Raajje News Blog

#Maldives: The current political struggle in the Maldives has been grossly oversimplified and wrongly reported by some foreign powers and foreign media as a military coup that put back in power the government of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. An unbiased look at the facts of the popular non-violent struggle that led to the transfer of power on February 7th shows that it was neither a coup, nor was it an illegal ouster of a "democratic" leader. Rather, it reveals the triumph of the Maldivian people over an increasingly dictatorial leader, Mohamed Nasheed, a man who had repeatedly violated the Constitution. Fortunately for the citizens of this highly vulnerable country, their struggle has been recognized by the world powers that continue to keep a close eye on the Maldives, namely India and the United States. Nasheed's sudden claim of a military coup, over 24 hours after his public resignation telecast on all local television stations, has been blamed on his close...

#Maldives: Days before ex-President Nasheed's trial for human rights abuse, international media and countries have stepped up efforts to assist Nasheed to block the trial. While international media such as AFP have reported the trial as a politically motivated, it is in fact a criminal case brought by the country's first independent Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizzu, for violation of human rights in the military arrest of the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court in January this year. The Prosecutor General's case is built upon an independent investigation by the country's Human Rights Commission, an independent institution headed by a 5 member panel appointed by the Parliament. The current Human Rights Commission consists of 5 members nominated to the Parliament by Nasheed himself.  The Report of the HRCM on the investigation of the Judge's arrest and subsequent solitary confinement at a military training camp for 22 days determined the said actions to be blatant ...

Male’, Maldives. Maldives strongman Nasheed resigned today amidst widespread civic jubilation reminiscent of Arab springs. Police disobedience in the face of unconstitutional orders were the final straw which broke Nasheed’s iron grip on the country after weeks on civic riots. As Vice President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was sworn in today as the 5th President of the Maldives, Maldivians remain deeply concerned about their future. President Waheed’s first official statement as President was that the Constitution of the country is supreme, and that all powers of the state would be exercised in accordance with the Constitution. He then pledged the democratic separation of powers and the protection of the rights of the people. President Waheed noted the hardships suffered by the population in the past three years, and called for national unity to restore democracy and democratic processes. By these very short key statements, President Waheed showed his people that he had grasped...

Male', Maldives. Day 21 of President Nasheed’s illegal military incarceration of Judge Abdulla Mohamed, and Nasheed is still unable to decide on the scapegoat for his wide step outside the country’s Constitution and laws. Nasheed and his town criers are seesawing back and forth between their two favorite bogeymen: 1) So-called Islamic extremists; and 2) Ex-President Gayyoom, Nasheed's punching bag for his every dismal failure. Of the two, the latter goes without saying and does not even merit discussion here. Gayoom is the scapegoat for every dismal failure by the Nasheed regime. According to Nasheed, Gayoom is an all powerful entity, who mysteriously controls the Parliament, the Judiciary, all Independent Commissions, non-profit organizations, civic watchdogs, opposition politicians. You name it, Gayoom controls it, like a Grand Master Ninja, through some inexplicable and mysterious network, of which Nasheed can show no evidence. Like the bogeyman in a child's imaginati...

Male', Maldives. As the constitutional crisis continues in the Maldives, arbitrary detention and arrests by police and military continue, the Judiciary is in suspension and political parties fight on street corners and public places. President Nasheed and opposition parties entrench their positions and show little sign of moving towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis. All sides continue going through the motions in their scripts while awaiting the much anticipated UN mission on 9th February. On the sides of the conflict, opposition parties are reportedly considering a proposal by Jumhooree Party to build a National Unity Alliance. The key condition in this proposal is that the NUA should field a single candidate for 2013, selected by a primary held among the joint membership of the NUA member parties. JP has also announced that its candidate contesting the primary will be JP Leader, popular philanthropist Gasim Ibrahim. The proposal however appears to be doomed for an ear...

Male', Maldives. Maldives Military wore black face masks to conceal their identity as they stormed the site of another civic protest against the military's forced disappearance of Judge Abdulla Mohamed. In doing so, the military obstructs justice and accountability by preventing the persons harmed and others from enforcing their constitutional right to hold military officers accountable for their actions. In the international scene, it is common to see Israeli security forces don face masks and this too, only when attacking innocent Palestinians. Hence, it is rather disturbing to see the Maldivian military dodging accountability and justice by wearing identity concealing masks when confronting civilians. The disturbing incident adds to the growing lengthy list of violations of fundamental constitutional rights by President Nasheed's military, police, administration and party. The wearing of face masks by protestors is banned in several countries. The issue is relate...

Male', Maldives. Dear Vice President Dr. Waheed, Firstly, welcome to the Maldivian struggle for human rights and freedom from oppression. Your interview to AP and your blog today maybe a little too late and a little too self serving, but it does add weight to the protest we Maldivians have been engaging in from November 11, 2008 when you stepped into power one step behind President Mohamed Nasheed. Secondly, please do not trivialize the daily struggle of the Maldivian Youth by decrying their efforts. No. We have been protesting since 11 November 2008 against the human rights violations by the regime in which you share and which you worked to put into place, against the poverty and economic degradation brought about by policies and programs run by the Cabinet in which you sit, and the reversal of democracy that you and your colleagues have propagated. Thirdly, it is with great disappointment but no great surprise that we note that the level of your protest against President ...

Male', Maldives. President Nasheed today launched a third prong in his takeover bid of the independent Judiciary that was established under the new constitution brought in ex-President Gayoom as part of his Reform Agenda. President Nasheed today led a rally of his militant party Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), at which MDP Vice President Alhan Fahmy announced that he would be leading an MDP protest group to confront Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain and the rest of the Supreme Court tomorrow. Alhan Fahmy declared that the objective of the protest would be to show Chief Justice Faiz that he had failed in his duties, and to demand action by the Judicial Services Commission against Criminal Court Senior Judge Abdulla Mohamed. Judge Abdulla has been incarcerated by the military and held incommunicado against his will since 16th January 2012. He has not been brought before a court of law since his forced detention. The protest, led by Alhan Fahmy, is in support of a letter to the...

Male', Maldives. Into the sixth day of civic protests against President Nasheed's overturning of the constitution and compromising of judicial independence, the protests shows no sign of abating. If anything, civilian numbers joining the protests each night are increasing. However, at the same time, the protest does show any clear signs of succeeding in its stated demands. Over various nights of protest, leaders of the protest have stated varying demands. It began with a demand for the release of opposition politician Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, Deputy Leader of Dhivehi Qaumee Party. Dr. Jameel was released upon a criminal court order issued by Senior Judge Abdulla Mohamed. Dr. Jameel has been detained several times since then, yet not arrested as before. President Nasheed immediately took Judge Abdulla into military detention, an action that violated a number of constitutional provisions while raising a hue and cry amongst the Judiciary and independent governance organs of ...

Male', Maldives. This week's military intervention in civic affairs is no small matter. Even leaving aside the subjugation of the judiciary to military and police might, the active participation of the military in the Nasheed administrations political wars with political opponents will have caused alarm amongst the more thinking Maldivian voter base. Maldives Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim (DIK) said last night, that the military's arbitrary arrest of Senior Judge Abdulla Mohamed was to protect national security and maintain public peace. Reading from a written statement, Minister Tholhath stated on the state television network MNBC1 that the military had acted upon a request from Home Minister Hassan Afeef for military assistance to secure the detention of Judge Abdulla. Judge Abdulla's whereabouts and the state of his health are unknown from the time of his incarceration by the military on January 16, 2012. Military actions cannot be merely dismissed as Mini...

Male', Maldives. As Government, military and police overturn the constitution, as the judiciary deflates like an old balloon, as independent institutions pass the buck to one another, as opposition parties backbite and undermine each other, the one party touted to be the "extreme" party, Adhaalath Party, once again demonstrate their solidity and focus to the Maldivian citizenry. In the unfolding events of President Nasheed's mockery of the constitution, Adhaalath Party has taken the type of concrete logical steps one would like to see from an organized civilized opposition. Tonight, in an emergency meeting of its party council, Adhaalath Party has formed a 7 member committee to analyze the state of the country and to formulate and implement legitimate strategies and actions to change that state to a better one. The committee is headed by Adhaalath Party Chief Shaikh Imran Abdullah, and has the mandate to undertake any action that is not in contradiction to its pr...

Male', Maldives Maldives is in a state of civic disorder early this morning as President Nasheed turns it into a Police State with strong police and military actions against all democratic institutions. Independent and non-partisan institutions such as the Judiciary, Maldives Human Rights Commission, Prosecutor General's Office and civic bodies have called upon President Nasheed to stop his brutal police and military actions and to uphold law and order in the country. Maldives Police Service late last night arbitrarily arrested opposition politician Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed and held him at the infamous Dhoonidhoo Detention Centre. This is Jameel's second arrest within 48 hours. Police grounds for Jameel's arrest were not stated. Dr. Jameel's re-arrest by police comes within 24 hours of his release by order of the Criminal Court. Maldives National Defence Forces (MNDF) then detained Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed against his will at their Girifushi Trai...