Tag: police

Chief suspect in Afrasheem case confesses to stabbings, robberies, murder, but denies attack on MP

The Maldives Police Service’s main suspect in the murder case of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali has confessed in court to multiple stabbings, robberies and at least one murder, but has denied murdering the MP.

Speaking in court, Humam informed the judge of the crimes he had committed, noting that he had started in 2006. According to local media reports, Humam told the judge that he stabbed a person in the head on Janavaree Magu, stabbed a person called ‘Haabarey’ inside the Alimas Carnival area, stabbed a foreign navy officer in the stomach, stabbed a person inside the ‘Dolphin’ restaurant and two days later stabbed a second person inside Alimas Carnival, an a man walking near Henveiru Stadium with a woman.

He also told the court that he had been involved in serious robbery cases and said that he wanted to repent his sins.

However Humam said that although he had committed all these crimes, he had never attacked Dr Afrasheem.

MP Afrasheem was stabbed to death on the night of October 1 2012, by the staircase of his home. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the case including Humam and a suspect identified as Ali Shan of Henveiru Hikost.

A Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) officer and Abdulla ‘Jaa’ Javid – son-in-law of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik – were also detained by police over alleged involvement in the case. Both were later released by the courts.

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

In December last year the MDP accused the police of attempting to pin Afrasheem’s murder on its members, instead of going after those guilty of the crime.

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Police begin recruitment for “special constabulary” reserve force

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) made an announcement on Sunday seeking recruits for the “special constabulary” reserve force to be established this year.

Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz informed press last week that President Dr Mohamed Waheed has formally authorised the creation of the reserve force, which was provided for in the Police Act enacted in 2008.

“All persons recruited for the police reserve force would have to complete the police basic training course. And all who pass the training and are awarded certificates upon completion would have to take the oath of a police officer,” according to police media.

Applicants must be aged 18 to 35 and should have completed secondary education, it added, while male applicants must be taller than 5 feet 3 inches and female applicants taller than 5 feet.

Application forms along with regulations on the special constabulary are available from the police website. The deadline for submission is May 16.

A reserve force of part-time officers is used in a number of countries as an auxiliary force to be called upon to assist the regular police force.

Commissioner Riyaz meanwhile told local media that the reserve force would create “employment opportunities for youth.” Reserve officers could take other jobs, he explained, but would be subject to police codes of conduct and ethics.

Reserve officers would have the same privileges and powers and receive the same benefits as regular officers, he added.

According to the regulations (Dhivehi) governing the special constabulary, employees of the reserve force would be paid 85 percent of the salary of a regular police officer of the same rank. Reserve officers would be required to work at least 192 hours a month.

Recurrent expenditure

Following the controversial transfer of presidential power on February 7, 2012 in the wake of a police mutiny, more than 1,000 officers were given promotions and double promotions while plans were announced to recruit 200 new officers.

In July 2012, a batch of 110 newly-recruited officers took their oaths while housing schemes and other benefits were rolled out for police officers.

During the parliamentary debate on the state budget proposed for 2013, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs criticised budgeted salary increases for military and police officers as well as plans to hire 800 new officers for the security services.

The government’s wage bill was projected to increase by 37 percent in 2013 as a result of hiring more employees.

MDP MP Eva Abdulla claimed during the budget debate that the police and army hired 250 and 350 new staff respectively in 2012.

Consequently, the institutions spent more than MVR 75 million (US$4.8 million) in addition to the approved budgets for 2012, she claimed.

Meanwhile, in its professional opinion on the budget submitted to parliament, the Auditor General’s Office observed that compared to 2012, the number of state employees was set to rise from 32,868 to 40,333 – resulting in MVR 1.3 billion (US$84.3 million) of additional expenditure in 2013.

This anticipated increase included 864 new staff to be hired by the security services, a report by the Auditor General’s Office noted.

In light of “existing inefficiencies” in the state, the Auditor General contended that hiring more staff for various independent institutions would be “a waste of public funds” as it would divert resources from service provision and development projects.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad meanwhile sought authorisation from parliament last month to divert MVR 650 million (US$42 million) allocated for infrastructure projects in the budget to cover recurrent expenditure.

More than 70 percent of the state budget is allocated for recurrent expenditures, including salaries, allowances and administrative costs. Of the MVR 12 billion (US$778 million) in recurrent expenditure, 59 percent – 42 percent of the total budget – was to be spent on state employees.

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Civil Court orders police to return all seized assets of accused drug lord

The Civil Court has ordered police to return all the assets seized from Adam Naseer that were confiscated during an investigation of his activities in 2010.

After the Criminal Court acquitted Naseer, the Civil Court ruled that there were no legal grounds for police to withhold the assets and ordered them returned in one month.

The Civil Court ordered police to return all the cash, three HSBC gold visa card, one HSCB silver card, one mobile phone SIM card, two HP laptops, a paper with the HSBC card’s pin code written on it, one CD, three papers containing information about Dhiraagu, a prepaid SIM card’s guide book, one Fujitsu laptop, his passport, one car and motorbike registration,  one speedboat registration and two cheque books.

Police searched Naseer’s home in Addu Atoll on June 30, 2009, where they found over MVR 6 million (US$461,500) in cash and a tin containing drugs outside his house. Police subsequently alleged that he was one of the top six drug lords in the Maldives.

However the Criminal Court acquitted Naseer on the grounds that the state had not been able to convince it that the money found inside his house was earned through drug trafficking, or that the tin containing money outside his house belonged to him. The state appealed the case at the High Court, which upheld the lower court’s verdict.

In May 2010 Naseer sued police seeking the return of the money.

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All murder cases filed last year investigated and sent to PG, claim police

Police Head of Serious and Organised Crime Mohamed Chief Inspector Dhaud has announced that police have concluded investigations into all murder cases filed last year and  forwarded the cases to the Prosecutor General’s office.

In a video interview on the police website Dhaudh said many people were murdered last year, and that police had been able to determine the suspects in these cases. Some cases were in court while other trials had been concluded.

He expressed concern that although some cases were thoroughly investigated and sent to the courts, the cases were interrupted when witnesses were influenced and changed their statements.

Dhaud said police were giving high priority to identifying people intimidating witnesses and prosecuting them.

He also said that police took murder cases very seriously would use all available resources to investigate these cases.

In the video, Dhaud highlights some of the deaths that occurred last year and the suspects who were charged in the cases.

The video interview comes the day before the ‘National Movement’ coalition of NGOs and the Adhaalath Party have declared they will hold a protest on behalf of murder victims because ‘’murder victims have been deprived from their right to have justice.’’

On April 24, speaking to local media at Nalahiya Hotel in Male’, Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla said the main purpose of the gathering was to call for justice for murder victims and encourage the authorities to ensure that “such inhumane acts” were not repeated in the future.

Imran also suggested that murders were being ignored, criticising media for forgetting cases after covering them for 10 days or even a month.

He also referred to the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali in October 2012, noting that neither the ongoing trial nor the investigation of his murder had been concluded.

State Home Minister Abdulla Mohamed, spokesperson of the ‘National Movement’, said at the time that 13 Maldivians were reported murdered last year.  He added that compensation for these deaths was also not being received by relatives of the victims.

He called on everyone against murder to participate in the event.

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Senior Customs officials summoned to parliament in connection with Arthur brothers

The Parliament’s Government Oversight Committee has summoned the Commissioner General of Customs Department Mohamed Ashwan and other senior officials of Customs Department over a matter concerning the Artur brothers.

Earlier in April pictures of Artur brothers with the Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb and Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim emerged on the social media.

The ministers denied involvement with the infamous brothers, who are linked with drug trafficking, money laundering, raids on media outlets and other serious crimes in Kenya.

The committee meeting was closed to the public and the media following a request made by the customs department.

According to newspaper Haveeru, four officials from the customs department appeared before the committee.

Haveeru reported that the officials were summoned to clarify the nature of goods imported to the Maldives by the Arthur brothers,  and to find out what were the suspicions against them.

In a previous meeting held with senior customs officials, Ashwan reportedly told the MPs that the matter was a “very dangerous case” and that he would provide all the details in a closed meeting as there were Maldivians involved in the matter.

Photos of the Arturs in the company of the two Maldivian ministers emerged on social media, apparently taken during the Piston Motor Racing Challenge held on Hulhumale’ between January 25 and 26.

A letter from the Tourism Ministry to immigration authorities requesting a residency visa for Margaryan and Sargayan Artur, dated January 27 and signed by Adheeb, was subsequently leaked on social media.

A company named ‘Artur Brothers World Connections’ was registered in the Maldives in October 2012, with the Artur brothers holding an 80 percent share in a 61-19 percent split.

French nationals identified as Godzine Sargsyan and Edga Sargsyan had a 10 and 7 percent share, while a Maldivian national Ismail Waseem of H. Ever Chance was listed as holding the remaining 3 percent.

Waseem’s share was subsequently transferred to Abdulla Shaffath of H. Ever Peace on November 25.

Police have meanwhile issued a statement asking for public assistance in locating one of the Artur brothers, Godzine Sargsyan.

Police said Godzine was a French national who came to the Maldives under the passport number 10CZ05238.

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Police probing MDP MP Imthiyaz Fahmy’s “contemptuous remarks” against judiciary

Police have begun investigating opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Imthiyaz ‘Inthi’ Fahmy for allegedly making “contemptuous remarks” against the  judiciary, during a TV program broadcast by opposition-aligned television station Raajje TV.

Fahmy told Minivan News that police called him on Wednesday and informed him that the case was being investigated on the judiciary’s request.

However police media official Sub-inspector Hassan Haneef said he was “unsure” whether  police were currently investigating the matter, but said cases concerning contempt of court previously been investigated and sent for prosecution.

Police sent a case concerning Imthiyaz Fahmy for prosecution in June 2012, requesting he be charged with disobeying orders, obstructing police duty and physically assaulting a female police officer during an MDP demonstration on May 29, that had followed the dismantling of the party’s protest camp at Usfasgandu.

In a subsequent statement condemning “excessive use of force” against demonstrators, Amnesty International staed that according to Fahmy, “police in Dhoonidhoo told him he was arrested for ‘disrupting peace’.”

The next day in court, police stated that he had been detained for ‘physically attacking a woman police officer.”

Fahmy denied the charges pressed against him by the prosecution.

Regarding the new police investigation, Fahmy claimed the judiciary was attempting to silence elected members of the public and that allegations of contempt of court were a facade.

“People elected me to find faults in institutions such as the courts find ways to reform them, to correct those faults. I have been elected as a member of parliament by the people to talk about such issues and that is my responsibility. It is a duty vested in me by the people and I will remain firm in executing that duty,” Fahmy told Minivan News.

He further claimed that discrepancies and flaws within the courts were already being widely discussed by the general public.

“The courts themselves do not comprehend the real meaning of the concept of judicial independence,” he claimed.

“They should also understand that dignity and honour is not a one-way train. It goes both ways. Their actions should be of a standard and performed in a transparent fashion so as to have dignity.”

In a statement issued during her visit to the Maldives in February 2013, United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul  stated that she had found that the concept of independence of the judiciary has been “misconstrued and misinterpreted” by all actors, including the judiciary itself, in the Maldives.

“The requirement of independence and impartiality does not aim at benefiting the judges themselves, but rather the court users, as part of their inalienable right to a fair trial,” Knaul stated in her concluding statement.

Beyond Knaul, Fahmy noted that several other international experts on judicial independence, including International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), judicial expert Professor Paul H Robinson, United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) as well as the report by the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) – which was set up to look into the legality of the controversial ascension of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan to presidency on February 2012 – had highlighted “serious flaws” within the judiciary.

“The first thing is that the judges were wrongfully reappointed. The constitutional provisions indicate that the judges were appointed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) wrongly without proper consideration being given to Article 285 of the constitution. That is unconstitutional,” he added.

Fahmy – who is a lawyer himself – claimed that other powers of the state including the legislature and the executive had been set up in accordance with the 2008 constitution and that it was only the courts and the judiciary that had failed to be established in accordance with the new constitution.

“Am I being punished for coming out and speaking the truth? What is so wrong in me reiterating the same facts that are being highlighted by several respected international authorities on the same issue?” he questioned.

Apart from Fahmy, cases against several other MDP MPs are either being currently investigated or being heard in the courts including that of MP Ali Waheed (the party’s Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader), MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor (the party’s spokesperson for international affairs), MP Abdulla Jabir, MP Mohamed ‘Matrix’ Rasheed and MP Ibrahim ‘Bondey’ Rasheed.

Charges faced by the MPs include contempt of court, obstruction of police duty as well as offence of consumption of alcohol.  According to the constitution, a member of parliament loses his seat should he be convicted of a criminal offense that requires serving a sentence longer than a period of 12 months.

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Police seek public assistance to locate Godzine Sargsyan

Police have issued a statement asking for public assistance in locating one of the Artur brothers, Godzine Sargsyan.

Police said Godzine was a French national who came to the Maldives under the passport number 10CZ05238.

Police requested anyone with any information about Godzine Sargsyan to contact the police Serious and Organised Crime Department’s hotline 991 1099 or the police main line, 332 2111.

The statement did not reveal why Sargsyan was being sought. Police said they would provide security for people providing information to them.

Earlier this month, pictures of Artur brothers with the Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb and Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim emerged in the social media.

However, the ministers denied involvement with the infamous brothers, linked with drug trafficking, money laundering, raids on media outlets and other serious crimes in Kenya.

Photos of the Arturs in the company of the two Maldivian ministers emerged on social media, apparently taken during the Piston Motor Racing Challenge held on Hulhumale’ between January 25 and 26.

A letter from the Tourism Ministry to immigration authorities requesting a residency visa for Margaryan and Sargayan Artur, dated January 27 and signed by Adheeb, was subsequently leaked on social media.

A company named ‘Artur Brothers World Connections’ was registered in the Maldives in October 2012, with the Artur brothers holding an 80 percent share in a 61-19 percent split.

French nationals identified as Godzine Sargsyan and Edga Sargsyan had a 10 and 7 percent share, while a Maldivian national Ismail Waseem of H. Ever Chance was listed as holding the remaining 3 percent.

Waseem’s share was subsequently transferred to Abdulla Shaffath of H. Ever Peace on November 25.

Meanwhile, on April 8, reports in local media suggested that Zaidul Khaleel, General Manager of the Club Faru resort, operated by the state-owned Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), had been dismissed after he was found to have paid the brothers’ US$6000 bill.

Immigration Controller Mohamed Ali previously told local media that while Sargasyan Artur had left the Maldives on March 31, given issues with the country’s border control system “there are questions surrounding the second brothers’ exit from the Maldives.”

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Trial begins of second suspect arrested over murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali

The Criminal Court today commenced the first hearing in the trail of Ahmed Shan, the second suspect to be arrested in connection with the murder of moderate religious scholar and MP Dr Afrasheem Ali.

State prosecutors confirmed that the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) was pressing murder charges against Shan.

Shan is accused of entering the Funvilu house in Galolhu ward between 11:00pm on October 1 and 2:00am the following day with a group of people to murder Dr Afrasheem.

In response, Shan said the charges were clear to him and told the court that he wished to secure legal counsel.

However, the defendant told the court today that he was not aware of the evidence against him.

The presiding judge replied that the court would grant permission to produce the evidence and witnesses after Shan responded to the charges against him.

Evidence to support the prosecution would then be issued to Shan, with the exception of certain confidential documents submitted to the court by the state, the judge said.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for May 5, 2013.

The trial of Shan’s co-accused Hussain Humam is also presently being heard in the Criminal Court, with the suspect having previously pleaded not guilty to charges of murder.  The suspect has also requested legal council.

A Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) representative and Abdulla ‘Jaa’ Javid – son-in-law of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik – were also detained by police over having alleged involvement in the case.

Both were later released by the courts.

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

In December last year, the MDP accused the police of attempting to pin Afrasheem’s murder on its members, instead of going after those guilty of the crime.

MP Afrasheem was stabbed to death on the night of October 1, by the staircase of his home.

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has previously alleged the murder of the MP was well planned and worth MVR 4 million (US$260,000).

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Court acquits suspects arrested in connection with assault on Addu City Mayor

The Hithadhoo Magistrate Court has found two suspects accused of assaulting Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodiq not guilty.

Charges had been pressed against Ahmed Hassan Didi of Jamburoalumage in Hithadhoo and Moosa Fathhy of Saadhage over their alleged role in an attack on the mayor shortly after the controversial transfer of power on February 7, 2013.

In its verdict today, Hithadhoo Court stated that both suspects pleaded not guilty, while state prosecutors had been unable to convince the court that the suspects beyond any doubt had involvement in the attack .

On February 9, 2012, Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodig was attacked by approximately 10 individuals while taking a phone call outside the City Council.

He claimed at the time that his assailants were associated with government coalition parties Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), and several other groups.

The attack on Sodig came as members of the public, allegedly supporting ousted president Mohamed Nasheed, burned and closed police stations and courts in islands across the Maldives.

Sodig sustained injuries to his wrist, back and head.

Following the attack, Sodig and his family went into hiding until the situation was under control.

Sodig described the attack as an ambush. “They jumped over the wall and surrounded me before I could run, and began beating me to the ground, then jumping on me. If they had had knives, they would have killed me.”

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