More MoniCon orders granted as police stay quiet on tagging

The police have tagged seven suspected gang members after the High Court granted monitoring and control orders, but are refusing to say if electronic tagging is being used.

“We have now implemented the order against seven people,” police spokesman Ahmed Shifan said, declining to give further details.

Police have already said ‘MoniCon’ orders have been imposed on five people seen as a “danger to society or suspected to attempt an act that is not in line with expected social behaviour”.

Local media outlet Mihaaru reported that orders could not be implemented against some individuals because their whereabouts were unknown.

It also said that while electronic tagging was possible, it was not being currently used because the home ministry and the police were unprepared.

Shifan declined to comment on the report and would not say whether anyone had been tagged at all.

Police first send cases to a committee at the home ministry to approve the people to be monitored and controlled. Police then ask the High Court for an order.

The court decides the action for implementation. The law says that the court could order that the individual has to live at a certain place, remain on the island, has to obtain a letter from the minister to travel abroad and other measures.

The court granted the first MoniCon orders in March 2016, under former Home Minister Umar Naseer’s administration.

The orders, issued under the controversial 2015 Anti-Terrorism Act, are resuming after an 18-month hiatus in response to the surge in violent crime.  MoniCon orders allow police to electronically tag, conduct surveillance, and intercept the communication of people suspected of committing criminal activities. The police are also authorised to control their financial transactions.