictatorship of Gayoom, who allowed Saudi Arabian Wahhabist charities to establish themselves in the Maldives and who oversaw a radicalization of the education system.

Many Maldivian students now go to radical madrassas – religious schools – in Pakistan for higher education. Several are known to have become affiliated with al-Qaida as a result.

The increasing popularity of puritanical Islam in the Maldives sits uneasily with the country’s main industry as an upmarket tourist destination, which accounts for 30 per cent of the annual gross national product.

Aspects of Shariah religious law, such as the banning of alcohol, prohibition of men and women dancing together, and public flogging for adultery, are applied in the capital Male. But these restrictions are not imposed in the tourist resorts on the 250 inhabited islands of the archipelago.

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Comment: Honeymoon over for Maldivians in paradise

The only time I’ve seen my father light up like the Diwali Festival was the day Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) got elected as the first ever democratically elected president in Maldivian history, after replacing the long term autocratic President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

I was in the 8th grade and didn’t know much about politics, but understood enough to know that we somehow restored hope in our hearts. I got the feeling that everything was going to be all right… the tears of happiness rolling down my father’s face were a testament to that.

After that, everything changed. The police brutality, arbitrary arrests of politicians and democracy activists, disruption to media and freedom of expression, everything that we thought was so wrong, that we had to get out on the streets to change, became our past – things that we only joked about in our living rooms and coffee shops.

The conversation usually went like: “Hey, remember how Golhaa Force would drag Anni out on the streets of Male’ like he was some kind of dead animal?”

Only we didn’t know that it would happen again.We had no idea; we were so naive.

Anyway, the days went by and for some reason Maumoon was running around doing his own thing, not necessarily bothering anybody – yet – and Nasheed’s administration was busy cleaning up the mess left by Maumoon.

But given that Nasheed was in charge, as suspected he didn’t let the mess distract him, and instead he went on to revolutionise the Maldives. Health care, state transport, social security, infrastructure improvements made headlines every single day. He had built so many flats that the opposition started to call him ‘Flat Dhombe’ – a name he adopted and wore proudly. Such was life in paradise.

And then the honeymoon period ended. President Nasheed had to make some tough yet important decisions in his presidency, in order to head towards a more prosperous economy in the long run.

This meant the bank accounts of the rich and the elite of our community were going to take our hit. The government had asked for the parliament’s assistance to move forward with the bills, but half of the rich and the elite were already in the parliament. A lot went downhill after that.

The religious conservatives saw an opportunity at that point and jumped in, making the situation even more ridiculous. Gayyoom started to show up every now and then, making political statements and what not. And then we saw the opposition parties coming together, having set their differences aside.

These were some very extreme far-right minded politicians coming together with a group of Islamic radicals, which was the only thing that made sense from their partnership. Religion was the main issue of their political movement. As we understand now, that may have very well have been the turning point.

The opposition parties in the name of ’23 December Ih’thihaadhu’ – the 23 December Coalition – came out on the streets, protesting and calling for Nasheed’s resignation. Their parliament members would openly disrupt any government or MDP-sponsored bills on the parliament floor. The protesters would vandalise public property every night, and for some weird reason they targeted areca palm trees planted by Male City Council.

They would pluck the palm trees out and toss them out on the streets every night. One of those photographed destroying the trees is now the Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

After 21 days and nights of protesting and vandalising, the opposition succeeded in removing the elected president from office, by force, with the help of a rogue police mutineers.

The next day the Maldivian Democratic Party took to the streets condemning the coup d’état and everyone that took part in it.

I was there myself, with a friend of mine, a fellow activist, only to witness the horrible turmoil and the wrath of the Special Operations police brutes. They were anything but officers of law. A lot of peaceful protesters were brutally attacked by the savages. We were surrounded by chaos, and blood and tear gas canisters.

That moment I knew we had lost our country. That it was far from over, and the real struggle for democracy was yet to come.

Since then the coup government have been busy destroying everything Nasheed has built. They’ve put an end to state transport system…the universal healthcare, and everything else. They’ve set us back 100 years in our relationship with India.

Maybe they aren’t well-versed in foreign policy, but how could they possibly think that they can afford to be in bed with China after they’ve screwed over India in the matters of GMR airport and everything else that came afterwards? It would be hard for India not to take that personally.

I may not be an expert in foreign policy, but even I know that when you screw over your neighbor, it’s going to get awkward and complicated. Much like an office romance which ends badly.

Removal of President Nasheed from office wasn’t enough for the coup leaders, so they decided to prosecute him on charges of “kidnapping a judge”, to void his candidacy for the comping up presidential election.

They’ve already once dragged him to the kangaroo Hulhumale court which legally does not exist, while he was down south on the Journey of Pledges campaign in Faresmathoda.

President Nasheed was summoned to court for the second time, and the illegitimate ‘Hulhumale’ court ordered the police to make sure that he attended. But instead Nasheed has taken refuge in the Indian High Commission, taking the upper-hand in the current political situation in the Maldives, perhaps for the first time since the coup.

We are yet to find a solution and I personally don’t think that we would find one through political dialogue among the parties. It hasn’t worked before, I doubt it would work now. The only way we can move forward is to let Nasheed take part in a free and fair election this September. I think that’s reasonable.

Like many fellow Maldivians, I wish to hold that flag of red, green and white and feel proud again. But I’m afraid today is not that day.

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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ACC launch investigation into 99-year Maamigili Airport lease

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has begun investigating the 99-year lease of Maamigili Airport to Villa Shipping and Trading, local media reported.

The private airport is owned by Chairman of Villa Group and Jumhoree Party (JP) MP, Gasim Ibrahim. The airport had initially been leased to the JP presidential candidate’s Villa company for 30 years.

Former Minister of Transport Dr Ahmed Shamheed – who was nominated as transport minister by JP – was later removed from his cabinet post after extending the airport lease.

President of ACC Hassan Luthfee told local media that the commission has launched an investigation into the case and that all documentation regarding the lease has been collected.

“This Commission has started looking into the matter of the extension of the management period of Maamigili Airport for a duration of 99 years, because the news has been circulating in the media,” Luthfee was quoted as saying in local media.

Gasim has claimed that there were no acts of corruption in the airport lease.

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