Tag: murder

Minor arrested in connection with July murder of 31 year-old man

Police have arrested a minor in connection with the murder of Ahmed Nizar, 31, of Woodland House in Gan, Laamu Atoll, who was killed on July 14, 2013.

In a statement issued today police said the minor was arrested on Saturday August 10 after an arrest warrant was obtained from the court.

Police had previously arrested five persons in connection with the case.

On July 15 police arrested a 21 year-old man while a 22 year-old man was arrested on July 17. Two other men aged 26 and 22 were also arrested in connection with the case.

Police said the court had extended the suspects’ pretrial detention period to 15 days and they have been brought Male’ for investigation.

The Police Serious and Organized Crime Department and Laamu Gan Police Station are investigating the case, police said.

Ahmed Nizar was attacked in the early hours of July 14 while he was travelling to Gan from Kahdhoo, after receiving some football jerseys from the Kahdhoo Post Office.

At the time police said the investigation had revealed that Nizar was attacked with wooden planks and iron bars. Police recovered the murder weapons.

A special team of police were deployed to Gan to investigate the murder. Police said the victim had no record of criminal activity.

The attack on Nizar is the second murder on Gan this year. On March 14 , a 51 year-old man was attacked with an axe while he was sleeping in a house. He died shortly after the attack having suffered serious head injuries.

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“Murder has to be punished with murder”: Yameen calls for death penalty to be put into practice

Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Presidential Candidate Abdulla Yameen has called for the death penalty to be put into practice in the Maldives, a day after vowing to reform the judiciary.

The MP, half brother of former autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, made the comments while speaking on the program Voice of Maldives on Monday night (July 22).

Yameen explained that although he was not previously an advocate of the death penalty, he now believed it must be implemented to save Maldivian society from murders that have become too commonplace, according to local media reports.

Yameen noted that as a result of the “recent spate of killings” in the Maldives he has had a “change of heart” and now believes “murder has to be punished with murder.”

“It is something that has to be done. We cannot move forward without making our streets safe,” Yameen said.

Yameen explained that a death penalty sentence should only be implemented if upheld by the Supreme Court.

“I now believe, if it can be proven in trial so that the country accepts, if it is proven to a degree accepted by judicial principles, if all the steps are followed, and if the Maldivian people believe, I believe that the death penalty is necessary to save society,” he said.

He also noted that because detailed legislation is necessary to implement the death penalty, the current government recently proposed a death penalty bill in parliament.

Regarding whether he would implement Islamic Sharia law, Yameen’s response to a caller was that “justice is currently delivered in the Maldives through Islamic principles” and that he would act “in accordance with what is laid out by the constitution.”

He pledged that under a PPM government he would “do whatever has to be done” to make the Maldives a peaceful place.

Yameen also denied financing or having links with gangs, claiming these allegations “do not have any basis” and politicians perpetuating such rumors “lack sincerity”.

Such rumors that Yameen has gang ties have “been around a long time”, according to CNM.

During the PPM presidential primary, former candidate and PPM Vice President Umar Naseer publicly accused Yameen of involvement with gangs and the illegal drug trade. However, Yameen denied the “defamatory accusations” calling them “baseless and untrue”.

Yameen further noted during the Voice of Maldives program that a “major part” of the government budget would be spent on youth, including a special rehabilitation program for drug addicts, with more than 900 placements available, if he is elected president.

Last month, Yameen also announced that PPM intended to transform Hulhumale’ into a “Youth City” where enough apartments to accommodate young people would be constructed.

Judicial reform pledge

Meanwhile, a day prior to Yameen’s comments in favor of implementing the death penalty to quell violent crime in the Maldives, the PPM presidential candidate pledged to reform the judiciary, even if it required amending the constitution.

To gain investors’ confidence and bring foreign investments to the Maldives, reforming the judiciary to ensure swift justice and confidence in the institution is necessary, Yameen explained.

“We see the many challenges ahead from every direction. So we are not only competing with other candidates. We are competing against the flailing economy and fading culture and values,” he said.

Yameen told local media that Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain had also noted the judiciary has “problems”.

Faiz has meanwhile urged the public and media to refrain from making statements that would give a negative image of the judiciary, and called for constitutional amendments.

His comment’s follow the Maldives Bar Association (MBA) calling for the suspension of Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed pending an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct. Hameed is under investigation by both the police and Judicial Service Commission (JSC) over the circulation of at least three sex videos apparently depicting him fornicating with unidentified foreign women.

Earlier this year, Faiz said that the current seven-member bench of the Supreme Court cannot be abolished and will continue to remain as the highest court of the country as long as the Maldives remains a democracy. In July 2012, the Chief Justice also said the death penalty can be executed within the existing justice system of the Maldives.

Death penalty controversy

While the Maldives still issues death sentences, these have traditionally been commuted to life sentences by presidential decree since the execution of Hakim Didi in 1954, for the crime of practicing black magic.

Death penalty legislation was presented to parliament in June by government-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed to implement the death penalty by hanging if the Supreme Court upheld a death sentence passed by a lower court. The legislation was put to a vote to decide whether or not to proceed with the bill at committee stage and was ultimately rejected 26-18 with no abstentions.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP said at the time that the party’s parliamentary group had opted to throw out the bill on the grounds that it would be “irresponsible” to approve such measures with ongoing concerns held by itself and international experts over the functioning of the country’s judiciary.

The party additionally criticised the proposed bill as being irrelevant, arguing that the country’s draft penal code – a recent issue of contention between MPs and certain political parties – already included provisions for the death sentence as outlined under Islamic Sharia.

Recent calls for presidential clemency to be blocked led Attorney General (AG) Azima Shukoor to draft a bill favouring the implementation of the penalty via lethal injection. It was met with opposition by several religious groups such as the NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf, which called for the draft to be amended in favour of beheadings or firing squads.

Minivan News understands that the bill submitted by the AG remains open for comments on potential amendments.

More recently, the state called for a High Court verdict on whether the practice of presidential clemency can be annulled.

Eariler this year, the UN country team in the Maldives issued a statement calling for the abolition of both corporal punishment and the death penalty in the Maldives.

Additionally, the state’s stance to review implementation of death sentences has led to strong criticism from certain human rights-focused NGOs this year.

Speaking to Minivan News immediately following a visit to the Maldives in April 2013, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director Polly Truscott raised concerns about the recent drafting of new bills outlining implementation for executions.

She argued that even in practice, such bills would be deemed as a human rights violation, with the NGO maintaining that there remained no research to support the assertion that executing criminals served as an effective deterrent for serious crimes.

She noted this was a particular concern considering the recent findings of various international experts such as UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Judiciary, Gabriela Knaul, regarding the politicised nature of the country’s judicial system.

“To leave Sharia law to the discretion of individual judges is something we believe would be a bad idea,” she said at the time.

In May this year, Amnesty International condemned the sentencing of two 18 year-olds to death for a murder committed while they were minors, and called on Maldivian government authorities to commute the sentence.

Meanwhile, a survey of the leading criminologists in the United States conducted in 2009 found that 88 percent of the country’s top criminologists “did not believe” that the death penalty is a “proven deterrent to homicide”.

The study, Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates? The Views of Leading Criminologists published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, also found that 87 percent of the expert criminologists believe that abolition of the death penalty would not have any significant effect on murder rates.

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Group murders 31 year-old man on Gan in Laamu Atoll

A group of men have murdered a 31 year-old man on the island of Gan in Laamu Atoll.

The police issued a statement today identifying the victim as Ahmed Nizar of Woodland house on Gan.

Police said the case was reported at 2:22am last night. Police attended the scene and discovered the body, which was at Gan Regional Hospital.

According to police, the doctors pronounced Nizar dead at the time he was brought to the hospital.

Police reported that Nizar was attacked while he was travelling to Gan from Kahdhoo, after receiving some football jerseys from the Kahdhoo Post Office.

The police investigation had revealed that Nizar was attacked with wooden planks and iron bars, police said, stating that they had recovered the murder weapons.

A special team of police have been deployed to Gan to investigate the murder. Police said the victim had no record of criminal activity.

A police spokesperson confirmed that one man had been arrested in connection with the murder.

Gan Island Councilor Abdulla Sulaiman told Minivan News that Nizar was attacked while he was in the company of two of his friends.

“He was with two other friends and as they reached an uninhabited area along Mukuri Magu, five men, three of whom were wearing masks, appeared on the road and attacked him,’’ Abdulla said. “They hit him in the head with an iron bar and he fell to the ground, and then they hit him a second time.”

Sulaiman said one of the five attackers then approached the victim, realised Nizar was not the person they had intended to attack, and said “Hey, I am really sorry bro.”

Sulaiman alleged the attack was related to the theft of a 20 litre bottle of homemade alcohol brewed on the island.

The attack on Nizar is the second murder on Gan this year. On March 14 this year, a 51 year-old man was attacked with an axe while he was sleeping in a house. He died shortly after the attack having suffered serious head injuries.

A source from the island at the time alleged the man was attacked for having an affair with a woman living in the house he was sleeping in.

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Police forensic expert testifies in Afrasheem murder trial

A police forensic expert has testified in court that he found the DNA of three individuals on jeans worn by Hussain Humam, the main suspect in the murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali.

Local media reported today at the hearing that the forensic expert told the judge that one of these DNA samples matched a the DNA sample of taken from Dr Afrasheem.

He told the court that the second DNA sample obtained matched that of Humam himself. He did not say whether the third sample was identified.

The expert told the judge that the chance of the DNA sample not being Dr Afrasheem was one in 9.8 billion and the chance of Humam’s DNA sample being wrong was one in 1.4 billion.

During the trial Humam’s lawyer Abdulla Haseen asked the forensic expert about the date he received Humam’s jeans, and was informed that he received them on October 2.

Haseen contended that while Dr Afrasheem was murdered between 12:00am to 1:00am on October 1, and Humam was arrested at 1:45am the same night, there was a window for police to put Dr Afrasheem’s DNA sample on Humam’s jeans, and asked the expert if he was able to determine at what time Humam’s jeans received the sample.

The forensic expert told the court that he was unable to determine the time.

Before concluding today’s hearing, the judge announced that another hearing into the case would be scheduled soon.

Dr Afrasheem was a well-known religious scholar and the MP for Ungoofaaru constituency. He was stabbed to death on the night of October 1, on the staircase of his home.

State prosecutors accused Humam, along with Ali Shan – who is also facing the same charges – and a minor identified as ‘Nangi’, of going to the residence of Dr Afrasheem and murdering him with a machete and a bayonet knife.

Humam initially confessed to the murder, but later withdraw his statement claiming it had been extracted under police duress.

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Court sentences chief suspect in Afrasheem murder case to three years for drug offence

The Criminal Court has sentenced Hussain Humam, the chief suspect charged with the murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, to three years in prison after finding him guilty of a drug offence.

The Criminal Court ruling stated that on July 14, 2012, police arrested Humam while he was under the influence of an illegal substance and tested his urine which showed that he had used cannabis.

Moreover, during the trial Humam confessed that he was under the influence of an illegal substance, the ruling stated.

Including this ruling, Humam will now have a total of 10 years in prison while the Afrasheem murder trial continues.

In March this year the Criminal Court sentenced Humam to six years in another drug related case and also gave him an additional year after finding him guilty of objection to order, as he refused to give urine sample during police investigations into the drug case.

Humam has previously confessed in court that he murdered Dr Afrasheem, but later had changed his testimony and denied all charges claiming that he had confessed only after police threatened him to do so while in custody.

In Humam’s alleged statement produced by police during the Afrasheem hearing he claimed the idea of killing Dr Afrasheem was given to him by Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officer Azleef Rauf, whom he met at a baibalaa tournament held in 2012.

The pair later met in person again at a coffee, according to the statement, along with two other individuals the statement identified as Abdulla ‘Jaa’ Javid (son-in-law of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik) and his brother ‘Jana’.

According to the prosecutor’s statement, Humam was promised a sum of MVR 4 million (US$260,000) for murdering the religious scholar. The statement said Humam later asked Azleef Rauf why Afrasheem was to be murdered, and was told that one of the reasons were Afrasheem’s remarks during the day former President Mohamed Nasheed controversially resigned.

State prosecutors accused Humam, along with Ali Shan – who is also facing the same charges – and a minor identified as ‘Nangi’, of going to the residence of Dr Afrasheem and murdering him with a machete and a bayonet knife.

Dr Afrasheem was a well-known religious scholar and the MP for Ungoofaaru constituency. He was stabbed to death on the night of October 1, on the staircase of his home.

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‘Real’ Maldives “tarnished by gang violence, drug addiction, unemployment, political corruption, religious extremism”: The National

Ahmed fears for the life of the Maldives’ first democratically elected president and well-known environmental campaigner, who is now fighting for re-election a year after a violent uprising forced him from power. And Ahmed should know – he says he was once offered the contract to carry out his assassination, writes Eric Randolph for the UAE’s publication The National.

Picture the Maldives, and you’re probably imagining crystalline waters and perfectly groomed white beaches. Yet outside the five-star resorts, real life is very different and the image of an idyllic paradise has been tarnished by the growing problems of gang violence, drug addiction, unemployment, political corruption and religious extremism.

Having been one of the most notorious members of one of the country’s most feared gangs, Ahmed (not his real name) knows this side of the Maldives all too well. We meet in the cramped one-bedroom “apartment” he shares with his parents and two siblings. Apartment is a stretch – it’s a small room down a dingy ground-floor corridor, walls painted a lurid green, with an extended bunk bed that somehow accommodates all five of them and takes up most of the space.

In 2006, a leading politician allegedly offered Ahmed a contract to kill “or severely injure” Mohamed Nasheed, the man who was trying to bring down the 30-year authoritarian rule of Maumoon Gayoom. Local politicians and elites had been using the gangs to run their drug and alcohol operations on the streets for several years by this point. Street fights over territory and girls were leading to nine or 10 deaths a year.

Ahmed won’t talk about the violence in his past, though at one stage he draws me a picture of the knives he used to carry at all times (guns, mercifully, have yet to make it to Maldives). “This is my favourite,” he says, pointing at a serrated blade that looks like a Christmas tree in his sketch.

Read more

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Hong Kong court sentences Maldivian man to life imprisonment for murder of British woman

A 31 year-old Maldivian man has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Hong Kong for the murder of 64 year-old British woman Janet Gilson, a retired major in the Salvation Army.

Ahmed Fareed was arrested by Hong Kong police in March 2011 after the discovery of Janet Gilson’s body under a sofa in a flat belonging to her niece, Julia Fareed – the estranged wife of the accused.

During sentencing at Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance on Thursday (June 20), the presiding judge described Fareed as being “highly dangerous”, stating that the crime was a most brutal killing of a woman aged 64 who had done no harm to the defendant, the South China Morning Post reported.

Sentencing Fareed to life imprisonment, the judge said no motive had been established for the killing of Gilson.

During the trial, the jury heard that the accused had been previously barred via a court order from entering his wife’s home over concerns about his temper.

Media reported that the jury were told during the six day trial how Fareed stood accused of tying up Gilson with rope, before hitting her hard on her forehead. He was then accused of suffocating the victim by stuffing a towel in her mouth while she was still alive. Gilson’s body was later discovered with four broken ribs after being recovered by authorities.

The judge also accused Fareed of committing a calculated murder after the jury were told how he had sent a text message from Gilson’s phone telling her niece she had travelled to Aberdeen in Scotland.

The jury were unanimous in declaring Fareed guilty of the crime.

“Ultimate sacrifice”

Speaking to media after the trial, Julia Fareed praised her late aunt for the “ultimate sacrifice” she had made to allow both herself and her daughter to leave her ex-husband “without fear”.

“To those people that are in relationships with violent partners: I strongly urge you to get away, putting [yourselves at a] sufficient distance to end matters peacefully,” she was quoted as saying.

“I made the mistake of believing I could help change my ex-husband, giving him many chances,” she said. “I realise the error of that judgement now and hope that others can also learn from that.”

Speaking to local media today, Fareed’s family in the Maldives expressed “shock” at the life sentence passed by the Hong Kong court.

Ramzee Mohamed, Fareed’s brother, told Haveeru that his family had previously been informed by the Foreign Ministry that there was insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.

Ramzee claimed Fareed had also never displayed any behaviour in line with the violent nature of the attack, adding that his family did not understand why he attacked the victim instead of his ex-wife.

“He had problems with his wife. So it’s difficult to understand why he would murder her aunt. It’s difficult to believe. But when a court has passed the judgement, what can we do? We could appeal the judgment if it was the Maldives,” he was quoted as saying.

According to Haveeru, Fareed’s family also accused his ex-wife of influencing the trial, alleging she was “extremely influential” in Honk Kong, but without clarifying further.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed today that no official notice had been received informing them of the outcome of the trial.

“We have not received a letter yet confirming the verdict, as it was announced over the weekend here,” the spokesperson said today. “However, I think we will get the verdict soon.”

The Foreign Ministry said that in cases where Maldives nationals were imprisoned of facing trial abroad, it was required to provide assistance such as establishing communications with their family.

“From the start of this case, we have been in contact [with Fareed] through our Chinese Embassy and honorary consulate in Hong Kong to provide services like translation and to keep him in touch with his family,” said the spokesperson.

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that the Maldives itself had no agreements with Chinese authorities regarding the transfer of prisoners in custody, adding that Fareed would be expected to serve his sentence in Hong Kong “for the time being”.

Fareed’s arrest

Fareed was arrested in March 2011 on Hong Kong pier after Janet Gilson’s body had been found during a second search of her niece’s flat.  Gilson went missing on March 15, 10 days after arriving in Hong Kong. The body was reported to have severe head injuries when discovered.

Local media in the UK reported that Gilson was a long-serving Major in the British branch of the Salvation Army, an international Christian institution with a quasi-military structure known for its charitable work and rehabilitation of alcoholics and drug addicts, and had worked for 40 years as a Christian missionary.

“She had stopped the missionary work but she was still active and in a very high position [in the Salvation Army],” Gilson’s neighbour in her home of Leigh-on-Sea told local media at the time.

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Court extends detention of MNDF officer accused of planning Dr Afrasheem’s murder

The Criminal Court has extended the detention period of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) officer Azleef Rauf who was accused of planning the murder of Dr Afasheem Ali by Hussein Humam, the main suspect charged in the murder case.

Criminal Court Media Official Ahmed Mohamed Manik confirmed that Azleef’s pretrial detention period was extended yesterday (May 28).

‘‘He was brought before the judges last night,’’ he added.

Manik said police had charged Azleef with terrorism, intimidation, involvement in gang activities, participation in gang activities and conspiring to conduct criminal gang activities.

On May 22 Humam, the chief suspect arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Dr Afrasheem, said the idea of killing Dr Afrasheem was given to him by Azleef Rauf, who he met at a baibalaa tournament held in 2012.

Baibalaa is a sport played by young men in the Maldives in a sandy ring, requiring speed and agility.

Humam said during the tournament Azleef and that night sent him to pick up a kilogram of drugs from the airport that were smuggled in to the country by a Pakistani man. He said he dropped the drugs off to the house where a person he identified as ‘Mukkar’ lived.

According to a  statement read out in court on Humam’s behalf, he was invited to coffee with Azleef, Javid and his brother ‘Jana’, during which Azleef allegedly said “I promise you will get MVR4 million if you murder Dr Afrasheem,” to which Javid’s brother ‘Jana’ replied “yes you will.”

Rauf and Javid were also previously detained by police over their alleged involvement in the case. Both were later released by the court.

Javid spent 45 days in detention in connection to the Afrasheem murder, after which time his lawyer argued his continued detention was unconstitutional given there was no evidence to support keeping him in custody.

On the day of Javid’s release (January 17), his brother Shahin Mohamed was arrested by police while he was waiting with the rest of Javid’s family outside the court. Mohamed was released from police custody three hours after he was detained.

An MDP activist Mariyam Naifa was also arrested several days following the murder, and was subsequently released. Her lawyer at the time said she was arrested in connection to intelligence received by police in the Afrasheem case.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali has since confirmed to the media that the passports of Abdulla ‘Jaa’ Javid, Adam ‘Spy’ Solah and Shahin Mohamed had been held in compliance with a request from police.

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Couple charged with aborting child deny murder charges in court

The Criminal Court has  conducted its first hearing into charges of murder against a couple who allegedly aborted their 20-week old foetus.

The local media present at the court identified the couple as Aiminath Shaahy Aalam, 21 and Ibrahim Visam, 26, both from Addu City.

The mother Aiminath Shaahy Aalam was given the opportunity to respond to the charges and told the court she had previously stated how the incident occurred in the statement she gave to police.

The statement was read out in court, in which she confessed she had not sought medical care when she knew she was pregnant, and that she and her husband had discussed the matter and decided to abort the child. According to the statement, she confessed to taking abortion pills.

However, today in court she denied taking the pills with the intention of aborting the child and said she did not know what the pills she used were. She told the court she got the pills from a doctor working in the Dhilshaadh Clinic on Hithadhoo in Addu City.

In the statement she gave to the police investigators, she stated that her stomach had started aching at night while her husband was sleeping. She said said she woke up her husband and told him about it.

She said her husband then took off his shirt and she dropped the fetus on his shirt.

When the judge queried this, she said that she felt that something dropped on the shirt, but she didn’t see what it was, and neither did her husband showed her. Instead, he wrapped the shirt around it and put it into a plastic bag and took it away.

In  the court today, Aalam denied she was involved in killing the baby and told the judge that she wanted the state appoint a lawyer for her.

The father’s trial was also conducted today. He also denied the charges and requested the court give him time to appoint a lawyer, which the judge granted.

Police discovered the foetus buried on the beach of Maradhoo-Feydhoo in December 2012, after local witnesses reported a motorist acting suspiciously in the area, according to local media reports.

Abortion in the Maldives is illegal unless it is proved the conception is the result of rape, or that the pregnancy is a threat to the mother’s health.

The Prosecutor General’s Office forwarded the couple’s case to the Criminal Court on May 2.

Police have claimed that the buried foetus was found with its heart beating, but later died after being taken to the hospital.

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