Politics
Striking staff demand transparent audit before job cuts
Staff on strike at the finance ministry have signed a petition calling on the Civil Service Commission to conduct a transparent and comprehensive resource audit before making mass job cuts.
22 Dec 2015, 09:00
Finance Ministry staff stage strike over job cuts: “We have families to take care of, bills and rent to pay”
Hundreds of civil servants at the finance ministry are on strike over mass job cuts. The historic strike – only the second by civil servants in recent history – comes after President Abdulla Yameen insisted on the dismissals, arguing the Maldivian civil service is overstaffed.
22 Dec 2015, 09:00
Maldivians who assisted deported German crew under fire
Home Minister Umar Naseer has pledged to prosecute all Maldivians who assisted a German TV crew who were deported while filming for a story on Islamic extremism. ARD’s local fixer was summoned for questioning on Sunday.
21 Dec 2015, 09:00
Russian’s arrest in Maldives lawful, rules US court
A US federal court has ruled that Maldivian law was not violated in the arrest of alleged Russian hacker Roman Seleznev by US Secret Service agents from the international airport in July 2014.
20 Dec 2015, 09:00
Hundreds protest over horrific rape case in Thinadhoo
Hundreds of Maldivians took to the streets in southern Gaaf Dhaal Atoll Thinadhoo Island after a woman from the island was hospitalized with life-threatening rape injuries.
20 Dec 2015, 09:00
Nasheed lodges appeal at the Supreme Court
In a surprising U-turn, former President Mohamed Nasheed has lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court, requesting judges to overturn his 13-year jail sentence on a terrorism charge.
20 Dec 2015, 09:00
Colonel’s military detention amounts to “enforced disappearance”
The criminal court refused to accept a case related to the colonel’s administrative detention at military barracks, citing the defence ministry’s denial of holding Fayaz under military custody. His lawyer said the state’s refusal to acknowledge the detention puts Fayaz “outside the protection of the law and it could legally qualify as an enforced disappearance.”
20 Dec 2015, 09:00
Cadman proposed to lobby for sanctions and a tourism boycott for Nasheed’s release
Toby Cadman, the barrister who defended the jailing of former President Mohamed Nasheed at the UN on the Maldivian government’s behalf, first approached the opposition leader’s aides and proposed to lobby for a tourism boycott and sanctions on the Maldives to gain his freedom, The Maldives Independent can reveal.
19 Dec 2015, 09:00
Government accused of hindering Nasheed’s Supreme Court appeal
The government’s refusal to allow lawyers to handover appeal documents to Nasheed directly constitutes a breach of lawyer-client protocol, as the government may intercept legally privileged communications, lawyers have said.
19 Dec 2015, 09:00
Ex vice president hauled to surprise trial in makeshift court room
Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb was hauled to a makeshift courtroom at a police remand facility on Dhoonidhoo Island and charged with corruption in an unannounced hearing. He did not have access to a lawyer.
17 Dec 2015, 09:00
Government flip-flops on firing 70 top finance ministry staff
The government was scrambling to clarify its position on firing more than 70 senior staff at the finance ministry when Permanent Secretary Ismail Ali Manik, the finance ministry’s top civil servant, tendered his resignation.
17 Dec 2015, 09:00
European parliament calls for sanctions on top Maldives officials
The European parliament has adopted a resolution calling on the EU and member states “to introduce restrictive measures in the form of targeted sanctions to freeze the assets abroad of certain members of the Maldivian government and their leading supporters in the Maldivian business community, and to impose travel bans on them.”
17 Dec 2015, 09:00
EU parliament debates targeted sanctions against Maldives
The European parliament is due to vote today on a resolution calling on member states to “freeze the assets abroad of members of the Maldives government and their leading supporters in the Maldivian business community and to impose a travel ban on them, in view of the continuous deterioration of the human rights situation in the country.”
17 Dec 2015, 09:00
Maldives deports German TV crew for “filming without permit”
A four-member TV crew from German public broadcaster ARD has been deported over alleged violations of visa regulations. The immigration department said in a statement that filming on a tourist visa was against the law and visa regulations.
16 Dec 2015, 09:00
Islamic ministry orders TV station to stop programme on sorcery
In a letter sent to Sangu TV, the ministry noted that the Fiqh academy had issued a fatwa advising the media not to broadcast programmes that encourage the practice of sorcery as it a grave sin prohibited in Islam. The academy had warned that such programmes could “lead the public astray from the clear path of Islam.”
16 Dec 2015, 09:00
Education ministry reverses single-session schools policy
“Malé school buildings are old and lack space. We have added space with extensions as much as we can. As students increase each year, it’s getting harder to accommodate them. Even in case of an emergency, it would extremely hard to evacuate all students from the building,” said State Minister for Education Dr Abdulla Nazeer.
16 Dec 2015, 09:00
Government denies limiting presidential scholarships after public outrage
Following a public outcry, the education ministry today denied limiting the number of presidential scholarships awarded annually to A’ Level top achievers. Citing a two-month-old announcement by the department of higher education, newspaper Haveeru reported this week that the scholarships will be limited to 15 students from the 1st place achievers in the A’ Level national top ten. Some 23 students had finished in first place last year.
15 Dec 2015, 09:00
Elections Commission fines MDP, Adhaalath over Nov 27 protest
“They were fined because they had involved children in their protest and also for using the UN emblem against the regulations,” Elections Commissioner Ahmed Akram told The Maldives Independent today.
15 Dec 2015, 09:00
Maldives joins Saudi-led anti-terrorism military alliance
Announcing the new coalition at a press conference last night, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, also the kingdom’s defence minister, said the campaign would “coordinate” efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, and Afghanistan. “Every country will be participating according to its capabilities and we will not only fight [the Islamic State], but any terrorist group,” he said.
15 Dec 2015, 09:00
Supreme Court to consider UN ruling on Nasheed’s imprisonment
“The government has maintained the position that the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is one that should be considered by the Supreme Court. This will now be done given that the Court has accepted the appeal already filed by the Prosecutor General, with substantive arguments to be heard at a later date,” the foreign ministry said today.
14 Dec 2015, 09:00
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