Tag: police

HRCM questions police conduct in raid of ex-defence minister’s apartment

The failure to videotape a midnight raid on the apartment of then-defence minister Mohamed Nazim on January 18 “raises questions about the actions of police officers,” the human rights watchdog has said.

The retired colonel was found guilty of weapons smuggling and sentenced to 11 years in prison in March after police discovered a pistol and bullets in his bedside drawer. Nazim maintains that he was framed by rogue Specialist Operations (SO) officers acting on the orders of tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb.

Following an inquiry to determine whether Nazim’s human rights were violated, the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) found that the police acted in accordance with the law, but questioned the decision not to seek assistance from the military despite suspecting that Nazim possessed dangerous weapons and an improvised explosive device.

“The investigation noted matters that raise questions about the actions of police officers in searching G. Enif due to the carelessness of the police officers and because the search was not videotaped,” reads a 35-page confidential HRCM investigation report obtained by Minivan News.

However, the report concluded that police acted lawfully in arresting the former defence minister on February 10 and that his human rights were not violated under police custody.

In four recommendations to the Maldives Police Service, the commission advised making it mandatory to take video footage of police operations, involving officers of both genders in raids, and respecting human rights while searching private residences.

The police told the HRCM investigators that Nazim’s apartment was not raided based on intelligence information.

The decision was made by senior officers based on information from a credible source, according to statements from anonymised police officers.

Some police officers involved in the operation said they did not know who ordered the raid and some were unaware of the target when they prepared for the operation.

A SWAT team officer said he only knew it was Nazim’s apartment upon seeing the defence minister inside.

The police said they also found a pen drive with documents detailing a plot to assassinate President Abdulla Yameen.

The raid

The police SWAT team raided Nazim’s eighth floor apartment around 3:30am and broke down the doors of the house, the apartment, and family rooms.

The family told HRCM investigators that SO officers used obscene language and forced Nazim and his wife to kneel down while they searched the master bedroom for about 15 minutes.

A second search team then went into the room and called Nazim and his wife over.

An investigation officer showed Nazim the search warrant about 25 minutes after the SO officers broke into the apartment, the family said.

The family alleged that SO officers also broke down the door of Nazim’s daughter’s room and that her finger was injured when she was dragged out to the living room.

The family said the raid was traumatising and that Nazim’s daughter still faced difficulty sleeping.

Family members also stressed that police had not searched the rest of the apartment after finding a black bag from Nazim’s room. The SO officers took out the bag’s contents and Nazim denied that it was his.

The police did not take forensic samples, the family noted.

Nazim has meanwhile appealed his conviction at the High Court, which began hearings late last month. The appeal has been stalled after the Supreme Court transferred two judges in the five-member panel to an appellate branch in the south.

The ex-defence minister’s lawyers have highlighted several lapses in due process, including the criminal court’s refusal to call defence witnesses, discrepancies in testimony by anonymous police officers, and the police’s alleged failure to follow the law and standard procedures in the midnight raid.

Nazim maintains that the weapons were planted on the orders of tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb after the pair fell-out over Adeeb’s alleged use of SWAT officers to commit criminal activities. Adeeb has denied the claims.

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MDP vice-president, arrested in the middle of a speech, released

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s vice-president, Mohamed Shifaz, was arrested in the middle of a speech and detained for two hours last night.

Police entered the opposition’s headquarters at Artificial Beach around midnight without a court warrant and arrested Shifaz while he was addressing a crowd of supporters.

Officers said Shifaz had been arrested for disturbing the peace by using loud speakers beyond midnight.

The police in May had banned the use of loud speakers beyond 11pm and protests beyond midnight. The opposition has condemned the move as an obstruction of freedom of assembly and expression.

“I was taken to the police headquarters and advised not to repeat my actions. I told them that advising me will not stop us from exercising our right to freedom of expression. My arrest is a blatant obstruction of that right,” Shifaz told Minivan News.

He was released at 2am.

The police also arrested two others from the opposition Haruge for obstruction of police duty. The pair were also released in the early hours of the morning.

The MDP has condemned the police’s actions, claiming they had switched off the loud speakers on the street by midnight.

Despite Shifaz’s arrest, the opposition rally continued till 1am.

The rally was held to prepare for the MDP’s tenth anniversary on June 26, Friday. The party has announced it will hold a march at 10pm on Friday.

Supporters have highlighted the party’s achievements on social media with the hashtag #MDP10years.

The MDP was the first political party to register in the Maldives.

Photo from social media

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Warehouse fire in Malé second in a week

A fire broke out in a warehouse in Malé last night in the second fire incident in the capital in less than a week.

The fire at the United Food Supplies warehouse in the Maafanu ward was reported to the Maldives National Defence Force’s (MDNF) fire and rescue services around 8:20pm and was swiftly contained around 8:40pm.

MDNF spokesperson Major Adnan Ahmed told Minivan News that the fire was caused by an ignition in the panel board of a storage container.

The warehouse on Hadhuvaree Hingun mainly stores vegetables, frozen goods and other food items, he said.

Local media reported that staff brought out several boxes from the warehouse to protect the food items after heavy smoke engulfed the area when the fire was extinguished.

The items in storage were not damaged in the fire.

Last night’s incident occurred three days after a fire broke out at the Kaaminee Shopping Centre in the city’s main thoroughfare Majeedhee Magu on Thursday, June 18.

The police and MNDF evacuated nearby shops and apartments, but the fire was also contained in a short period.

A police officer involved in the evacuating the staff was injured and taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital for treatment.

A police media official said both cases were under investigation, but suggested that last night’s fire was most likely caused by faulty equipment.

“Two apartments nearby the fire at Kaaminee center were damaged by the fire, other than that there are not much damages apart from the shopping centre,” he said.

The authorities are yet to conclude an investigation into a massive fire at a Lily Store warehouse in Malé in March.

Photo from social media.

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Five staff arrested from Shangri-La Villingili for alleged theft

Five employees from Shangri-La Villigili have been arrested on suspicion of stealing from the luxury resort’s jewellery store.

The suspects were brought to the capital from the southernmost atoll yesterday, local media reported, and the criminal court has extended their remand detention to 15 days.

According to the resort, the suspects broke a glass window of the shop and stole a large amount of expensive jewelry. All suspects are Maldivian.

The police are also investigating the alleged theft of $68,000 by a Shangri-La employee working at the finance section.

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Police seize ‘protest sound system’ from ex MDP president’s residence

Photo by Shaari

The police entered former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) president Ibrahim Ismail’s ‘Ibra’ and Jumhooree Party (JP) deputy leader Ameen Ibrahim’s residences with court warrants last night and seized sound systems used during the June 12 sit-in protest.

Police officers went into Machangoalhi Bouegainvillea and Henveiru Haali around 8:00pm and confiscated the loudspeakers, a police media official confirmed.

The court warrant – signed by chief judge Abdulla Mohamed and circulated on social media – stated that the MDP had refused to stop using loudspeakers after 11:00pm as ordered and had set up sound systems in various buildings in Malé.

The “public was facing difficulties” due to the speeches broadcast from the sound system, the police stated as the reason for requesting the search warrant.

The sit-in took place in the capital’s main thoroughfare Majeedhee Magu with about 2,000 protesters.

Shortly after 11:00pm, Specialist Operations (SO) police officers confiscated hand-drawn carts used to carry the sound systems. But speeches from opposition politicians – delivered from an undisclosed location – continued and could be heard from the speakers set up at the residences.

An hour later, riot police chased protesters into side streets and cleared Majeedhee Magu, but protesters regrouped and continued protesting until 4:00am.

Loudspeakers were also set up on Manchangoalhi Maadheli and SO officers searched a security guard outside the residence for keys, but did not go into the building. The sound system was turned off when police attempted to enter.

Some 12 protesters, including former ruling party MP Ahmed Mahloof and AP deputy secretary general Ahmed Shareef were arrested during the police crackdown. The criminal court released all 12 last night after the police sought extension of remand detention.

The seizure of the sound system from Ibra’s home meanwhile comes after the government’s eviction of Mandhu College from its premises earlier this month. The former MP is the chairman of the college.

“Now they have entered my house. And randomly seized property. This time they had a piece of paper which stated it was a court order,” he wrote in a Facebook post today.

“But that piece of paper did not state what crime was being investigated, who the suspect was. And they conducted the search without the presence of any of the residents, and did not even inform me as to what they were taking with them.”

He added that the next search “will produce a submachine gun and a CD-ROM, which will be ample proof for me to be convicted for terrorism.”

“And it will be just an aside, that I will be tried by the same judge who issued the illegal ‘search warrant,'” he wrote.

Independence day

The MDP has meanwhile announced plans to stage a fourth mass anti-government demonstration to coincide with Independence Day on July 26. The government has planned numerous activities to celebrate the upcoming golden jubilee of independence.

Speaking at a rally in the opposition Haruge (meeting hall) last night, MDP vice president Mohamed Shifaz called on supporters from across the country to travel to the capital for the mass protest.

“We want to show the level of independence in this country,” he said.

Shifaz told Minivan News yesterday that the opposition alliance – made up of the MDP, the religious conservative Adhaalath Party, members of the JP, and defectors from the ruling party – will continue its protests until the government heeds its demands.

The demands include releasing imprisoned former President Mohamed Nasheed and former defence Mohamed Nazim, whose arrests in February sparked the ongoing political arrest.

The opposition alliance is also demanding the withdrawal of terrorism charges against AP president Sheikh Imran Abdulla, JP deputy leader Ameen Ibrahim, and JP council member Sobah Rasheed, as well as an end to alleged targeting of opposition-aligned businesses.

Two weeks after a 20,000-strong mass protest on May 1, President Abdulla Yameen called for separate talks with the three allied opposition parties. The talks with the JP began last week, but the government has rejected former President Nasheed and AP president Sheikh Imran as the representatives of their respective parties.

The JP had proposed establishing a platform for all-party talks, discussing the release of jailed opposition politicians, ensuring judicial independence, and protecting investors.

A second meeting for between the government and the JP scheduled for this afternoon was cancelled. President’s office spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali said the meeting was postponed because some of the government’s representatives were not in Malé.

Speaking at a ceremony in Thaa Thimafarushi last night, tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb called on the opposition to stop its street protests and accept the government’s invitation for talks to resolve the political crisis.

He urged the MDP and AP to relent on its condition of joining the talks with its jailed leaders as representatives.

“If the [leaders] are to be freed, first the doctor’s board must decide it. How can we talk about it with the patient? That’s not how it’s done. Leave the patient as the patient and come discuss with the doctor. The operation can only be completed after that,” he was quoted as saying by local media.

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Police officer in charge of Dhoonidhoo put detainees to work

A police officer, who was in charge of the Dhoonidhoo Island remand center, has been accused of putting several detainees to work, pocketing funds and giving special treatment to several suspects arrested in serious crimes.

Sub- Inspector of police Mujathaba Zahir is accused of letting several suspects out of their cells and letting them roam around the island, the Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC) has said.

He accommodated several in special barracks with a television, and allowed them to eat with police officers at the mess room.

Some suspects were let out of their cells even though the police had not completed investigations.

Some detainees were made to work on a warehouse for the Police Cooperative Society (Polco). Mujthaba also had detainees extract toddy from coconut palms and made coconut sugar, which he then sold on the market.

The sales were not documented, the ACC said.

Mujthaba also obtained money and gifts from several companies contracted for work on Dhoonidhoo, including a catering company, in the guise of improving services on the island. But there is no account of how funds were spent, the ACC said.

He is also accused of providing unlawful benefits to those he put to work. But he is also accused of taking MVR10,000 (US$645) earned by some detainees in the guise of buying a fishing net from India. He never returned the money.

The anti- corruption watchdog’s investigation revealed five other officers at Dhoonidhoo had assisted Mujathaba with the unlawful activities. The ACC has also recommended disciplinary action against two more senior officers for failing to put a stop Mujathaba’s activities.

Mujathaba is also accused of listing several contract workers on Dhoonidhoo as police officers and billing the police for their food.

During the ACC investigation, Mujthaba claimed he acted with the blessings of his superiors and for the benefit of the remand center. But the police have denied authorizing any of Mujthaba’s actions.

The ACC has recommend the Prosecutor General’s Office charge Mujthaba with three counts of abuse of authority and one count of depriving the state of monetary benefit.

The watchdog has recommended that Mujthaba’s accomplices – chief station inspector Abu Bakr Ali, station inspector Abdulla Waheed, superintendent Hussein Rasheed, Sargent Athif Naeem and chief station inspector Maumoon Jaufar – be prosecuted for abusing their powers.

The ACC has also advised the police to take disciplinary action against two officers in charge of POLCO – chief superintendent Abul Rahman Yusuf and Inspector Ilyas Rasheed.

In November last year, the Maldives Police Service revealed that 23 officers were deemed unsuitable to perform their job as officers of the law and fired.

While 257 complaints were lodged against police officers, disciplinary actions were taken against 115 officers.

In May last year, a police officer was arrested while attempting to smuggle drugs into Malé custodial detention center.

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Four Bangladeshis arrested on gambling charges

Hulhumale2

Four Bangladeshi men were arrested in Hulhumalé today on charges of gambling.

Based on “intelligence information”, the police raided the expatriate’s quarters in lot 10378 with a court warrant around 10:40am.

“All four were taken into police custody from the crime scene,” according to police media.

The police also seized more than MVR10,000 in cash and “items used for gambling.”

Gambling is prohibited in Islam and illegal in the Maldives.

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Police bust prostitution ring, arrest eight suspects

Three foreign women, four foreign men, and one Maldivian man were arrested last night after the police raided a brothel in Malé.

The police raided the Woodpecker house in the Maafanu ward of the capital around 9:00pm based on intelligence information. The suspects were engaged in prostitution when officers entered the residence, the police said in a statement.

The three foreign women were arrested on charges of prostitution and the two foreign men on suspicion of being their agents.

The two foreign men and the Maldivian man were reportedly customers.

Police officers searched the four rooms of the house and found large amounts of cash in both foreign and local currency as well as pills and other items used for sexual activities.

The police said the serious and organised crime department is investigating the case.

In August 2013, the criminal court sentenced a 64-year-old Maldivian man to four years in prison after finding him guilty of running a brothel and forcing three Thai women into prostitution.

Two Maldivian women and a man were also arrested in April last year on charges of prostitution.

The police said that the two female suspects were aged 29 and 30 and the man was 26-years-old.

The suspects were taken into custody after police raided the Beauty house in Maafannu.

Police officers searched the house and discovered five packets containing illegal narcotics.

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Police conduct random checks on flights bound to Turkey

The police have begun conducting random checks on passengers on board flights to Turkey in a bid to deter the growing numbers of Maldivians seeking to join radical Islamic movements in Syria and Iraq.

A police spokesperson said the police have been randomly questioning Maldivians en route to Turkey on different airlines for their reasons for flying to Turkey and their return dates.

The operation has been ongoing for more than 90 days.

The police declined to give additional details.

The government has drafted a new anti-terrorism bill that would criminalize the act of leaving the Maldives to participate in foreign wars.

The bill, however, also grant the president the exclusive authority to declare groups as terrorist organizations, and also criminalizes the promotion of certain political or religious ideology as a terrorist offense.

When reports of Maldivians joining in the Syrian civil-war and dying in battle first surfaced in local media, President Abdulla Yameen said he was not aware of Maldivian participation in foreign wars.

In December, home minister Umar Naseer acknowledged the problem of Maldivians fighting in foreign wars, but said only seven Maldivians were active in war. In January, the commissioner of police Hussain Waheed estimated the figure to be more than 50.

But the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party says the figure could be as high as 200.

Waheed said that police were monitoring the activities of militants and would reveal details of plans to prevent radicalisation at a later date. The MDP has said the government is doing little to counter radicalisation and prevent recruitment of would-be fighters.

Atleast seven Maldivians are reported to have died in Syria.

On May 31, newspaper Haveeru said two more Maldivians had been killed while fighting with the Islamic State.

Many would-be fighters migrate with their families and children. Several officers of the Department of Immigration are reported to have left the Maldives for jihad.

A UN report has raised concerns over an increase in fighters leaving the Maldives to join terrorist organisations including al-Qaida and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The expert report to the UN Security Council, obtained by The Associated Press, said the flow of fighters globally “is higher than it has ever been historically”, increasing from a few thousand a decade ago to over 25,000 from more than 100 nations today.

The UN report, written by a UN panel monitoring sanctions against Al-Qaida, listed the Maldives, Finland and Trinidad and Tobago as countries from which numbers of fighters were increasing, while the highest number of foreign fighters come from Tunisia, Morocco, France and Russia.

Most fighters travel to Syria and Iraq, to fight primarily for the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra front.

A Facebook page had published, the obituary and pictures of Maldivian jihadi Azlif Rauf on May 24, who reportedly died in Syria in mid-May.

The former Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) officer is a suspect in the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali in 2012. He reportedly left the Maldives in December with six members of the Kuda Henveiru gang.

He was under house arrest at the time.

 

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