Tag: police

20-year-old man arrested for secretly filming girls in shower

Police have arrested an islander of Manadhoo in Noonu Atoll after he allegedly filmed three young girls living in the island while they were showering inside their house bathroom.

A Police spokesperson told Minivan News that the man arrested was 20 year sold.

”Police received reports that there has been some videos of girls captured and we questioned the suspect,” he said. ”He was arrested after police got enough evidence that the allegations could be true.”

He said police searched other houses in the island following the incident.

”He is currently under arrest in detention,” he said.

Minivan News understands that the girls filmed were three underage girls.

Manadhoo Council President Ibrahim Naseer told Minivan News that the young man had placed camera inside the bathrooms of the girls’ houses.

He said the videos were captured on different days and that all the videos were found stored in his computer.

Naseer told the media that the videos were first seen by the man’s brother.

In October last year a similar incident occurred on Filladhoo in Haa Alifu Atoll where the police arrested three youths on the island after they allegedly recorded and released explicit footage of islanders bathing with spy cameras.

Islanders told the police at the time that the suspects had deliberately targeted adolescent girls at the local school, with one of the videos reportedly showing a 17-year-old girl having a shower.

The bathrooms of many local houses on islands are traditionally unroofed, however following last year’s incident a number of islanders have begun roofing their bathrooms, reports indicate.

The three youths were arrested after nude videos of girls from the island were found on a hard disk.

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Police suspect arson in Thimarafushi fire

Police have revealed that they suspect arson in a fire that broke out in a private residence in the island of Thimarafushi in Thaa atoll last night.

Sun Online reports a police media official as saying there was evidence of an attempted break-in before the incident occurred.

The fire was put out an hour later but had caused extensive damage to furniture and equipment in the house. No one was injured in the incident as the house was newly-built and uninhabited.

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Juvenile Court acquits minor of terrorism charges over Himandhoo confrontation

The Juvenile Court has acquitted a minor charged with terrorism in the wake of a violent confrontation in the island of Himandhoo in Alif Alif atoll between a breakaway religious group and security forces.

The confrontation occurred in 2007 after police and military were dispatched to the island to shut down a private mosque and arrest suspects in the Sultan Park bombing incident.

Juvenile Court Spokesperson Zaeema Nasheed confirmed that the case was concluded today.

“This morning the case was concluded that he was found innocent,” Zaeema said. “He had been charged with terrorism.”

More than 50 people were arrested in the aftermath of the clashes in Himandhoo after islanders donned red motorcycle helmets and armed themselves with batons and knives to defend the Dhar al Khuir mosque on 6 October 2007. Police and soldiers were searching for suspects in the Maldives’ first Islamic terror investigation following a bomb blast in Sultan Park that injured 12 tourists.

On 2010 February 9, senior members of the current administration met with 16 people arrested and sentenced for the Himandhoo protest to inform them that President Mohamed Nasheed had decided to commute their sentences under the Clemency Act.

The confrontation in Himandhoo left one policeman with a severed hand while four others were injured. An officer was also held hostage by the group, who surrendered to the army after a last warning to evacuate the mosque by force.

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Criminal Court, Juvenile Court suspends drug cases awaiting formation of Drugs Court

The Criminal and Juvenile Courts have suspended all drug cases while they await the formation of a Drugs Court over the next two to three months. The decision follows stipulations for court formation provided in the recently-ratified Drugs Act.

Under Article 33 of the Act, all drug cases currently before the Criminal and Juvenile Courts must be transferred to the Drugs Court, following discussions between the Prosecutor General and judges.

Article 39 meanwhile requires the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to appoint at least five judges to the Drugs Court within 60 days after the law was ratified.

After that two month period, the courts have 30 days to transfer those cases determined to fall under the jurisdiction of the Drugs Court.
Meanwhile, article 33(b) states that the Criminal and Juvenile Courts should not hear or accept drug-related cases during that period.

The Drugs Court will have jurisdiction over those charged with possession and abuse of drugs as well as those accused of committing criminal offences under the influence of drugs.

According to the Act, a specialised Drugs Court of superior court status will combat drug addiction by integrating rehabilitation services into the court system.

Traffickers will be tried in the Criminal Court.

A 2011 prison report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) argued that the unnecessarily high number of inmates serving drug sentences was a major concern for prison reform. A majority of inmates are males under the age of 30, while 66 percent of inmates are serving time for drug use or possession.
Speaking to Minivan News at the time, Co-author Naaz Aminath pointed out that most modern judicial systems carried heavier sentences for traffickers, “but here, traffickers get 25 years while small-time users get 60 to 80 years. These are not hard-core criminals, but they’re put away for almost their entire lives.”
Police officials today said that while drug arrests are made on a regular basis, they did not expect any complications to their work while the cases are suspended at the court level.

In a previous article, Police Drug Enforcement Unit Superintendent and Chief Inspector Mohamed Jinah said the bill would be “very useful and instrumental for the police enforcing the drug policies,” and would allow police to focus more on drug trafficking.

Jinah was unavailable for comment at time of press.

Ahmed Nazim, a Research and Development officer at Journey Rehabilitation Center in Male’, added that by distinguishing between the source (drug traffickers) and the consequence (drug use), the new system would reduce the amount of drugs on the street.
He said the Act “puts a lot of emphasis on giving addicts proper treatment”, and accepts the modern argument that addiction is a medical condition rather than a behavioral problem.

The Drugs Bill was introduced in 2009, detained in the Committee for Social Affairs since early 2010, and approved by Parliament on December 28. President Mohamed Nasheed ratified the bill on December 31, 2011.

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Adhaalath Party calls on party members to conduct peaceful protest

Adhaalath Party has called on all its members and others joining the protest tomorrow to protest peacefully, uphold all laws and respect foreign missions.

In a statement issued by former State Minister and current Spokesperson of Adhaalath Party Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed called on protesters to cooperate with the armed forces and to put patience forward if someone initiates a confrontation.

‘’I advise all protesters that participate in this protest in all the islands to use decent language to express your opinions and to uphold Islamic policies,’’ Shaheem said in the statement. ‘’And, I also advise to not to refer any political party with fault language and to set an example for others.’’

Sheikh Shaheem also said there have been many challenges in recent days, and advised protesters to aim for unity and remain within Maldivian law.

“Adhaalath Party is a party that loves peace, respects the state institutions and respects diplomatic relations and international conventions,’’ the statement read.

Meanwhile, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Musthafa expressed concern that if MDP protested on the same day as the opposition parties-NGO Coalition protest, there was a risk that both protests would turn violent.

‘’I advised the President today to delay our protest supporting ‘moderation’ but it was a decision made by the party,’’ he said. ‘’We tried to stop the MDP protest by submitting a petition but we did not have the majority support so we cannot challenge the majority.’’

Musthafa said that he was not happy with the decision but was obliged to follow decisions made by the party majority.

Recently there have been unconfirmed reports of mercenaries from terrorist groups being recruited for the protest.

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Spokesperson Major Abdul Raheem said that there have been no confirmed reports of said recruits and referred Minivan News to the police.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said ‘’it is very difficult to say anything about it.’’

Today the Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh and Chief of Defence Force Major General Moosa Jaleel was summoned to the parliament’s National Security Committee meeting along with MDP Planning Committee officials, NGO Coalition President Abdulla Mohamed and Adhaalath Party president Imran Abdulla.

All the parties assured the parliament that they will not confront each other and that the protests will go peacefully.

NGO Coalition President Abdulla Mohamed was today questioned at the committee whether pregnant women and children will participate in the protest, to which he replied that he cannot stop pregnant women and children from coming to the protest.

Local newspaper SunFM reports that during today’s committee meeting MDP MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik questioned Adhaalath President Abdulla whether Al-Qaeda mercenaries were recruited to the protest. Abdulla replied that he did not want to answer that question.

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Bangladeshi man suffers head injuries in assault

Police have arrested three men and a minor on suspicion of a brutal attack on a Bangladeshi national on Goidhoo in Baa Atoll, which left him with serious injuries.

According to a police media official, the man was attacked by the group around 1.45am on Monday night, at the Goidhoo harbour area.

The reason for attack was unspecified by the police as the investigation is still ongoing.

However according to a Goidhoo Councillor, islanders are claiming that the Bangladeshi man was attacked in retaliation for “holding the hands of a married girl”, with whom he was claimed to be friends.

The councillor said the Bangladesh national was a security guard working at a Goidhoo harbour construction site and added that he was attacked while on duty.

He noted the man suffered severe injuries to his head, and his left hand was broken in two places.

“He was bleeding really badly from the bruises on his head and back. We found two wooden planks with his blood on it close to the area he was beaten,” the councillor said.

The man was brought to Male’ and admitted to IGMH after receiving care at Baa toll hospital.

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High Court upholds arrest of police officer charged with rape

The High Court has supported Addu City Court’s order to extend the detention of a police officer arrested on charges of raping a married woman, taking nude photographs of her and letting his friends abuse her.

The arrest warrant was appealed at the High Court after the Addu City Court extended the police officers detention. The High Court said most of the evidences presented against the officer was found on his mobile phone.

The court also said that there was enough evidence to believe that the officer was involved in the incident.

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Gang robs elderly man of Rf 200,000

A group of four men have robbed an elderly man of Rf 200,000 (US$13,000) while he was on his way to deposit the money in the bank.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed incident and said police were investigating the case.

‘’The elderly man suffered minor injuries in the incident,’’ Shiyam said, but would not give further details.

According to local newspaper Haveeru, the man was robbed as he walked out from a café inside the Alimas Carnival area.

The paper quoted a witness as saying that as the elderly man walked out, four men on two motorbikes were waiting for him and forced him to give the money to them.

He told the paper that the assailants left a box cutter blade and a sandal in the area as they fled away.

Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission has put up a notice on the High Commission Office notice board informing all Indian citizens residing in the Maldives to take “precautionary measures” while walking in the streets of Male’, and to avoid wearing jewelry.

The High Indian High Commission noted that there were increasing reports of snatch-and-grab incidents lately.

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Criminal court extends detention of controversial blogger

The Criminal Court has extended the detention of controversial blogger Ismail ‘Khilath’ Rasheed by 10 days.

Rasheed was arrested on the evening of December 14 for his involvement in a ‘silent protest’ on Human Rights Day, December 10, calling for religious tolerance.

The protest ended violently after a group of men attacked the protesters with stones, and Rasheed was taken to hospital with head injuries.

Rasheed is one of only a few Maldivians who have openly called for religious tolerance on a blog under his own name. The blog was recently blocked on the order of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs on the grounds that it contained unislamic material.

“I am a Sufi Muslim and there is nothing on my website that contradicts Sufi Islam. I suspect my website was reported by intolerant Sunni Muslims and Wahhabis,” Rasheed said, following the blocking of his blog.

“Under the Maldivian constitution every Maldivian is a Sunni Muslim. The constitution also provides for freedom of expression, with Article 27 reading ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of thought and the freedom to communicate opinions and expression in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam,'” Rasheed claimed.

While the Maldivian Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly, it outlaws the promotion of religions other than Islam, and all Maldivians are required to be Sunni Muslim.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that Rasheed was being investigated for campaigning for something against the Constitution.

“Calling for anything against the constitution is illegal,” Shiyam said, agreeing that the circumstances were the same as if the group had been campaigning for something similarly illegal, such as the legalisation of marijuana.

“Once we have finished the investigation the Prosecutor General will decide whether to take action against him.”

Police are also investigating slogans published briefly on 23December.com, a website promoting an upcoming Islamic protest, calling for the slaughter of “those against Islam”.

Protest organisers attributed the slogans to a “technical mistake” and they were quickly taken down. Website developer Ali Ahsan, who also edits online publication DhiIslam, was also taken into custody after police claimed he was the only individual who could have posted the threatening slogans.

According to news outlet Sun Online, police argued that Ahsan’s release “could endanger Maldivian religious unity and even threaten life” and requested the court grant 15 days extension of detention.

Ahsan’s lawyers however argued that the slogans had been uploaded by hackers and the website developer was released.

Meanwhile, Maldives Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union, Ali Hussain Didi, told the Freedom Online Conference at The Hague this week that “it is up to us as representatives of the international community to step up our efforts to remind all governments of their responsibilities, under international law, to protect human rights on-line.”

“It is also beholden on us to better assist those who live under repressive regimes and who are trying to use the internet to spread the word about their plight, to mobilise support and to engender change,” Didi said.

In his radio address this weekend, President Mohamed Nasheed called on political parties to outline their positions on controversial religious issues, claiming that religious protesters were really calling for the enforcement of Sharia penalties such as stoning, hand cutting and execution.

The Maldives had a tradition of issuing pardons for strict Sharia penalties, Nasheed noted, with the exception of flogging for adultery, and called for Islamic scholars to reach a consensus on the subject so that the penal code could be reconsidered and established by parliament.

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