PG considers blocking pornographic websites in the Maldives

Prosecutor General (PG) Muhthaz Muhsin has said that the office is considering demanding that internet service providers in the Maldives block pornographic websites.

Speaking to Avas, Muhsin said pornographic websites are blocked in most Islamic countries and that the Maldives should follow suit.

“This is how it is in the lot of Muslim countries. We are thinking of doing the same in the Maldives,” Muhsin told Avas.

According to current laws and regulations, possessing and distributing pictures or videos with pornographic content is illegal in the Maldives.

Last year, nine underage students were arrested in Feydhoo School in Addu City for the possession of pornographic pictures and videos while a man was sentenced to six years of imprisonment for possessing pornographic material.

Source: Avas

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

High Court upholds decision to fine man MVR 50,000 for porn possession

The High Court has upheld a decision by the Criminal Court to fine a man MVR 50,000 (US$3242) for possessing pornographic materials.

The man was identified by the High Court as Ahmed Anwar of Foakiadhoo in Shaviyani Atoll.

The ruling said that according to the Criminal Court ruling, the pornographic materials were discovered inside a laptop bag in Ahmed Anwar’s house when police searched the residence, after he was accused of cashing MVR 600,000 (US$38,910) out of Lily Shipping and Trading Private Limited’s account at the Bank of Maldives (BML) using a fraudulent bank note.

The High Court back the Criminal Court ruling stating that there were 22 DVDs, one CD and one pen drive containing 227 pornographic video and eight pictures.

In the statement Anwar gave to police he confessed that the pen drive belonged to him but denied that the DVDs and CDs were his.

However, the High Court ruled that the things were discovered inside Ahmed Anwar’s house and that since no one else had claimed those materials, Anwar had to take responsibility for them.

The Court also said that the files on the pen drive were created and modified before the police searched his house on September 1, 2010.

The High Court endorsed the lower court’s ruling that found Anwar guilty of violating Act number 4/75 List of Contraband’s article 4[c] and article 13[d].

The court ruled that there was no lawful reason to change the lower court’s ruling on the matter.

The appeal case was filed at the High Court last year in November and was concluded last Wednesday.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Man sentenced for possession of pornography

The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced a man to six months imprisonment after the court found him guilty of possession of pornography.

The Criminal Court identified the person as Ali Jinah of Gulhi in Kaafu Atoll.

The Court said the police officers who went to search Jinah’s house on last year October discovered eight magazines containing pornographic pictures, one file containing  large number of pornographic pictures and one CD containing pornography.

He was sentenced for possessing contraband.

The Court said Jinah denied the charges, claiming that the police did not find the materials inside his room and that he had never showed such materials to anyone.

The Criminal Court said that according to the word of the police officers who went to the scene, “it is known that the materials were found inside Jinah’s room.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)