Tag: protest

Protesters call for DQP to be abolished, after Civil Court overturns Addu City Council ruling

A group of protesters last night gathered outside the residence of Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) leader Dr Hassan Saeed, demonstrating against the party’s support of a Civil Court ruling preventing Addu Atoll being granted status as a city.

Saeed himself is a prominent Adduan, however the case in the Civil Court was filed by the DQP’s Deputy Leader of DQP Imad Solih. The party argued that President Mohamed Nasheed did not have the authority to declare Addu a city council.

With over 30,000 inhabitants, Addu Atoll is the second largest population centre in the country. However, as much as 60 percent of some islands currently reside in the capital Male’.

Most of the protesters claimed to be from Addu, however Minivan News also observed many Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters at the protest, including MPs Alhan Fahmy, Ilyas Labeeb and Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed.

Protesters burned an effigy of DQP Deputy leader Imad Solih, and called for the party to be abolished.

Riot police attended the area and blocked the road, however, confrontations between riot police and protesters occurred when protesters attempted to breakthrough police lines.

Police arrested some of the protesters and protesters shouted at the police accusing them of torturing peaceful protesters.

The local media have reported that similar protests were held at Addu, in Hithadhoo near the island office, led by people who supported the City Council idea of the government.

Hassan Saeed had not responded to Minivan News at time of press.

Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad has said he will appeal the ruling.

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Anti-Majlis protests hit the capital’s streets

Hundreds of protesters have today gathered near parliament to call on the abolition of the Majlis, citing anger over the passing of a bill to extend MP privileges within the state budget.

Activists, which sources have claimed support a number of political parties, joined civil servants, NGOs and other workers near the parliament building to protest against the actions of the Majlis, leading police to restrict access to some streets around the area.

The outrage was said to have been sparked yesterday when parliament passed allowances for parliamentarians that the protesters believe is ‘’way too much’’.

According to the new bill, parliamentarians will receive an additional Rf20,000 to their salary for attending committees, while also being allowed to import vehicles without paying any duty on them. The parliament also approved measures to reinstate the salaries of independent commissions, while failing to address the reduced salaries of civil servants.

This decision has led protesters to claim that MPs were working for their self-interest in the name of working for the nation and citizens in their work.

By this afternoon, a group of protesters brought a box written “Majlis Fund” that was passed beyond the police barrier, before they joined others in heavily criticizing the country’s MPs.

As a result, local media reported that tempers also flared within parliament, as rival MPs clashed with each other forcing speaker Abdulla Shahid to cancel today’s sitting. Haveeru said that some MPs had argued to withdraw the bill for amendment, with Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Maloof one of the names said to support a repeal of the privileges bill on claims that it was against the “pulse of the people”.

Today’s street protests follow on from similar action undertaken last night by the ‘Tortured Victims Association’, which was disrupted after some people present clashed with the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentarian group leader Moosa ‘Reeco’ Manik, verbally assaulting him over the issue of budget.

The protest, which involved around 20 to 30 people over practices of torture allegedly committed under the rule of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, ended up as a protest against all the parliamentarians. A few protesters then marched towards the house of Speaker of the Parliament Abdulla Shahid later in the evening.

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Criminal Court summons DRP MPs Ali Waheed and Mahlouf

The Criminal Court has ordered main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs Ali Waheed and Ahmed Mahlouf to appear before the court to face charges of obstruction of police duty.

Mahlouf told Minivan News today that the case was most likely regarding a DRP protest held outside the presidential residence Muleeage earlier this year that led to violent confrontations with riot police.

”Yesterday Ali Waheed and I received a chit from the Criminal Court saying that a hearing would be conducted on the 29th [Monday],” he received. ”It stated that the charges were ‘obstructing police duty’.”

The DRP MP for Galolhu North added that ”unlike president Mohamed Nasheed, we do not go breaking laws one after the other.”

”That night we were not obstructing police duties and we were not engaging in any unlawful activities,” he insisted. “We were exercising our right to free expression and freedom of assembly.”

Mahlouf said that he was “very pleased” that President Nasheed decided to prosecute him because ”the international community would understand how democratic Nasheed is.”

”He says he would never arrest [opposition] politicians, but he is arresting and charging young politicians and MPs in the country,” he said.

The DRP protest in January that marched to Muleeage turned violent, resulting in injuries to both police officers and demonstrators.

Following the unrest, Ali Waheed and Mahloof were summoned to police headquarters and questioned about their role in the protest.

At the time, Mahloof and Ali Waheed, also DRP Deputy Leader, exercised their right to remain silent.

Regulations currently in place on public gatherings, enforced by presidential decree under the former government, prohibits demonstrations outside certain designated areas, including Muleeage and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) headquarters.

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Group claims ‘2000 strong’ protest against Dhiraagu over privacy and latency concerns

A group of Maldivians calling themselves “Firaagu’’, led by Firaagu Mohamed, have scheduled a protest against the first network service provider in the Maldives, Dhiraagu (Dhivehi Raajjeyge Gulhun), claiming to have “many issues” with the company.

Protest organiser Firaagu Mohamed claimed that more than 2000 people have said they would join the protest.

“We are expecting 3000 to join us on the day of protest, January 1. We will launch a website and a hotline this month so that everyone joining can discuss and disclose more information about the protest,’’ said Firaagu.

Protesters will gather at Jumhoory Maidhaan and will march towards Dhiraagu Head Office in Medhuziyarai Magu, Firaagu said, claiming the group would also be distributing T-Shirts.

Firaagu, who claims to have obtained information concerning matters of privacy and latency from a whistleblower inside the company, say they will present their allegations in the lead up to the protest.

“We do not want our every move sniffed and monitored. And do not give us false messages when we try and call somebody by saying ‘The number you are calling is switched off’,” he alleged.

Outside the resorts, the country’s telecom providers are among the most marketed and media savvy organisations in the country, and desired employers among many young people.

Spokesperson for Dhiraagu Mohamed Mirshan yesterday told Minivan News that Dhiraagu had not received any information regarding the planned ‘Firaagu’ event officially.

”If anyone had any issues concerning Dhiraagu, they could always contact us,” Mirshan said. ”we are always easily accessible,” Mirshan said.

”Expressing peoples views on large companies through social network is very common in the Maldives as well as in other countries,”

Mirshan said if the protest was organised by a genuine person he would have contacted Dhiraagu before deciding to launch a protest.

“I have also seen the page on Facebook, and its credibility looks doubtful,” he added.

Dhiraagu is one of the only two network service providers in the Maldives, and has been providing telecom services for 22 years.

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Police to investigate vandalism of Supreme Court

Police have launched an investigation into the last week’s vandalism of the Supreme Court, the former palace of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, after black oil was sprayed onto  the walls of the building,

The vandalism occurred during a week of opposition-led protests, triggered by a disagreement with the government over the process of endorsing the reappointment of cabinet ministers. The Supreme Court last week ordered the parliament to delay the cabinet endorsement until the court delivers a ruling.

The court also issued a statement calling the act “disgraceful”, claiming that it “tarnishes the reputation of the court.”

The Supreme Court has now filed the case with police. Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police were investigating the matter, but that so far nobody had been arrested in connection with the crime.

The court also said the official name board of the court was also sprayed with the oil.

DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom said DRP’s protests were not an objection to the ruling of the Supreme Court.

“We protested to express our concern over the actions of the government for disrespecting the constitution and deliberately attempting to delay the cabinet endorsement,’’ said Mausoom.

Mausoom said DRP’s protest last week was concluded “precisely on the decided time”, and that it had no connection with the act of vandalism.

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Tear gas used in second night of protests

Police used teargas to disperse a crowd of opposition supporters outside the President’s Residence of Muleaage last night, following a second night of protests.

The protests have been sparked by a parliamentary deadlock after the Supreme Court granted the government a temporary injunction on Monday, blocking the endorsing of cabinet ministers until a ruling on the process can be issued.

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) wants to endorse ministers individually, while the government claims the procedure is “ceremonial” and that this would be tantamount to a series of no-confidence motions.

Shortly before midnight, police took 15-20 DRP members into custody including Ali Arif and MPs Ahmed Mahloof and Ahmed Nihan, after the gathering left behind the main group of protesters near Sultans Park and approached Muleaage. demanding to see President Mohamed Nasheed.

“We are seeing a rising dollar crisis, housing crisis and many other things – look at the long line of people outside the Bank of Maldives every morning,” said Nihan.

“We called out to Nasheed to come out and meet us to solve these problems. We told police it was a peaceful gathering.”

The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) arrived five minutes later, Nihan said.

“MP Mahlouf was severely injured because of pepper spray. Mahlouf and Arif were handcuffed and we were taken to police headquarters and detained for an hour without reason. It was very peaceful, and we sat on cushioned chairs,” Nihan stated.

Police apprehended the group at 11:35pm, he said. “Very few of us made it though to Muleaage. The rest of the demonstrators were near Sultans Park.”

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the MPs and demonstrators “were not really arrested. They tried to cross the MNDF line and police tried to send them back, but they were eventually taken to police headquarters,” he said.

No injuries were reported to protesters or police, he said.

Miadhu reported minority opposition Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim as saying that the handcuffing of MPs was “unjust and illegal”.

“The police should be the furtherest of people away from being unjust and oppressive. They should not be biased to any party or any colour,” Gasim told Miadhu.

Nihan emphasised that the DRP was not disputing the Supreme Court’s injunction on the cabinet re-endorsement.

“We will always take into consideration the rule of law to ensure it prevails – in any court, not just the Supreme Court,” Nihan said.

“The government needs to accommodate the opposition, and accept that we are not out to topple them but rather to make them accountable,” he said.

The Supreme Court has meanwhile released a statement condemning “uncivilised” vandalism of the building last night, after crude oil was thrown on the walls, vegetation and name board around midnight.

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Parliament cancelled after MPs display tooth and bloodied T-Shirt

The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has said it will launch successive protests after the Supreme Court issued an injunction of parliament’s endorsing of the reappointed cabinet ministers.

Last night around midnight police used tear gas to subdue a crowd gathering in Republic Square.

“They started at the artificial beach but moved to Republic Square where the police and Maldives National Defense Force headquarters are located,” said police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam.

“Police used tear gas to force them to leave the area.”

Shiyam noted that there were reports of “minor injuries” in the crowd. Some police were also injured, but none seriously, he said. Reports circulating today suggested one member of the crowd lost teeth during the incident.

“We took several people into police custody until the situation had calmed down. We also stopped a vehicle with sound equipment that was driving down the wrong way down a one-way street, and checked the license of the driver,” Shiyam said.

Parliament was cancelled today after successive points of order. In a dramatic gesture, DRP MPs displayed a tooth and T-shirt stained with blood reportedly belonging to Moosa Fathy, Deputy President of the party’s fishermen’s wing.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf told Minivan News that it was “really saddening to hear the MDP treat it as a joke”.

“Two people were seriously injured – not just this guy, there was a woman who was hit by a tear gas canister,” he said.

Disputes over the endorsing of the reappointed cabinet ministers by parliament, a function the government argues should be “ceremonial”, has led to deadlock in the opposition-majority parliament this week.

The opposition argues that ministers should be approved individually, and is reported to have a list of six ministers it intends to disapprove.

The government claims that parliament must approve cabinet as a whole, as the procedure for no-confidence motions against ministers already exists, and has sought a ruling from the Supreme Court on the matter.

“It has been three months [since the reappointments] and we do not believe these ministers are acting legally,” Mahlouf said. “We want to hasten the process of approving the ministers and are pressuring the government to be faster.”

The DRP would “always respect” the ruling of the Supreme Court “or any court” if it ruled the matter in the government’s favour, he said.

The DRP were planning another protest this evening, Mahlouf added.

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Journalist reports DhiFM to police, claiming management leaked source’s identity

Former DhiFM journalist Qufthag Ajeer has reported the private radio station to police, alleging senior management deliberately leaked the source of his story concerning mistreated employees at the Hulhule’ Island Hotel (HIH).

Ajeel, who recently resigned over the issue,  has sent a letter to Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh requesting a “fair investigation” of the case.

“The Hulhule Island Hotel threatened to take legal action against DhiFM if the source of the report was not revealed,” said Ajeer. “DhiFM then revealed the hidden source to the Hulhule Island Hotel without my knowledge.”

Ajeer alleged that DhiFM management searched through his personal folder at work to obtain the source’s identity before revealing it to HIH without his consent, or that of the source.

Article 28 of the constitution guarantees absolute protection of journalists from being forced to reveal sources: “No person shall be compelled to disclose the source of any information that is espoused, disseminated or published by that person.”

Such so-called ‘shield laws’ are intended to increase the accountability of businesses, organisations and governments by promoting ‘whistle-blowing’, ensuring protection of sources if a media organisation is taken to court and preventing journalists from being held in contempt of court for refusing to reveal them. They do not protect against the pursuit of defamation cases.

As a consequence of DhiFM’s action, Ajeer said that the Hulhule Island Hotel has now warned the source that he will be dismissed for disclosing the information.

Editor of DhiFM Masoodh Hilmy told Minivan News that Ajeer was “misled”.

“I can confidentially say that no person at DhiFM revealed the source of the article,” said Hilmy. “But the Hulhule Island Hotel did request us to reveal the source and said they take would legal action against us.”

Hilmy said DhiFM replied to the Hulhule Island Hotel saying that the source would only be revealed if the court ordered the news organisation to do so.

“The Hulhule Island Hotel did not threaten us, but demanded an apology claiming the article contained false allegations,” he added.

President of the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) Ahmed Hiriga Zahir, compared the matter to Watergate and told Minivan News that journalists had a responsibility to confide sources with their editors.

However if the institution then revealed the identity of a source to a third party, “I don’t think this is ethical.”

“They should respect sources. Even the constitution guarantees the protection of sources for a journalist.”

Hiriga suggested that some senior journalists and editorial leadership in the country did not have this background in the principles of journalism- “it may be they don’t know what they are doing,” he said.

Ajeer was among six DhiFM journalists who launched a protest outside the media company’s offices yesterday, alleging unfair dismissal and claiming editorial pressure to produce negative coverage of the government.

The Media Council of the Maldives meanwhile issued a statement claiming that the protesting DhiFM journalists were a “serious obstacle” to the press freedom in the country, and that disagreements among reporters about newsroom policy should be resolved internally.

Ajeer pointed out that the Media Council consisted of “two senior DhiFM officials trying to defend DhiFM.”

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Sacked DhiFM journalists protest over unfair dismissal, editorial interference

Six journalists from private radio station DhiFM launched a protest outside the media company’s offices today, claiming unfair dismissal and editorial pressure for negative coverage of the government.

The journalists began protesting this afternoon outside Champa Guest House, which houses DhiFM and DhiTV, holding up placards that read: “Protect the rights of the journalists” and “Stop using media as a propaganda machine”.

“We are all protesting because our organisation terminated its staff in violation of the Employment Act and because it has also broken media ethics,” said one of the journalists. “Four of us here were sacked and the other two resigned.”

The journalist claimed that the sacked reporters were not given notice and were owed unpaid salaries.

“We cannot work freely. This is a very biased media,” he continued. “The management has a lot of influence on our work. We have to write stories the way that they want, according to their idea of politics.”

He added that the journalists did not accept the reason for the dismissals given by the management, which was reportedly to cut costs, as the station was presently hiring more staff.

Gufthaq Ajeel, 19, told Minivan News that he quit the station in protest after management allegedly leaked the source of a news report he filed about unhappy employees at the Hulhule Island Hotel (HIH).

“They went into my personal folder and leaked it,” he said.

As Article 28 of the constitution protects journalists from being compelled to disclose sources, Gufthaq said that he had filed a complaint with the police on Wednesday.

Moreover, he added, reporters at DhiFM were occasionally told to skew reports for an anti-government slant.

Following DhiFM’s coverage of a large rally in Male’ by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in July, Qufthaq explained, the DhiFM newsroom was shut down and four of its journalists fired.

Response

The protesters called for the resignation of DhiFM CEO Masoodh Hilmy and other senior management.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Masoodh denied the claims of his former employees.

“We had to terminate three of them due to punctuality and disciplinary issues, and the other three resigned of their own wishes,” he said. “We provided all the allowances and salaries mentioned in the Employment Act for the staff we terminated.”

He added that prior warnings were given to the staff verbally before the decision to dismiss was made.

“Nobody can handle it when one is too much,” he said.

Masoodh further denied the allegations of bias and undue influence on journalists working for the private broadcaster.

“If you asked a staff here you will understand, we have no influence on the journalists,” he said.

President of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), Ahmed Hiriga Zahir, told Minivan News that one of the journalists had contacted the MJA this morning notifying him of the intent to protest, “but otherwise we know little about it. We have not yet spoken to DhiFM management to get their side.”

The MJA was willing to assist the journalists by lobbying DhiFM management if requested, he said, but noted that the MJA had yet to evolve into a  journalists’ union and was more focused on promoting issues such as media freedom.

Asked if the MJA was concerned about allegations from the sacked journalists of editorial interference, he observed that “media organisations have the freedom to decide whether they want to be pro or anti-government.”

“In countries like the US it is common for media [outlets] to even endorse political candidates, but that should not affect the [ethical] standards of their news reporting. Media’s role is still to keep the government accountable,” Hiriga stated.

Visiting journalism trainer Tiare Rath, Iraq Editorial Manager for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), last month identified resistance among senior editorial leadership in the country to evolve away from politically partisan media.

“I have been really impressed with news judgement here, and the understanding of the basic principles of journalism,” Rath said of her experience training young reporters in the Maldives.

“But on the other hand, one of the major issues all my students talked about is resistance among newsroom leadership – editors and publishers. Even if the journalists support and understand the principles being taught, they consistently tell me they cannot apply them,” she said. “This is a very, very serious problem that needs to be addressed.”

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