A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
Jailed former defence minister Mohamed Nazim arrives for a court hearing. PHOTO: NISHAN ALI/MIHAARU The family of jailed former defence minister Mohamed Nazim released a statement to mark his 1,000th day of imprisonment on Monday, declaring that each passing day is another blow of judicial injustice to Nazim. Nazim is currently serving 11 years in jail […]
Journalist Hawwa Rasheed* was in a near-deserted newsroom compiling headlines for an upcoming bulletin when two rough hands grappled her from behind and grabbed at her breasts. “I was completely numb. Those few minutes felt like years,” Hawwa said while fiddling with her headscarf, trying to cover her chest. She slapped away the invasive hands […]
Raajje TV has paid off an MVR500,000 ($32,467) fine imposed by the broadcasting regulator for airing comments deemed a threat to national security, as a preliminary hearing to appeal an earlier fine began Sunday. The opposition-aligned station was last month penalised for broadcasting remarks from opposition MP Mohamed Musthafa. It was the third fine slapped […]
The elderly man who has been accused of sexually assaulting four sisters on the back of a motorbike in the capital Male. Reportedly he fled from his island when the allegations surfaced and moved to Male — The elderly man who was arrested on Thursday after being accused of sexually assaulting four sisters in the […]
Teachers in the Maldives must be educated on how to monitor students for extremist ideologies, according to the first strategy document from the National Counter Terror Centre. US-based security and risk management consultancy the Soufan Group says around 200 to 250 Maldivians are known to be fighting in Syria and Iraq, making the island nation […]
The country’s anti-corruption watchdog filed just a handful of cases for prosecution during the third quarter of 2017, despite investigating 265 cases during that period. The monthly case reports for the year were released Wednesday by the Anti-Corruption Commission and showed the body investigated a total of 815 cases up until the third quarter, out […]
The High Court decided Tuesday to proceed with appeal hearings on MP Faris Maumoon’s arrest and detention after overruling strong objections over the change of the bench. The three-judge panel overseeing the appeal was changed after hearings concluded in early August. The MP for the Dhiggaru constituency was arrested in late July and placed under […]
The opposition coalition has disputed the expulsion of three lawmakers from the ruling party, a move that could unseat the MPs due to a Supreme Court anti-defection ruling. The ethics committee of the Progressive Party of Maldives reportedly decided on Saturday to expel MPs Mohamed Musthafa, Saudhulla Hilmy and Ali Shah for defaming the government […]
Hearings in the trial of six suspects accused of murdering liberal blogger Yameen Rasheed continue to be closed at the request of the Prosecutor General’s office. PG office spokesman Ahmed Thaufeeg, who previously assured that public hearings will be held in the future, told the Maldives Independent that a hearing on Sunday afternoon was closed because […]