Maldives News

Man arrested after assaulting wife with stone

A 59-year-old man has been arrested on the island of Kurendhoo in Lhaviyani atoll for allegedly assaulting his wife with a stone. The suspect struck the victim on the head and knocked her unconscious on Monday morning, the police spokesperson said.

Human rights watchdog defends restrictions imposed by Supreme Court

An 11-point guideline imposed by the Supreme Court on the state human rights watchdog has not hampered its functioning, Shifaq Mufeed, vice president of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives, told the press yesterday.

Tourist arrivals remain unchanged in February

Tourist arrivals to the Maldives remained unchanged in February with 120,639 arrivals, just a 0.1percent increase compared to the same period last year.

45 islands out of water amidst record heat

Some 45 islands have reported a water shortage amidst record breaking warm weather. The meteorology department said the Maldives is experiencing its hottest dry season in 18 years.

Journalists rally against defamation bill

Maldivian journalists have urged the government to reconsider a bill criminalising defamation, expressing grave concern over proposed restrictions on freedom of expression and speech.

Maldivians arrested in Sri Lanka linked to international drug network

According to Sri Lankan media, a Maldivian couple was arrested on Saturday outside the Katunayaka airport with 3kg of heroin in their luggage. After interrogating the couple, Sri Lankan police arrested two other Maldivians and three Sri Lankans, including the alleged Sri Lankan ringleader.

Maldives government abuses anti-terror law to silence public officials

The government of President Abdulla Yameen of the Maldives continues to abuse an overbroad anti-terror law as a blunt-force tool to arbitrarily and indiscriminately silence perceived political threats to his regime, writes the ICJ’s Nikhil Narayan

Opposition MPs withdraw no-confidence motion against speaker

Opposition MPs have withdrawn a no-confidence motion submitted against Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, two days before the motion was up for debate at the People’s Majlis.

Three suspects hand themselves over to police for ‘MoniCon’ tagging

Three suspected gang members wanted by the police to enforce monitoring and control orders granted by the High Court voluntarily handed themselves over last night. Upon request by the police and the home ministry, the High Court issued the first ‘MoniCon’ orders last week to electronically tag 11 gang members under the controversial 2015 Anti-Terrorism Act.

President Yameen departs on official visit to Malaysia

President Abdulla Yameen and First Lady Fathmath Ibrahim departed this afternoon on an official visit to Malaysia in the first couple’s first official overseas trip since the September 28 blast on the presidential speedboat.

President nominates campaign staff as broadcast regulators

The president’s spokesperson said the names of all 23 individuals who applied to the president’s office will be forwarded for parliamentary approval today to fill six upcoming vacancies on the Maldives Broadcasting Commission. However, he explained, the names were ranked in order of preference.

Are we all going to kill Humam?

Hussain Humam was sentenced to death “through a process that has breached the principles of Islamic Shari’a, common law, international obligations and even common sense,” argues Shahindha Ismail, calling for an independent psychiatric evaluation of the 23-year-old death row inmate.

Audit uncovers discrepancies in tourism ministry’s financial records

The tourism ministry’s audit report for 2013 has revealed shocking discrepancies amounting to more MVR300,000 (US$19,400) in the records of income collected from the billion-dollar Maldivian tourism industry during the financial year in review.

Police searching for three suspected gang members with ‘MoniCon’ orders

The police are searching for three young men in order to enforce monitoring and control (MoniCon) orders granted by the High Court to electronically tag and monitor their whereabouts.

MP questions composition of parliament’s graft-probe committee

The parliament’s public accounts oversight committee has launched an inquiry into corruption cases under investigation since 2008, including the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation corruption scandal.

Two judges in Imran’s criminal court trial are part of panel hearing appeal

Two former criminal court judges who presided over the first hearing of Sheikh Imran Abdulla’s trial are among a three-judge High Court panel hearing the Adhaalath Party leader’s appeal of his terrorism conviction. Imran’s trial was stalled in June last year when Judges Abdulla Didi and Shujau Usman were promoted to the High Court.

Three Maldivians en route to Syria extradited

Three Maldivian men have been arrested in Turkey while attempting to illegally cross over into Syria and join extremist militant groups in the war-torn country.

Police issued orders for monitoring and control of gang members

The High Court has granted the police monitoring and control or ‘MoniCon’ orders to electronically tag, conduct surveillance, and intercept communications of “10 known gang members,” Home Minister Umar Naseer revealed today.

Maldives moves ahead with criminalising defamation

Sinamalé fire prompts building safety concerns