Tag: MPs

Police regulations do not adequately protect constitutional rights, says MDN report

Current policing regulations do not adequately address and protect the rights guaranteed to all citizens by the Constitution, says the Maldivian Democratic Network (MDN).

After reviewing the relevant laws, MDN’s ‘Review of the legal framework of Maldives Police Service’ found “worrying signs of an erosion of the democratic policing framework enshrined in the Constitution”.

“The police are being vested with greater powers and discretion without the prerequisite checks,” read the report released yesterday. “Alarmingly, these dangerous trends are being written into law.”

Speaking at the launch ceremony yesterday, Deyvika Prasad from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) did note that, even though there are problems with the Maldives’ police regulations, it was good to have such procedures in place.

Prasad said that the Maldives was the first in the South Asian region to come up with a policing strategic action plan, and that the 2008 Maldives Police Act is the only national police legislation in the region which is not a colonial-era Police Act.

The review’s stated intention is to “identify legal gaps” within the current legal framework to ensure compatibility with both the Constitution and international standards.

It noted that as the police regulation came only three months after the ratification of the new constitution in 2008, “there was a lack of practice or practical experience among the law enforcement agencies relating to implementation of these procedural rights and the boundaries of such rights”.

Among the issues described in the report, the procedures in the police regulation regarding the powers to arrest and detain without a court warrant were called “highly problematic” and in contradiction to Articles 46 and 49 of the Constitution.

The NGO recommended that regulations be reviewed and rewritten in order to “ensure safeguards in the constitution are maintained”, and to review the provisions relating to arrests and detention in light of the Supreme Court’s decisions and relevant interpretations provided by the judiciary.

MDN Executive Director and former President of the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) Shahinda Ismail said the report had been compiled after consultations with various stakeholders including the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, Transparency Maldives, and the UNDP.

The Maldives Police Services and the Police Integrity Commission had been invited to participate in the consultations but the MPS did not respond to the invitations while the PIC declined to take part.

Police earlier this year labelled a report published by MDN into the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan “politically motivated” and “irresponsible”.

The review was produced as part of the police reform project by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) conducted in South Asia. Former Prosecutor General (PG) Ahmed Muizzu’s law firm Muizzu and Co LLP acted as the local consultation for the review.


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Police tow 111 illegally parked vehicles in one day

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has towed 111 illegally parked vehicles on Saturday (January 11).

A police media official told Minivan News that the 111 vehicles towed included 56 two wheeled vehicles and 55 four wheeled vehicles.

“Of the 54 two wheeled vehicles, 21 vehicles did not have the number plates, while 16 of the confiscated four wheeled vehicles did not have number plates,” said the official.

According to the police, all of the vehicles without a number plate would be transferred to Thilafushi Island and sold as scrap metal.

“If the vehicle owners wish the vehicles to be returned back to them, they have to present adequate documentation to prove ownership and pay all fines which are due,” said the media official. “The vehicles to be taken to Thilafushi will remain in Malé for a period of time for owners to claim them.”

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Two arrested for attempting to smuggle 8 bottles of alcohol into Malé

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has arrested two individuals who were attempting to smuggle eight bottles of alcohol into Malé from Hulhumalé.

A police statement said that both were Bangladeshi nationals who were trying to smuggle the bottles by hiding them under the seat of a motorcycle which was to be transported to Malé via ferry.

Hulhumalé police officers searched their vehicle after they had been observed behaving suspiciously near the ferry terminal. The case is being investigated by the Hulhumalé police station and the MPS drug enforcement department.

The run up to New Year’s eve saw a large amount of alcohol confiscated in the Malé area, with police reporting seven individuals taken into custody in a period of two days at the end of December in Hulhumalé.

Police also confiscated 70 bottles of liquor and 70 cans of beer with a street value of MVR200,000 (US12,970) from Faamudheyrige in Maafannu ward in Malé.

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MDA leader ‘Sun Travel’ Siyam maintains worst attendance record in third session of 18th Majlis

The People’s Majlis has published an attendance report for its third session of the 18th Majlis, with MP Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Siyam – leader of the government-aligned Maldives Development Alliance – with the worst record.

According to the report published on the Majlis website, Siyam attended only 10 of the 29 parliamentary sittings for the third session. He did not provide any reason for not participating in 17 of the sittings, and was on leave for two.

The Dhaalu Meedhoo MP was also at the bottom of the 17th Majlis’s attendance records.

Jumhooree pary MP Ilham Ahmed was second in attending the least parliamentary sittings, participating in 15 of the 29 sittings. Next was ruling Progressive Party of Maldives MP Ahmed Nazim and opposition Maldivian Democratic Party Rozaina Adam – both participated in 16 sittings.

Out of the total 85 members, 22 were present at all of the Majlis’ sittings.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Deputy Minister’s abuse of power

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Medical board’s role

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Man wearing a belt representing a cannabis leaf arrested

At 19-year-old man has been arrested in Gaaf Dhaalu Rathafandhoo Island for wearing a belt with an insignia representing the cannabis leaf.

A Maldives Police Service (MPS) media statement read that the man was arrested for “encouraging the use of drugs’” by wearing the belt.

The statement also read that the man was arrested at around 10pm yesterday (December 23) after the police received a tip-off saying that a drug deal was happening. The offending belt was seen while searching the man’s body for drugs.

According to Article 128 of the Drugs Act, encouraging the use of drugs is illegal in the Maldives and is a crime punishable by 3 years of jail time.

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Young men carrying box cutters attack protestors demanding free water

A group carrying box cutters on Tuesday attacked protestors demanding free water in Malé.

Minivan News observed five young men run into the a group of protestors at the junction of Sosun Magu and Medhuziyarai Magu at 10:00 pm, jump onto a truck carrying speakers and vandalize the generator and speakers system.

The protesters were calling on the government to provide free water and reverse its decision to only deduct 30 percent from water bills as Malé’s water crisis enters it’s seventh day.

After vandalizing the speaker system, the attackers ran into the crowd attacking everyone in their path. An elderly woman was punched and thrown to the ground and an elderly man was hit in the face. He suffered a cut to the head.

The woman was immediately taken to the Maldives Red Crescent water crisis headquarters at Majeeedhihyaa School for immediate treatment. She was later transferred to ADK Hospital along with the elderly man for further treatment.

Police officers and some protesters chased the attackers. Police arrested two, while angry protesters caught one more and beat him up severely. The police had to carry the attacker away.

A police media official told Minivan News the three arrested last night are all under eighteen. Two have since been released.

A police officer also sustained injuries to his mouth and nose as he attempted to arrest the attackers.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Youth Wing President and senior organizer of the protests, Mohamed Azmeel, said between six and seven gangsters armed with box cutter blades initiated the attack. Minivan News saw the blades on the street after the police arrested three of the attackers.

One protestor told Minivan News that he saw the attackers videoing those who spoke at the protest in order to target key protestors before they attacked

Gangsters also vandalized placards used in the free water protest on the previous night (Decemeber 8).

Azmeel said the rally will continue tonight.

Meanwhile, gang involvement has been speculated behind the torching of the MDP main office on September 29 using molotov cocktails after it was also vandalized on September 24.

Early October, an MDP office in Addu City was torched while masked men wielding wooden planks and batons attacked a party rally. 16 people were arrested that night however the police released nine of them the following day.

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Two detention officers seriously injured after attacks at Maafushi Prison

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Related to this story

Hospitalised Maafushi inmate requested transfer from cell before assault

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Police have completed 21,169 investigations in past 12 months

The Maldives Police Services (MPS) has said that over 21,169 cases have been investigated since November 2013, with 3,256 cases submitted to the Prosecutor General (PG)’s Office.

Spokesperson to the Commissioner of Police Superintendent Ahmed Shifan said that the service was doing all it can to ensure the protection of the public and establishing peace in the country.

It was also revealed that 257 complaints has been received this year, with 187 now being investigated. Disciplinary action has followed against 115 officers,with a further 23 being terminated from service.

“We have been working ceaselessly in implementing and upholding law and order in the country by investigating and submitting evidence to the courts” said Shifan.

Despite President Abdulla Yameen talking tough on crime, violent crime has persisted this year with a number of notable incidents – including the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan in August – remaining unresolved.

Since the 28-year-old’s presumed abduction 116 days ago, members of his family have suggested the police were using statistics to mask a failure to make real progress in the search

Shifan today outlined the importance of the police’s strategic plan for 2014- 2018 which aims to make the police force more accountable, encourage public participation in police work, and increase the operational capabilities of the force.

He pointed out that there were 77 police stations in the atolls, with 10 having come into operation this year. He also noted that traffic police are now in operation in Addu City and Haa Dhaalu Kulhudhuhfushi.

The MPS has introduced a tourist police department aimed at “ensuring the protection of tourists while they are in the Maldives in order to increase tourist confidence in the country therefore boosting toursm”, police media reported today.

Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed earlier this week suggested that were not only aiming to solve and combat crimes, but also to develop a responsible youth through the ‘Blues for Youth’ camps introduced this year.

Celebrating twelve months in office last month, President Abdulla Yameen said that peace in Malé had been obtained, barring “isolated and significant dangerous crimes”.

The opposition has suggested, however, that insecurity is on the increase as numerous gang-related stabbings have resulted in three deaths so far this year. Additionally, reported politically-motivated abductions have continued, with well-known criminal elements implicated.

The lack of progress into the investigation Rilwan’s disappearance has prompted two separate cases to be filed at the Police Integrity Commission suggesting police negligence in the investigation.

Additionally, the MPS has also been accused of participation in serious crimes with three police officers being arrested in drug busts and allegations of Special Operations (SO) officers cutting down all of Malé City’s areca palm trees.

Waheed has denied the involvement of SO officers in the areca palm incident, while he has suggested that interference from the media and friends and family of Rilwan had contributed to the police’s failure to make significant progress.


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