A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
Mobile phones belonging to family members of a key witness in a bribery trial have been confiscated by police. The police action follows Ahmed Shafiu’s allegations of a lawmaker attempting to coerce false testimony against MP Faris Maumoon, who is at the centre of the trial. Shafiu, a Jumhooree Party activist, was arrested a day […]
Two Maldivian men charged with terrorism were planning to carry out a suicide attack in the capital Malé, officials confirmed Wednesday. Ishag Ali, from Madduvari island in Raa atoll, and Hussein Afeef, from Fuvahmulah City in the southern Maldives, were named by prosecutors and are alleged by police to have connections to the Islamic State […]
Finance Minister Ahmed Munawar submitted for parliamentary approval Wednesday a record MVR27.9 billion (US$1.8 billion) budget for 2018. Opposition lawmakers continued to protest with chants of “government of thieves” while Munawar presented the budget projections. “The goal of the 2018 budget is developing human resources for building the nation along with spending on infrastructure development […]
The original Dhivehi article was published on Avas.mv website on 7th November 2017. The following is a loose translation: The administration of President Abdulla Yameen is way ahead when it comes to restricting freedom and rights. The rights that the constitution had allowed broadly had now been hindered and narrowed down by overriding them with […]
The death penalty is a violent and ineffective form of punishment that has no deterrent or protective value, the UK has said following the Maldives’ decision to lift its moratorium on executions. British minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon told the House of Lords Monday the government had engaged the Maldives at the highest levels on […]
Two people with connections to the Islamic State group have been charged for planning and attempting to take part in a suicide attack, officials confirmed Tuesday. The men are affiliated with the jihadi group operating out of parts of Syria and Iraq, the Prosecutor General’s office said. PG spokesman Adam Thaufeeq told the Maldives Independent […]
Developing the bund wall around the area to be reclaimed in HDh. Kulhudhuffushi’s mangrove swamp. PHOTO/SOCIAL MEDIA Ecocare Maldives has filed at the Civil Court, seeking to order authorities to comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the reclamation of Haa Dhaal atoll Kulhudhuffushi island’s mangrove swamp. Under the government’s project to develop […]
Lawyer Hisan Hussain. PHOTO/MIHAARU On Sunday, the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) revoked the suspension of lawyers, Hisaan Hussain and Ibrahim Riffath, who was suspended over submitting a petition to the Supreme Court raising concerns over the judicial system and calling to uphold the rule of law. DJA stated in its announcement that it was […]
The former boss of the Maldives’ tourism promotion company pleaded not guilty Saturday to 15 charges related to the country’s largest-ever corruption scandal. Abdulla Ziyath, who managed the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, is accused of misappropriating US$23 (1h 33m) million (MVR357 million) by leasing 13 uninhabited islands and two lagoons owned by the state. He […]