Maldives News
President forms advisory committee after speedboat blast
“This is not a presidential commission or an investigative committee. It is only an advisory one to make sure yesterday’s incident will not have room to repeat,” said Ibrahim Muaz Ali, spokesperson at the president’s office. The committee includes the police and military heads of intelligence, but not the police commissioner or chief of defence forces.
29 Sep 2015, 09:00
Assistant Attorney General arrested in late night alcohol raid
Ismail Wisham, the assistant attorney general, and his wife were arrested in a late night raid on Monday, sources have said. Alcohol and hash oil were reportedly discovered on the premises.
29 Sep 2015, 09:00
Man arrested for sextortion
A 31-year-old Maldivian man was arrested on Monday for attempting to extort sexual favours by blackmailing a woman. He had claimed to possess nude photographs of her.
29 Sep 2015, 09:00
Fears raised of “targeted arrest” against Assistant Attorney General
A lawyer who works at the Attorney General’s office described Ismail Wisham as “a pro-government, technical lawyer” and said: “The general feeling at the office is a sense of sadness and shock. I personally feel the arrest was targeted as there seems to be no explicit public policy reason for police to carry out such a raid.”
29 Sep 2015, 09:00
Podesta Group hired to “whitewash” government’s crimes
“Government officials are clearly rattled at the prospect of facing targeted sanctions. But rather than doing the right thing and freeing the political prisoners, they are spending amounts of public money on foreign lobbyists, who will try to whitewash their crimes,” said Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, the MDP’s international spokesman.
28 Sep 2015, 09:00
Explosion on president’s speedboat, President Yameen unharmed
A loud blast was heard just as the ‘Finifenmaa’ speedboat docked at the pier, followed by glass shattering, and the door on the speedboat fell off its hinges. Yameen was not injured, but First Lady Fathmath Ibrahim, a presidential aide, and a bodyguard are undergoing treatment for injuries.
28 Sep 2015, 09:00
First lady sustained minor bone fractures in speedboat blast
“The injuries are not serious and by the grace of God, she does not require any surgery. She will make a full recovery with plenty of bed rest and care,” said Mohamed Hussain Shareef, the presidential affairs minister.
28 Sep 2015, 09:00
Vice president extols friendship with India and China
Vice President Ahmed Adeeb lauded and reaffirmed the Maldives’ friendship with rivals India and China at separate functions this week. The current administration has been accused of threatening Indian Ocean regional security by deciding to participate in the Chinese ’21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ initiative.
28 Sep 2015, 09:00
Nasheed brought to Malé for MRI scan
Former President Mohamed Nasheed underwent an MRI scan for an old spinal injury at the ADK hospital at 9am on Saturday.
28 Sep 2015, 09:00
Police seeking FBI assistance to investigate explosion on president’s speedboat
“We would like to assure the Maldivian people that we will investigate this incident as a serious case and that the Maldivian police and MNDF will work together to find out the truth of how this happened,” the police have said.
28 Sep 2015, 09:00
CMAG to work with member states on judicial independence, political freedoms
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) met in New York on Friday discussed the undermining of judicial independence and the systematic denial of political space including the detention of political leaders in member states.
28 Sep 2015, 09:00
Maldives denies hiring US lobbyist Podesta Group
The Attorney General’s Office has denied reports that the government of Madives has hired Washington’s most prominent lobbyist firm, Podesta Group, to advocate on its behalf amidst calls for sanctions for human rights violations.
27 Sep 2015, 09:00
Authorities on alert for tidal swells
The police and military are in a state of readiness to assist islands at risk of flooding. The authorities have advised laying sandbags to protect powerhouses, health centres, and garbage dumps, and to take foodstuffs, valuables, and electronic equipment at beachfront homes and offices further inshore.
27 Sep 2015, 09:00
Maldives hires US lobbyist Podesta Group for US$300,000
The government of Maldives has hired Washington’s most prominent lobbyist firm Podesta Group for a sum of US$300,000 to advocate on its behalf amidst calls for sanctions on government officials for human rights violations.
27 Sep 2015, 09:00
Maldives accepts UPR recommendations on judicial reform
The judiciary came under fire during the Maldives’ Universal Periodic Review in May over “politicisation,” inadequate qualification of judges, and lack of conformity to international fair trial standards as well as the Supreme Court’s contempt of court cases against the Elections Commission and Human Rights Commission of Maldives.
26 Sep 2015, 09:00
Why it makes sense to invest in women and children’s health
Spending on the health of women and young people should be considered ‘investments’, because it accrues long-term rights and dividends, to the economy and to society, writes Mr. Chandra Kishore Mishra and Ms. Amina J. Mohammed.
26 Sep 2015, 09:00
Battery malfunction causes speedboat fire, 24 injured
Some 24 people, including Chinese, Japanese, and Indian tourists, were injured this afternoon after a speedboat caught fire near the Hulhulé airport island. A Chinese couple and their five-year-old child are undergoing treatment for severe burns at the ADK private hospital in Malé.
26 Sep 2015, 09:00
Lawyers defend call for targeted sanctions to secure Nasheed’s release
Reiterating calls for targeted sanctions against Maldivian government officials if Nasheed is not released, the opposition leader’s international lawyers Amal Clooney, Jared Genser, and Ben Emmerson said his case is “emblematic of a broader, brutal crackdown on democracy and human rights involving not only the former president, but also large parts of the population.”
25 Sep 2015, 09:00
‘We worry for his safety’: Nasheed’s daughter at UN Human Rights Council
“My father, Mohamed Nasheed, former president of Maldives, was imprisoned by the Maldivian government on fabricated charges of ‘terrorism.’ He is the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. Although I know him as my tenacious and also brilliant father, who has tirelessly risked the majority of his life trying to establish basic human rights in our country,” said Meera Laila Nasheed at the UN Human Rights Council yesterday.
25 Sep 2015, 09:00
Vice president inaugurates Maafaru airport project
The project to develop a domestic airport in Noonu Maafaru was awarded in November 2013 to Millennium Capital Investment – a local company involved in a US$6 million corruption scandal implicating then-Tourism Minister Adeeb in October 2014.
24 Sep 2015, 09:00
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