Maldives News
Tourism promotion office reopens after shut down
The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation’s office was closed for nine days while the police investigated the state-owned corporation’s illegal import of fireworks and alleged corruption in leasing islands for resort development.
28 Oct 2015, 09:00
Department heads shuffled in shakeup of police leadership
Acting Police Commissioner Ahmed Areef has shuffled senior officers in charge of police departments in a shakeup of the top leadership. The heads of various police departments, commands, and directorates were replaced.
28 Oct 2015, 09:00
Maldives resort owners back bill criminalising tourism boycott call
“The most commonly used method to call for a boycott is social media. We have a lot of trouble selling our packages in tourism fairs and catalogues because of this,” said Ahmed Nazeer, secretary general of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI). He told MPs that a law criminalising calls for a tourism boycott is long overdue.
28 Oct 2015, 09:00
Yameen orders audit of tourism firm over corruption
President Abdulla Yameen has ordered an audit into the state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), a company at the center of a corruption scandal as well as the explosion on the presidential speedboat on September 28.
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
Draconian anti-terrorism bill passed into law
Opposition MPs warned that the new law would restrict fundamental rights and render the penal code redundant. The “dangerous” law could be used to suppress anti-government activities and jail politicians on trumped up charges, they said. But pro-government MPs defended the legislation, insisting that it was necessary to effectively combat terrorism.
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
Police ordered to provide Adeeb better services in custody
The Criminal Court has ordered the police to afford detained Vice President Ahmed Adeeb services provided to other politicians in state custody.
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
Gayoom backs Adeeb’s impeachment, expulsion from PPM
The PPM’s leader has backed the detained vice president’s expulsion and a motion to impeach him through parliament. Gayoom also denied that the PPM is weakened by Adeeb’s arrest.
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
Lawyer barred from visiting former president in jail
Hassan Latheef’s statements on behalf of former President Mohamed Nasheed on social media “could harm public interest and the state’s dignity,” Home Minister Umar Naseer informed the lawyer in a letter today.
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
Home minister vows to ‘find the truth’ behind Rilwan’s disappearance
Home Minister Umar Naseer met with the family of missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan today and assured them of the government’s commitment to “find the truth” behind the unexplained disappearance.
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
Vice President expelled from PPM
On its fourth anniversary, the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has expelled its deputy leader and Maldives Vice president Ahmed Adeeb, days after he was arrested on suspicion of links to an explosion on President Abdulla Yameen’s speedboat.
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
Vice president’s lawyer questions impartiality of boat blast probe
Naseer, the co-chair of a special inquiry commission formed to investigate the alleged attempt, told newspaper Haveeru yesterday that several senior police officers had met him shortly after the blast and said they suspected the vice president’s involvement. Naseer also expressed confidence of gathering “enough evidence for a conviction.”
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
PPM gathers 52 signatures to impeach vice president
The ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has collected 52 signatures on a motion to impeach detained Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, just five votes short of the number required to remove him through a formal vote.
27 Oct 2015, 09:00
Captain remains lost at sea, two crew members rescued
A boat traveling to Alif Alif Atoll sank yesterday, stranding three crewmembers at sea. Two have been rescued today, but there has been no sign of the boat’s captain yet.
26 Oct 2015, 09:00
PPM moves to impeach Vice President
MPs of the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) are collecting signatures to file a motion to remove Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, according to credible sources.
26 Oct 2015, 09:00
New chair for SEZ board after Vice President’s arrest
Mohamed Saeed, the economic minister, will chair the government’s powerful Special Economic Zone (SEZ) board, the president’s office has said.
26 Oct 2015, 09:00
‘Dangerous’ anti-terrorism bill fails to pass
During the final debate on the bill, ruling party MP Mohamed Musthafa said the bill was shaped to “keep MPs at gunpoint” and could be used to criminalise political rhetoric. The government-sponsored legislation was widely expected to be passed into law today, but Musthafa’s proposal to return the bill to committee was passed unanimously with 55 votes in favour.
26 Oct 2015, 09:00
Ex-president’s lawyer denounces claim stabbing provoked by personal matter
Mahfooz Saeed, a member of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team, has denounced a government claim that his stabbing was provoked by a dispute over legal work not related to the jailed opposition leader’s case.
26 Oct 2015, 09:00
Fire breaks out at house in Malé
“The fire was put out within minutes. No one was seriously injured but one person who suffered suffocation from smoke was taken to the hospital,” a police spokesperson said.
25 Oct 2015, 09:00
Vice president obstructed inquiry into bomb plot, says President Yameen
Addressing the nation for the first time since the blast on the president’s speedboat on September 28, Yameen revealed that “bomb-making equipment” was discovered during yesterday’s raids of homes of Adeeb’s close associates.
25 Oct 2015, 09:00
MDP concerned over ‘deteriorating political situation’
In the wake of Vice President Ahmed Adeeb yesterday, the main opposition party expressed concern over “the recent large deployments of security services” in Malé as well as the abrupt changes in the top leadership of the police and military and “searches of private residences by the armed forces without adequate explanation from the government.”
25 Oct 2015, 09:00
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