Parliamentary Group Leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik has called on leader of the People’s Alliance (PA) Abdulla Yameen to resign from parliament’s National Security Committee.
Moosa accused Yameen, who is the speaker of the National Security Committee, of using his position on the committee to seek revenge against police and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) after his arrest and detention by the government in July.
‘’After Yameen was arrested on charges of corruption, he has been continuously trying to smear the name of police and the MNDF,’’ said Moosa. “He will never succeed by chasing after the police and MNDF to get revenge.’’
Moosa alleged that Yameen was trying to summon superiors of armed forces to appear before the committee in “a cunning plan” to denigrate the institutions.
“This is a plan to take revenge on police and armed forces,’’ Moosa claimed.
Media Coordinator of PA Ahmed Faisal said Moosa’s comments were “a personal attack” on Yameen.
Yameen and Secretary General of PA Ahmed Shareef were abroad and unavailable for comment at time of press.
Mohamed Najaah, boyfriend of Mariyam Sheereen who’s body was discovered in a construction site in January, has denied murder charges raised against him by the Prosecutor General’s office.
Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem raised murder charges against Najah in court and presented two witnesses: a taxi driver and a person who lived in the same apartment.
Shameem presented a man identified as Haneef who lived in the same apartment with Sheereen and Najaah as a witness, and also the taxi driver who carried the suitcase.
The body of 30 year old Sheereen was discovered 36 hours after death in a construction site in Male’ on January 3 by a Bangladeshi labourer. Her family reported to police that she had been missing from December 31, 2009.
Four men have been arrested after being caught eating in daylight hours during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that two cases had been reported to police and four people had been arrested.
Sergeant Abdul Muhsin said two of the men were arrested near the Alimas Carnival stage last Saturday and taken to the police station, where they confessed they had eaten.
“They were released after making a statement and were given advice,’’ he said.
The other two men were arrested inside Giyasuddeen School, Sergeant Muhsin said.
“They also confessed they had eaten in the school toilets,” he said. “They have both been released now.”
Last year a man was arrested for eating in daytime during Ramadan and was sent to the Criminal Court by Prosecutor General’s office.
The Criminal Court fined the man Rf 500 and ordered to reinstate that day’s fast.
Staff at Kurumba Resort have ceased striking and returned to work following the arrest of 19 staff members on charges of vandalism and intimidation.
Almost all the resort staff have been on strike for the last three days complaining of management inaction over poor staff accommodation, food, unfair distribution of service charges and staff discrimination. Rising tension prompted management to move around 250 guests to other resorts run by the Universal group yesterday, while other visitors chose to depart the country.
Assistant Human Resources Manager at Kurumba, Ibrahim Hassan, told Minivan News that the striking staff were last night given a written ultimatum to report to duty by 9:30pm, “otherwise they would need to continue the strike elsewhere as management would not allow it to continue on the [privately-owned] island.”
“Many staff obeyed and informed HR they were ready to return to work; others were not willing to start work but ultimately they all gave up the strike,” Ibrahim said, adding that four staff members had chosen to resign and leave the island while 19 remained in police custody.
“Management is now reviewing all the issues raised [by the strikers] and believes many are valid,” he said.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed yesterday that police arrived on the island to monitor the situation after receiving reports that management had been threatened. A door was also damaged in a staff room.
“The staff decided to cease the strike after police and management held negotiations,’’ said Shiyam today.
Mohamed Zakir, Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives (TEAM) alleged that staff decided to halt the strike “after police and management threatened staff that they would be terminated from their jobs and arrested.’’
The 19 staff arrested were leaders of the strike, Zakir claimed.
“There was also a riot squad on the island,’’ he claimed. “Management and police demanded staff end the strike and return to work. Most of them agreed, but four of them did not want to stop and are still on strike.’’
Shiyam claimed police “only assisted” negotiations to resolve the stand-off, after talks between staff and management reached a deadlock yesterday, “and did not threaten staff.”
Meanwhile, radio station SunFM today reported Chairman of Universal Mohamed Umar Maniku as saying that the three-day strike had caused the company a loss of more than two million dollars. He also told SunFM that bookings had been cancelled due to the strike.
Ibrahim would not comment on the financial impact caused by the strike.
Sim Mohamed Ibrahim from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) said yesterday that the organisation was concerned that “an investment of millions of dollars can be crippled and held at ransom within a few hours by its own employees, whose grievances may or may not be real,” adding that this had occurred in several resorts.
Tourism, namely the country’s 90-odd resort islands, indirectly contributes to 70 percent of the country’s GDP.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referenced the Chairperson of Universal as Ali Mohamed Maniku. This has been corrected to Mohamed Umar Maniku.
Swords seized recently by the Maldives Customs Services were imported to the Maldives in a shipment under the name of a company belonging to a “prominent” businessman, according spokesperson of the Maldives Customs Services, Mohamed Ibrahim.
Ibrahim however declined to reveal the name of the person or the company, “as the investigation of the case is ongoing.’’
The stun weapon intercepted at the airport
A shipment of swords and 260 toy guns were intercepted by customs inspectors in July. The inspectors discovered the weapons inside a container imported to the Maldives that was originally loaded in China.
Photos of the guns released by Customs identified them as realistic-looking ‘Airsoft’ guns, which fire small, hard plastic pellets and can be purchased from toy shops in places such as Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
“The toy guns and the swords were both found in two containers imported by one cargo ship,’’ said Ibrahim. “But they were cleared by the customs individually so [the guns] were found on a later occasion.’’
Maldives Customs Services yesterday seized black masks and a high-voltage Chinese-made electric stun gun. Such weapons inflict pain and momentary paralysis when the two probes are applied directly to the target.
One of the intercepted pellet guns
“The stun gun was found inside the baggage of a 22 year-old Maldivian who arrived from Colombo on flight UL107. Four black face masks were also found with him,’’ Ibrahim said.
One of the masks found in a passenger's luggage
“Another five black masks were found with a 25 year-old Maldivian who arrived with him. They have both now been handed over to police.’’
Aside from their luggage Ibrahim said the two men “looked decent” and appeared generally unremarkable.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the two men remained in police custody but would not give any more details of the case.
An ongoing strike at Kurumba Maldives resort near Male’ has prompted management to move the island’s guests to other resorts run by the Universal Group, while other visitors have chosen to leave the country.
More than 150 Maldivian and expatriate staff are on strike after complaining of poor staff facilities, low wages, unfair distribution of service charges and discrimination between local and foreign staff.
Assistant Human Resources Manager Ibrahim Hassan told Minivan News that no staff were currently working at the resort, as “almost all” were now involved in the strike action. Nearly 250 guests had been relocated to other resorts or had cut short their holidays and left the country, he said.
“At the moment [the strikers] are very calm. They are standing in front of the Human Resources [office] and not coming out of the staff area,” Ibrahim said.
“Yesterday it became serious when they came out of the staff area and threatened senior management. Some senior managers have [subsequently] left the island.”
A third meeting between staff and management yesterday failed to resolve the deadlock, he noted. No staff member had yet been dismissed, he added.
Police have meanwhile arrived on the island to monitor the situation. Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said a police team was sent after police received reports that management were being threatened.
A staff member on strike told Minivan News that the workers decided to continue the strike after management “did not give us an adequate answer” by the workers’ deadline of 4:00pm yesterday.
“Nobody is on duty and guests have complained about the poor services, so the management decided to transfer all the guests to other resorts,” he said.
Striking staff complain to senior managers
During the last meeting resort management had given the staff a written reply to their demands, promising the construction of a new staff accommodation block in September and the formation of a staff committee representing various departments.
“We have four main concerns: wages, service charge [payments], food and accommodation,” he said. “For food and accommodation they gave a pleasant answer. But regarding wages and the service charge, they could not give an adequate answer – they said they were revising the salaries but did not know when they could increase them.”
When staff said the response was inadequate, management replied they were unable to alter the decision, he said.
“That response caused outrage among staff and some of the senior management officials were forced to leave the island,’’ he added. “Police came to the island to control the situation.’’
The staff claimed they would strike until management fulfilled their demands, he said.
Sim Mohamed Ibrahim from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) described the industrial action at Kurumba as “a clear reflection of what little protection is provided to investors and businesses under the present laws pertaining to the conduct of business in the country.”
“The reality of the situation is that an investment of millions of dollars can be crippled andheld at ransom within a few hours by its own employees, whose grievances may or may not be real,” Sim said, adding that this situation had recently occurred in several resorts.
“The situation in Kurumba is a case in point. On Sunday August 22 the resort occupancy [percentage] was in the 80’s. Towards evening that day occupancy had fallen to less than 20% percent,” Sim said. “Tourists, tour operators and senior management have been too terrified to remain in the resort, and today the resort is empty.”
“There should be no ground for any party to reduce visitors and businesses in this country to a state of fear and terror, whoever may be at fault. The government must provide tourists and investors with adequate protection,” Sim said.
The Universal-run resort near Male’ is one of the oldest private resort islands in the Maldives, reopening as a five-star luxury resort in 2004 following renovation.
The parliament last week approved legislation intended to clamp down on gang violence and gang related crime, and sent it to the President for ratification.
The Maldives Police Service has complained on several occasions that violent criminals are released into society because of missing laws on gang violence, and urged MPs to approve the bill.
The law enacted by parliament states says that any person who “unites himself” to a gang formed with the intention to commit unlawful crimes, shall serve on to five years imprisonment.
The approved bill defines a gang as “a group which consists of more than three persons where the main objective is to commit crimes”.
According to the new law, any person identified as the leader of such a gang shall be imprisoned for two to seven years.
By a word a person says or by an act a person commits, or by any means if a person represents that he is a gang member, is now a crime according to the law and punishable with imprisonment for between six to 18 months.
Aiding or supplying a gang is also a crime under the law, with prison sentences up to seven years and fines of up to Rf500,000 (US$39,000).
Furthermore, any person who threatens a witness shall be imprisoned for six to 18 months, and any person who attacks a witness or is the cause of an attack on a witness shall be imprisoned for between three to seven years.
The law also states that planning to assault anybody is now a crime with a sentence of between six to 18 months jail, while actually assault is a sentence of between six to 12 years in jail.
Meanwhile, gang violence continues Male’ with an 18 year-old in intensive care are he was stabbed at 11:45pm last night.
A 16-year-old boy was also stabbed on Thursday night.
The gang crimes bill, submitted in August last year, effectively criminalises gang activities by banning membership and recruiting, and criminalising financial support. It will now be a crime to take over a street corner or paint logos of your gang, while the recently ratified anti-social behaviour bill imposes a curfew of 11:00pm on minors while children under 16 cannot go out without a guardian after 9:00pm.
Police meanwhile insist that their operations are futile as long as sentences remain unenforced.
Following the murder of an 18-year-old in March 2009, the sixth gang-related murder in the capital since December 2007, Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh revealed that “over 500 convicts” were loose in society.
The army had to be deployed in Male’ in April 2008 after 15-year-old Shifau Ismail was killed. Another minor, Ahmed Shaneed, 15, was stabbed to death on the eve of the second round of presidential elections in October 2008.
Faseeh argued that the system created repeat offenders when the majority of cases sent for prosecution did not result in convictions.
A young boy first arrested for stealing a bottle of Denim went on to become involved in the biggest case of theft in the capital while his previous cases were pending at the PG’s office, Faseeh revealed.
Another suspect involved in multiple cases of gang violence was arrested for assaulting a police officer, while six cases sent to the PG’s office had not reached court, Faseeh added.
Renowned Qary (Quran reciter) Hussein Thaufeeq, widely considered to be one of the best Quran readers in the Maldives, has been arrested on multiple charges of child sex abuse.
Thaufeeq hosts a daily Quran teaching programme on Television Maldives (TVM) for school children every evening after Isha prayers. He also leads Friday prayers and conducts sermons.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed Thaufeeq was in police custody after being arrested in connection with “many” child sex offences against girls, “some cases going back a long time.”
‘’The case is under investigation and further information cannot be provided at this stage,’’ said Shiyam.
Police arrested Thaufeeq last week and presented him to the Criminal Court requesting for an extension of his detention. The Court granted an extension of custody to 15 days.
State Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed declined to comment on the issue, “as the case is still under investigation.’’
President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed said that the party was “very concerned” over the issue, “not because a certain person may have done it, but because lately these sorts of crimes are increasing in number day by day,’’ Hussein said.
‘’I would not like to say anything regarding this [specific] case, because it hasn’t been decreed by a court of law and until then it is just an accusation.”
Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed has cited “suspicious issues” relating to the evidence presented by the Prosecutor General’s office as reason for the acquittal of Hussein Mohamed.
Hussein was labelled by the government as one of the top six drug dealers in the country, prior to the court finding him innocent of importing drugs. He was arrested at the airport on April 9, 2009, where police alleged he was awaiting the arrival of a couple carrying a drug shipment.
Judge Mohamed said the evidence presented was inadequate to rule Hussein guilty.
Hussein was the first to be arrested of the six people President Mohamed Nasheed has previously labeled as the top six drug dealers in the country.
Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem described the verdict as “regrettable”, adding that the PG’s office would consider its options once it received the case report from the court.
The second of the six arrested, Adam Naseer, was also ruled innocent by the Criminal Court after police searched his home in Addu Atoll on June 30, 2009, where they found over Rf6 million (US$461,500) in cash and a tin containing drugs outside his house.
Naseer was arrested several days later on July 2, 2009. However, the Criminal Court ruled that he was innocent because evidence presented by the Prosecutor General’s office was inadequate, and failed to prove that the money found with Naseer was obtained through drug dealing.
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