The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party‘s national council decided to hold internal elections on 16 April and a congress on 4 August. Consequential decisions about the party’s presidential candidate for 2023 as well as constitutional amendments on the system of government, ranked choice voting, judicial oversight and the composition of the Supreme Court will be on the agenda at the first congress since 2018.
The Supreme Court overruled the High Court’s refusal to accept appeals against decisions made by the Information Commissioner’s Office. Contrary to its ruling last year, the High Court does have jurisdiction to hear appeals as clearly stated in the right to information law, the Supreme Court said, paving the way for legal challenges from state-owned enterprises against orders to disclose information.
After a last-minute cancellation in January, Youth and Sports Minister Ahmed Mahloof’s bribery trial started at the criminal court. Prosecutors and defence lawyers reportedly sparred over calling former vice president Ahmed Adeeb as the state’s key witness.
The former lawmaker is accused of accepting a US$33,000 bribe from Adeeb to vote for the previous government’s special economic zones legislation. Mahloof, the first minister to face trial in office, denies the charges.
The criminal court’s chief judge defended his decision to fast-track former president Abdulla Yameen’s bribery and money laundering trial. The date for delivering a verdict was brought forward from November to June to conclude the case at the same time as a separate trial, Judge Ahmed Shakeel reportedly explained. He also assured the defence team that arrangements would be made for live broadcasts as soon as the court hires new staff.
Separate money laundering charges were raised against the opposition leader over the lease of the Vaavu Aarah and Raa Fuggiri islands for resort development. The Fuggiri case is at a more advanced stage of preliminary hearings than the Aarah case. Yameen has pleaded not guilty in both trials. In the Aarah case, he is accused of accepting a US$1 million bribe and laundering the money.
The opposition blames undue influence from the government for the changes to the Aarah trial schedule.
Yameen was previously found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison. But the Supreme Court overturned the conviction last November over the prosecution’s failure to conclusively prove that US$1 million in his bank account came from stolen resort acquisition payments.
The Local Government Authority, an oversight and regulatory body for municipal councils, met with the opposition-majority Malé City Council to resolve disputes with the government.
At a press conference, Mayor Dr Mohamed Muizzu accused the government of blocking projects and withholding funds.
The council has been at loggerheads with ministries and state-owned companies. Earlier this week, the LGA and transport ministry stopped the council’s plans for long-term leases of parking spots. The council also claims jurisdiction over a large area that was controversially leased while Muizzu was housing and infrastructure minister under the previous government. The planning ministry has been trying to enforce a civil court order – upheld by the High Court in October – to vacate the Newport View restaurant in the capital’s eastern waterfront. The eviction order was issued after the restaurant operator Strada was sued to recover more than MVR1 million (US$65,000) owed as unpaid rent and fines.
During his ongoing official visit, Sheikh Dr Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, gave a public lecture on Islam as a religion of moderation.
On Tuesday, Abdulkarim and Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid held discussions on Islamophobia, empowerment of women, cooperation in counter-terrorism and training of imams and religious scholars. On the previous day, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih conferred the Order of the Dignified Rule of Kalaafaan on the Secretary General.
Based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Muslim World League, also known as the Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami, is an international non-governmental organisation established in 1962 to “clarify the true and moderate principles of Islam”.
A postmortem has been conducted on a Maldivian man found dead in Sri Lanka, the Maldives police said. A day after he was reported missing, the body of Afham Naseer, 24, was found with injuries at the beach of Colombo’s Wellawatte district on Saturday. A team of Maldives police officers are working with Sri Lankan authorities to investigate suspected murder.
Ensis Fisheries denied sending two foreign employees out of the country to prevent them from testifying in a drug case. The allegation of tampering with witnesses was made by prosecutors in the trial of two local men arrested with 6.8kg of cannabis from an Ensis property in Hulhumalé. But the company said one of the foreign workers was let go upon request in September and the other was fired in December for failing to return after annual holidays. Ensis strongly denied any involvement in drug trafficking.
MP-elect for Komandoo, Mohamed Rashid, took his oath of office. The candidate of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party won a by-election held on Saturday for the vacant seat.
A fire that broke out in Addu City Hithadhoo’s Maakilhi mangroves was put out after 12 hours. Military firefighters were assisted by the Gan airport’s fire and rescue team.
The opposition condemned alleged threats made by the Maldivian Democratic Party’s parliamentary group leader against judges presiding over former president Abdulla Yameen’s trials. MP Ali Azim asserted during a parliamentary debate that the public wishes to impeach Supreme Court justices who overturned Yameen’s money laundering conviction. The majority leader’s apparent “interference with the judiciary” with the implicit threat of using the MDP’s supermajority to dismiss judges must be investigated, the Progressive Congress coalition said.
The Association For Democracy In The Maldives expressed concern with the growing number of domestic violence cases, accusing the media of sensationalising violence against women by publishing unnecessary details and using photos and videos of victims as clickbait. The human rights NGO urged the media to uphold the dignity of victims and to encourage assistance.
A total of 794 cases of domestic violence were reported in 2021, of which the alleged perpetrator was a male in 635 cases.
Some 48 cases involving gender-based violence and domestic violence were reported in December.
Abbas Faiz, the president’s special envoy for monitoring the investigation and prosecution of the attempt to assassinate Speaker Mohamed Nasheed in May 2021, expressed concern about delays in the trials of the terror suspects.
“Months have passed since the charges were framed. Only one case received a trial. Others only in pre-trial stage. Unclear if trials will be batched together to avoid unnecessary delays,” the former Amnesty International official wrote.
Dr Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Centre on Adaptation, became the first non-head of state or government to address parliament. The Dutch professor spoke about nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
14 elected members of Malé City’s Women’s Development Committee were locked inside their office after an unofficial meeting. Staff returned to open the locked door about 45 minutes after they were called, according to the committee, which unlike the city council has a Maldivian Democratic Party majority.
The incident came amid a dispute with the council over the alleged refusal to include information about the committee’s budget and decisions in the council’s annual report. The women’s committee also lodged a complaint against the council’s secretary general, who is accused of responding with inappropriate language to the committee’s refusal to endorse the annual report.
But the opposition-majority council denied allegations of noncooperation and obstruction. Mayor Dr Mohamed Muizzu said staff assigned to the committee were unaware that members were inside when they locked the door to leave after official hours. He insisted it was not done on purpose.
A Maldivian woman charged with smuggling drugs was acquitted over a broken chain of custody. More than 600 grams of diamorphine were found concealed in her luggage when she returned from Sri Lanka in May 2016. Citing gaps in the chain of custody from the airport to the laboratory, the judge ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the drugs were found in the defendant’s bag.
Last month, two foreign nationals who were arrested with drugs at the airport were also found not guilty. In both cases, the criminal court ruled that the prosecution could not conclusively prove intent to smuggle as the defendants insisted that the luggage did not belong to them.
Customs seized 4.2kg of drugs from the luggage of two Brazilians who arrived on Friday. The estimated street value of the drugs was MVR21.3 million (US$1.3 million).
