Minister of Youth, Sports & Community Empowerment, Ahmed Mahloof
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The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is seeking criminal charges against Sports and Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof, in relation to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal.
While Mahloof is among the many people who are to have benefitted in the largest corruption scandal in the country’s history, ACC has completed its investigation into Mahloof’s case and forwarded the case for prosecution on Wednesday.
The anti-graft watchdog revealed this in a statement on Wednesday.
ACC back in February 2019 publicized its investigative report on the MMPRC case, which also included Mahloof’s name. However, the minister denied any wrongdoing claiming that the USD 33,000 was transferred to his account as part of a currency exchange deal. While he was suspended after the report was released, the suspension was lifted two months later after ACC and the police cleared his name.
Sections in Maldives oppose Indian ‘heavy-handedness’
The Maldives has made no decision on opening an Indian consulate in its southern Addu Atoll, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said on Tuesday, a fortnight after the Indian Cabinet cleared a proposal for it.
The President remarked on the proposed Indian consulate, during a press conference on the COVID-19 situation in the country, spokesman Mabrook Azeez told
The Hindu from capital Male. “He [Mr. Solih] pointed out that having multiple sites offering consular services in one country is quite common,” Mr. Azeez said.
President Solih’s comments appeared to keep the option open, amid an ongoing “#SaveAddu” social media campaign by a section of Maldivians sceptical of another Indian mission presence, in addition to the Embassy in Male.
Unpacking the Maldives’ Transitional Justice Act
New legislation must provide meaningful redress for survivors of past abuses.
In a surprise move on 17 December 2020, the Maldivian government ratified the Transitional Justice Act and instituted the Office of the Ombudsman for Transitional Justice (OOTJ). This is a historic step by the government to initiate long-overdue redress mechanisms for survivors of past abuses. Achieving this uphill task in the current political climate – not to mention as the global COVID-19 pandemic rages on – is strenuous even with a supermajority in Parliament. This law is an attempt at guaranteeing legal certainty to the cause of serving justice, in the form of reparations and closure for survivors who have been systematically wronged by state officials and institutions.