Tag: police

MDP suggests extremist ideologies prevalent within the security services

Concerning levels of extremist ideology are present within the Maldives military and police forces, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has said.

In a statement issued today, the party said it has been noted that most militants travelling from the Maldives to foreign countries “in the name of jihad” are members of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and Maldives Police Services (MPS).

The Ministry of Defence and National Security has responded to the MDP’s remarks, describing the accusations as “baseless and untrue” comment intended to “discredit and disparage” military.

“Therefore we condemn in the strictest terms this irresponsible act of the Maldivian Democratic Party. And call on the Maldivian Democratic Party to stop spreading misinformation in ways which could confuse the public and become a responsible political party,” the ministry’s statement read. The Maldives Police Service (MPS) have not commented on the issue.

Citing foreign intelligence agencies, the MDP said funds of an unknown nature are being transferred to foreign parties through Maldivian banks.

Earlier this month, the US State Department releases a report claiming Maldivian authorities had knowledge of funds for terrorism being raised in the country – a claim subsequently denied by the Maldives Monetary Authority.

The MDP today said that the Maldives was now becoming a transit port for illegal drug trafficking, with a large amount of strong drugs already being delivered internationally through the country.

Local media have today reported over 3kgs of illegal drugs being seized in the capital Malé as the Home Ministry continues to crack down on the trade.

A record haul of 24kg of heroin was seized by police in March before of Pakistani nationals arrested in the operation were set free – an incident cited by the acting prosecutor general for his recent resignation.

“This is taking place at a time when definite proof of Defence Minister [Mohamed Nazim] and Tourism Minister’s [Ahmed Adeeb] close relations with world famous drug cartels or gangs are being revealed through photos and others mediums,” read the MDP statement.

Suggesting that extremist elements within the security force were behind the “overthrow of the first democratic government of Maldives in a coup d’etat on 7 February 2012”, the party called on state authorities to launch criminal investigations and to take action against guilty members of security forces as per the recommendations of the CoNI (Commission of National Inquiry) report.

This party calls upon the responsible authorities of the state to to investigate and look in to the points noted in the CoNI report, and remove the extremist elements within the security forces.

“The party calls on the relevant committee of the People’s Majlis to immediately investigate and take necessary action against those in the security forces who are following extremist ideologies , and earn the goodwill of the Maldivian citizens and foreign parties, and make this country peaceful,” the statement continued.

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Maldives must ensure it does not become hub for people smuggling: Defence minister

With additional reporting by Lucy Lovell

The Maldives should take precautionary steps to ensure that it does not become a hub for people smuggling, Minister of Defence and National Security Mohamed Nazim said on Sunday.

“This smuggling of people is done by garnering a lot of financial aid. People smuggling has become a huge business globally.”

“We must do all necessary to inhibit people smuggling through the Maldives,” said the minister.

Despite the recent introduction of legislation to address the country’s longstanding problems with human trafficking, doubts persist over implementation, as well as the law’s capacity to prosecute human smuggling – different to trafficking in that individuals give a measure of consent to be transported illegally.

Speaking at the inauguration of a workshop titled ‘Capacity Building for Front line Investigation and Border Control Officers to Combat People Smuggling’ – which started in Kurumba Island Resort on Sunday – Nazim spoke of the important role that can be played by immigration and police officers to prevent people smuggling.

He further stated that the immigration cell established at the Immigration Department needs to further develop and function more strongly in the future.

“We in the Maldives do not want anyone to use our borders to illegally cross into other countries. Even quite recently, we came across some Syrians who used the Maldives as an intermediary to travel onto another country.”

“We must ensure that the Maldivian border is one which is safe and protected, and that people are aware of this security,” added Nazim during the event organised by the International Organisation for Migration, and the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

Smuggling concerns

The defence minister – also in charge of the immigration department – announced plans to apprehend and deport all undocumented foreign workers from the capital Malé within four months.

Local NGO Transparency Maldives recently estimated that the number of migrant workers in the country could number as many as 200,000 – a figure that amounts to two thirds of the country’s population.

The Maldives’ first anti trafficking legislation was ratified by President Abdulla Yameen in December last year, receiving a mixed responses from the Human Rights Commission Maldives (HRCM).

Assistant Controller Ali Ashraf from the HRCM described the new legislation at the time as “an excellent piece of work”, though he noted that the failure to include the category of smuggling in the act made it very likely that offenders would be able to evade prosecution.

“The definition of trafficking can be twisted so easily,” warned Ashraf.

The HRCM has also raised the issue of Syrian refugees – mentioned by the defence minister today – using the Maldives as a transit point back in November 2013.

A leaked document from the immigration department, obtained by Minivan News last year, that the Maldives status as a tourist hub granting free visas upon arrival to over one million tourists a year, made it increasingly attractive as a transit destination

Previous case studies on several refugees appeared to reveal inconsistencies with the immigration department’s decisions, with similar refugee cases receiving different verdicts from Maldivian authorities.

HRCM member Jeehan Mahmood argued that the government’s inconsistencies resulted in discriminatory practices inappropriate to a country aspiring to uphold its human rights obligations.

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Man arrested for sexually abusing a child with disabilities

Police have arrested a man on charges of sexually abusing a 13 year old girl with disabilities.

The arrested man is a 25-year-old male – reportedly a friend of the victim’s family.

Both the victim and the arrested man are from the island of Gaafaru in Kaafu Atoll.

While confirming the arrest, police declined to provide further details on the case.

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Ayyube murder suspect denies charges

Fauzan Mohamed, a suspect arrested in connection to the murder of 76 year-old Ali Hassan ‘Ayyube’ has denied the charges levied against him in the Criminal Court and has said he did not want the state to appoint him a lawyer.

According to online newspaper ‘Haveeru’, a hearing in to the case was yesterday held at the Criminal Court where the Judge repeatedly asked Fauzan if he wanted the state to appoint him a lawyer. But, he replied that he will continue the trial without a lawyer and said he will not need a lawyer at any point of the trial.

During yesterday’s hearing, the state presented four witnesses, a DNA report, Ayyube’s death certificate and a crime scene report.

Fauzan also presented two witnesses for his defense but he did not have the full name and permanent address of the two witnesses. The judge asked him to provide a written document including the full names and the permanent address of the witnesses.

Ayyube’s body was discovered with multiple stab wounds in an abandoned house on Kudahuvadhoo on January 8, 2013. Police arrested six individuals in connection to the case.

The victim had previously been accused of using sorcery on Fauzan’s 37 year-old mother. She was reported missing at 2:00am on December 4, 2011 and her body was found floating in Kudahuvadhoo lagoon later that morning.

Island Council President of Kudahuvadhoo Ibrahim Fikry at the time told Minivan News that the islanders were all frightened after Ayyube’s death.

“After the death of the woman the islanders were scared, and then this incident occurred and now the islanders are worse,” he said adding that no one walked the streets after the sun went down.

“The injuries sustained were horrific,” Fikry told Minivan News at the time. He said that the victim’s forehead was slashed and that his neck was slit. “There were deep stab wounds to the chest and back, revealing the bones. The intestines were visible from a slash to the stomach,” he recalled.

In March, 2013, two minors charged with Ayyube’s murder pleaded guilty to aiding the murder in court. The two minors were charged with spying on Ayyube before the murder, and assisting the assailants to hide the weapons they used to murder him.

The step-grandson of Hassan was also summoned to the Criminal Court for his involvement in the case.

He told the court that he believed Fauzan murdered Ayyube because he was rumored to have killed Fauzan’s mother.

If found guilty, Fauzan will be sentenced to death. The death penalty will be implemented if the Supreme Court upholds the sentence and if all of Ayyube’s heirs desire the death sentence.

Before the trial ends, the court will take statements from all heirs of the victim to determine if they had any objection to passing death sentence on Fauzan.

On April 27, 2014, Home Minister Umar Naseer has said that death penalty will be implemented in the Maldives from that day onwards with the publication of procedural regulations concerning death penalty and its implementation in the government gazette.

Maldives has been maintaining an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty since 1953. After 1953, the heads of state have always commuted death sentences to life imprisonment through powers vested in him in the Clemency Act.

The last person to be judicially executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, who was executed by firing squad in 1953 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.

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17 year-old girl gang raped in Male’

Local media has reported that a 17 year-old girl was gang raped today afternoon on the staircase of a house in Henveiru.

Online newspaper ‘CNM’ reported that the case was reported to police at about 2: 48 pm today afternoon.

According to the paper, the incident occurred inside a house named ‘Light Rose’ in Henveiru Ward.

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Court extends detention of police officer arrested for drugs smuggling

The Criminal Court has extended the detention period of a police officer caught smuggling drugs in to Male’ Custodial Center.

According to local media, the police officer was a lance corporal and was in police uniform when he was arrested.

In March, another police officer was arrested in connection to the largest drug haulfrom a police operation in the country’s history.

The police seized 24 kg of heroin with a street value of MVR36 million (US$2.2 million) and arrested four Maldivians, three Bangladeshis and 11 Pakistanis.

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Police officers participate in regional anti-terrorism seminar

Two officers from the Maldives Police Service have attended the Seminar on Anti-Terrorism For Asian Countries held in China from April 9 to 29.

The seminar was designed to hold discussions on the status of anti-terrorism efforts in Asian countries, and to explore additional means of dealing with terrorism crimes.

The two officers who attended the seminar are Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Shameem and Inspector of Police Nahid Hussain.

The seminar was organised by the Chinese government and included participants from SAARC countries, ASEAN countries and outher South East Asian countries.

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Criminal Court orders detention of two suspects in Alhan’s stabbing case until trial concludes

The Criminal Court has ordered the police to hold the two suspects arrested in connection with an attack on Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Alhan Fahmy in detention until their trial reached a conclusion.

On March 30, 2014, the police concluded the investigation and forwarded the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO).

Two suspects – Mohamed Sameeh of Shiny, Fuvahmulah, and Mohamed Naseem, of Ulfamanzil, Hithadhoo – were arrested shortly after the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP for Feydhoo was stabbed in the back at the Breakwater cafe’ in the artificial beach area of the capital.

The suspects have been kept in pre-trial detention since their arrest on the night of February 1.

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Police officer caught smuggling drugs into Male’ custodial jail

A police officer has been arrested on Wednesday night while attempting to smuggle drugs into Malé custodial detention center.

Police have confirmed that the officer has been taken into custody, but declined to reveal further details.

According to newspaper Haveeru, the suspect in custody is a police lance corporal and he was arrested from the detention center with drugs in his possession.

In March, a police officer was arrested in connection to the largest drug haul from a police operation in the country’s history.

The police seized 24 kg of heroin with a street value of MVR36 million (US$2.2 million) and arrested four Maldivians, three Bangladeshis and 11 Pakistanis.

The heroin had been offloaded on to a local dhoni from an Iranian vessel “Hormooz” off the coast of Alif Alif Mathiveri Island and were seized on a dinghy in the Hulhumalé harbor.

The government has previously alleged security officials at prisons and remand centers are responsible for smuggling drugs to inmates.

In January, police seized mobile phones and drugs from the main prison in Maafushi island while a 20-year-old and a minor were arrested in February for attempting to smuggle drugs into the jail.

Home Minister Umar Naseer has said his main focus during his five-year term will be “the fight against drugs.” He pledged to seal all ports through which drugs enter the country and apprehend all major wholesale drug dealers.

However, the rate of drugs confiscation at ports have been very low. In 2013, the Maldives Customs Service only seized 6.98 kg of heroin and 10.73 kg of hashish oil, and 4.12 kg of heroin along and 8.39 kg of hashish oil in 2012.

Meanwhile, the police dealt with 38 cases of buying and selling of drugs and 130 cases of trafficking drugs, 2,139 drug use cases and 833 possession cases in 2013.

There are 7,496 drug users aged between 15 and 64 years in the Maldives, the Natioal Drug Use Survey of 2011 – 2012 has found. Over 70 percent of the users are under 24 years of age.

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