A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
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 […]
A local company implicated in a historic corruption scandal deposited US$1 million into President Abdulla Yameen’s private account at the Maldives Islamic Bank, according to the Anti-Corruption Commission. The ACC confirmed the longstanding allegations in a document quietly published on Thursday with summaries of cases closed during August. Both Yameen and his jailed former deputy were […]
The joint opposition has denounced the Elections Commission’s disqualification of three former ruling party lawmakers, calling it unconstitutional and an “egregiously partisan move designed to please President [Abdulla] Yameen.” The EC informed parliament Tuesday that MPs Mohamed Musthafa, Saudhulla Hilmy and Ali Shah have lost their seats following their expulsion from the Progressive Party of […]
An inquiry by a special committee at the president’s office is underway into a quarrel between the country’s top two police officers, it has been widely reported. Both the police and president’s office spokesmen refused to comment but sources have told several local media outlets that President Abdulla Yameen set up the committee about two weeks […]
The criminal court on Tuesday heard closing arguments in the trial of the first Maldivians charged with human trafficking. Mohamed Muahmar and Hussain Sunaih are accused of trafficking by submitting fake construction agreements and other documents to obtain hundreds of immigration permits. They were charged with participating in human trafficking, lying to a government office and […]
Mohamed Anas was brutally murdered because he was mistaken by his assailants for a member of a rival gang, the police have revealed. Anas, a 25-year-old speedboat captain from the island of Meedhoo in Raa atoll, was stabbed to death by a group of masked men inside a motorcycle shop in Malé around 9:15 pm on […]
A Chinese tourist died Tuesday in a drowning accident in the pool of the Paradise Island Resort near the capital Malé. A police spokesperson confirmed to the Maldives Independent that they were investigating a report of a drowning. According to sources familiar with the accident, the deceased was a 54-year-old woman. She was immediately brought […]
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 […]
More than 40 staff at the ministry of housing and infrastructure who worked to set up a ruling party meeting hall in Malé joined the Progressive Party of Maldives at the jagaha opening ceremony Monday night. “I thank Minister [Dr Mohamed] Muiz very sincerely for making this jagaha so perfect. And Muiz’s talent is such that he […]