A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
The High Court Tuesday upheld a 10-year prison term for former defence minister Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaan over the arrest of a judge in 2011. Tholhath was convicted of terrorism and sentenced in April 2015 for the arbitrary arrest of Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed. The judge’s three-week detention at the military training base on the […]
A criminal court order to seize the mobile phone of a prominent social media activist has sparked outrage and concern over the constitutional right to protect sources. Citing a secret intelligence report as evidence, the police sought the warrant to identify Thayyib Shaheem’s sources for an investigation into alleged false claims about President Abdulla Yameen, […]
The Maldives central bank has warned of dwindling national reserves as the rate of foreign borrowing increases. Governor Ahmed Naseer of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) sounded the alarm in a statement sent to the parliamentary budget review committee, which met Monday. The committee cancelled two hearings they had scheduled with him and the auditor […]
President Abdulla Yameen promised pay hikes for civil servants at a rally held Friday night to celebrate the fourth anniversary of his administration. Addressing a crowd of thousands at the carnival area in Malé, Yameen pledged a 37 percent hike for civil servants in the lowest salary bracket and a 25 percent rise for the […]
There was a 15 percent rise in reported cases of child abuse in the Maldives in October compared to the previous month, gender ministry statistics have shown. The ministry said 122 out of 272 reported cases were regarding different forms of child abuse – 45 percent of the total reported cases in October. Child abuse […]
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 […]
The former boss of the Maldives’ tourism promotion company has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges relating to the country’s largest-ever corruption scandal, facing 90 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Abdulla Ziyath, who managed the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, is accused of misappropriating US$44 million (MVR721 million) by leasing islands […]
Two men have been hospitalised after being stabbed in the Maldivian capital Tuesday evening. They were attacked on Fareedhee Magu, near MHA Mart, police confirmed and are being treated in Male’s Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital. One of them is in a critical condition after his intestines fell out and require surgery, news outlet Mihaaru cited […]