Maldives: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2019

The Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Maldives—Major General [Retd] B.R.W.M.R.A.B Thoradeniya, on January 3 discussed the measures on strengthening the commercial ties between two nations, reports The Edition. Sri Lanka remains one of the strongest partners in the development of Maldives. The Maldives appreciates the friendly ties between the two South Asian neighbours since the establishment of their diplomatic relations 54 years ago, said President Solih. Read less...

The Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on January 3 has appointed Shafiu Ali as Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs [MIA], reports Maldives Times. Read less...

The Maldives National Defence Force [MNDF] has resumed the operations of two helicopters which were gifted by India, after renewing the agreement, reports Avas on January 5. Earlier, former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen had returned a helicopter out of two in May 2018, and had asked India to take back the other helicopter by the end of June 2018. However, post-extensive discussions between India and the Maldives, then-Maldivian government extended the ‘return’ deadline till December 2018. Helicopter Air MEDEVAC and SAR operations by MNDF CG in coordination with Area Commands have resumed with the renewal of Letter of Exchange [LoE] with India, tweeted the MNDF. Though the helicopters are flown by Indian pilots, the MNDF would tell them [Indian pilots] when and where to go. Since the induction of the helicopters which were brought-in, had saved over 100 Maldivian lives adding that the cost of operating the helicopters are entirely borne by the Indian government, said President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Read less...

Former President Abdulla Yameen is accused of laundering stolen money and lying to the anti-corruption watchdog, Maldives Police said on January 6, after the opposition leader was questioned at the police headquarters in Maléin Kaafu Atoll in North Central Province for more than four hours, reports Maldives Times.He was questioned about giving false testimony to the Anti-Corruption Commission during its investigation into the unprecedented theft of US$90 million from a state-owned tourism company, a Police spokesman said.Yameen’s bank accounts were frozen with more than MVR100 million (US$6.5 million) in US dollars and local currency last month as police launched a probe into campaign contributions and US$1 million transferred from a company linked to the corruption scandal under his watch. Read less...

Former President Abdulla Yameen was questioned for a second time over money laundering allegations, on January 6, reports Maldives Time.He presented himself to the police headquarters at 1:30 pm, as per summon notice and was released after questioning over three hours later.The Anti-Corruption Commission had, back in November 2017, confirmed that USD one million was transferred to Abdulla Yameen’s private account through SOF, a company heavily involved in Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC)’s corruption scam. Read less...

The Maldives Police on January 7 launched an investigation into hate speech and death threats after a public chat channel started branding individuals as apostates, reports Maldives Independent.The ‘Murtad Watch’ (Apostate Watch) on Telegram identified and posted information about people who spoke out against an island magistrate court sentencing a woman to death by stoning earlier this week.“We have observed a string of hate speech and threats ensuing from recent conversations on some social media platforms,” Police tweeted. “While we investigate these, we urge both sides of the conversation to refrain from making derogatory remarks, especially threats to persons”.In April 2017, liberal blogger Yameen Rasheed was killed by a radicalised group of young men who believed he was guilty of blasphemy and insulting Islam, according to Police. The ‘Apostate Watch’ channel was created in November 2018 but became active on January 7, 2019 It had 121 subscribers as of January 8 evening.With a bullseye as its icon, the channel has posted screenshots of tweets criticising the death sentence along with names and photos of individuals and organisations deemed “apostates” and “enemies of Islam.”“The ruling upon such a person is the same ruling as upon any apostate: their blood wealth and honour are Halal, they are not to be greeted, they are not to be prayed behind or upon, their marriages are dissolved, they cannot inherit from or be inherited by a Muslim and they cannot be buried with the Muslims. A legitimate Islamic authority must also apply the Hadd upon such people,” reads a message posted on the channel. Read less...

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has expressed gratitude for the invaluable assistance extended by China over the years towards his country’s socio-economic development, the President’s Office said in a statement on January 11, reports Maldives Times. The president, in a meeting with China‘s Ambassador to the Maldives Zhang Lizhong, assured that the new Maldivian Government is committed to maintaining good relations with China.The two sides expressed optimism that in the coming years, the ties between China and the Maldives will witness strengthened corporation on the issues of mutual interest and importance.President Solih and Ambassador Zhang also discussed the progress of Chinese commercial ventures and economic projects in the Maldives and further cooperation on increasing Chinese tourists to visit the Maldives. Read less...

Indian Coast Guard Ship “Samarth” on January 12 arrived in the Maldives to conduct a joint surveillance patrol, Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) said on January 12, reports Maldives Times. According to report, “Samarth” is scheduled to return after concluding the joint surveillance patrol to ensure that there are no illegal activities being carried out in the Maldives Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), on January 17.The joint surveillance patrol has been conducted serially since 2009.ICGS Samarth had previously held training programs in Vietnam and Indonesia as well.This comes at a time officers of both Maldives and India are jointly conducting training programs under the name “Exercise Dosti” annually. Read less...

At least three people have been questioned in an investigation launched by Maldives Police into hate speech and death threats after a public chat channel started branding individuals as apostates, reports Maldives Independent on January 14. Sheikh Ali Zaid was questioned on January 13 evening after Aishath Aniya, a host on Minivan Radio, and Siruhaan Mohamed, an online campaigner for strict Islamic sharia, were summoned to the Police headquarters during the past week. Aniya said that she has been targeted by extremists online after she tweeted a photo of the King Salman Mosque under construction in Malé and complained about the ‘ugly structure’ blocking her view of the airport. The January 2 tweet prompted criticism from renowned local clerics who implied that Aniya was “laadheenee” (irreligious or secular). In a policy paper published last April (2018) under the previous administration, the Islamic ministry listed apostasy and openly mocking Islam as some of the biggest challenges facing the country and recommended expulsion from Maldivian society, financial penalties, and even a prison sentence. In 2010, self-declared apostate Mohamed Nazim publicly repented and reverted back to Islam after government counselling when religious groups called for his death. Read less...

There are currently over 63,000 illegal migrant workers living in the Maldives, Controller General of Immigration, Mohamed Ahmed Hussain (Hanafee) said on January 17, reports Maldives Times. Speaking during a press conference Mohamed Ahmed Hussain said that 144,607 migrants are in the Maldives on a work visa. “Out of them, more than 63,000 are estimated to be living as illegal immigrant workers. An extra quota of 100 migrant workers has been allowed to cafes against regulations. And extra quota of 80 to guesthouses. This has been done without any regard to regulations,” said Hanafee, who was appointed Controller General of Immigration on December 23. He stressed the large population of illegal migrant workers in the Maldives and asked for assistance from the public in order to curtail the practice. Hanafee said that 112 migrant workers were deported for violation of immigration regulations and arrest on a myriad of criminal charges including drug abuse and robbery. Maldives Immigration identified 2,734 runaway migrant workers in 2018. Hanafee also announced Maldives Immigration has launched a special operation, Operation Stingray, to curtail the illegal migrant population. Read less...

India plans to renew its offer to extend the coastal surveillance radar systems (CSRS) project to the island neighbour, Maldives as part of the defence cooperation dialogue, reports The Times of India on January 21. This dialogue takes up from the defence cooperation agreement signed with former president Abdulla Yameen in 2016. However, as relations between New Delhi and Male iced over, Yameen refused to allow the installation of Indian radars, preferring to turn to China. Sources said the CSRS has is being offered to other countries as well, which will contribute in creating a network of information to aid maritime domain awareness (MDA) in the Indian Ocean region. Maldives’ Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi due to visit India on her first tour this week. Read less...

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on January 22, formed a committee to address rising religious tension after the vandalism of a private college whose chairman was accused of mocking Islam, reports Maldives Times. Set upon the recommendation of the cabinet, the seven-member committee includes Vice President Faisal Naseem, the president’s chief of staff, and the Ministers for Defence, Home Affairs, Higher Education, Youth and Sports, and Islamic Affairs. The committee was tasked with discussing the issue with the relevant authorities, “taking immediate action and setting long terms strategies to prevent actions of those who criticise religion and those who commit crimes such as willful destruction of property and endangering the lives of people in the name of protecting religion.” Read less...

Maldives Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi on January 25 said that India has always been there to help the Maldives and so the nation’s government doesn’t see any reason for military cooperation with any other country, reports Maldives Times. “So far as we are concerned we are very comfortable in having India as our very close friend because they always came to our rescue in 1988 [to thwart an attempted coup] or the tsunami or the recent water crisis,” Ms. Didi said. “Our closest neighbour has been India and they have always been there to help so there is absolutely no need to have any other sort of military cooperation with any country as such,” she asserted. Observing that the Maldives does not want the Indian Ocean to become an area of contestation for great powers, Ms. Didi said, “There is this mutual understanding between us and as we have mentioned before, we are very much bent on keeping the Indian Ocean a safe, protected zone where the bigger powers don’t engage in a way that could perhaps be detrimental to the interests of our nation.” Talking of defence cooperation, Ms Didi welcomed the presence of Indian helicopters that were there for humanitarian assistance especially as the Maldives had a lot of islands and extreme weather in which helicopters were often the only mode of viable transport. Read less...

Prosecutor General’s Office has withdrawn terrorism charges against former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, his son – Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Faris Maumoon, and his son-in-law – Mohamed Nadheem, reports Maldives Times on January 28. Maumoon, Faris and Nadheem were detained and charged with attempting to carry out an act of terrorism and accused of bribing lawmakers and Supreme Court judges in a conspiracy to overthrow the Maldivian Government in 2018. Prosecutor General’s Office, on January 24, issued a letter informing them of the decision to withdraw the charges. Read less...

Prosecutor General’s Office has withdrawn the terrorism charges against former Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, South Machangolhi MP (Member of Parliament),Abdulla Sinan and Dhangethi MP, Ilhaam Ahmed, reports Maldives Times on January 31.Saeed, Sinan and Ilhaam were charged under the Anti-Terrorism for conspiring to overthrow the Maldivian Government in 2018.PG Aishath Bisham has confirmed the decision to drop the charges against the three. Reports said that they were informed of the decision to dismiss the charges last week. Former Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed has additional charges pressed against him; exercising undue influence in carrying out a legal duty, bribery, and obstruction of justice following the Supreme Court order to free detained politicians on February 1, 2018.He is currently serving a four-month and 24-day sentence for undue influence, and a three-year, seven-month and four-day sentence for obstruction of justice. Read less...