People’s Majlis Counsel General Fathimath Filza advised the judiciary committee that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) failed to follow due process in initiating disciplinary proceedings against Supreme Court justices Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir. The committee declined further review and decided to forward the JSC report and Filsa’s advice to the floor for a vote.
The Nepal Bar Association and the Human Rights Commission of Maldives expressed concern over the imminent removal of the two Supreme Court judges.
Police requested that the Prosecutor General’s Office press illicit enrichment charges against former Immigration Controller Shamaan Waheed and four other Maldivians, who are accused of taking MVR530,000 to release a migrant worker detained in an unlawful raid.
Police sent a case to the PG’s office against Shahadhath Hussain, a 34-year-old Bangladeshi man accused of money laundering and illegally bringing in migrant workers. Police said he was aided by immigration officials and other Maldivians, who are being investigated separately.
Higher Education Minister Dr Ali Haidhar said that 60 percent of student loan recipients are not repaying their debts.
Parliament passed a bill introducing a generational smoking ban, prohibiting anyone born after 1 January 2007 from smoking and banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.
Police told the criminal court that the 221 cartons of cigarettes abandoned by a pickup truck fleeing officers last Tuesday were part of a batch reported missing from a bonded warehouse in Malé. Three Bangladeshi men employed by Senior International Pvt Ltd were arrested in connection with the case and have been remanded for 15 days.
Minister Adam Shareef informed a parliamentary committee that the Ministry of Cities, Local Governance and Public Works has a total of 81 political appointees.
Parliament voted to appoint Moosa Rilwan to a vacant seat on the Maldives Broadcasting Commission even though he had ranked fourth, behind three female nominees, at committee stage.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development launched a programme where volunteer senior citizens and girl guides visit bedridden elderly individuals.
A 30-year-old Bangladeshi man lost an arm after being run over by a speedboat while diving for sea cucumbers in Noonu Atoll.