Monday, July 20, 2009

The Day He Never Wanted to See


"This is the day none of us wanted to see," a friend of mine, a strong MDP supporter, told me last night over the phone a short while after former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was taken to Police Headquarters.

"But I thought this is the day you have always looked forward to," I retorted. He used to talk frequently about bringing Gayoom to justice and how everyone must be equal before the law.

"Yes, I still want Gayoom to be held accountable. But I think what happened tonight isn't the way to do it, at least not the best way," he replied. "The simple question they asked him could have been asked without taking him there."

"It could have been," I admitted. "But what about equality before the law? Everyone else is taken to the police for such questioning."

"Equality is paramount," he replied. "But what about Article 128 of the Constitution, which gives special protection to him as ex-president?"

24 comments:

Hussein Ihsan said...

All this has conspired because Maumoon could not control his lust for power. All this would not have to be such a big issue, where force and tear gas had to be used, if he just went to the commission in the first place or at least to the police station. He himself says he is innocent and to investigate him, so why resist?

Is it guilt? Or is it because of his huge ego that can't accept that he is just a citizen now?

And he's bound to be investigated as there are so much of evidence of corruption and foul play during his watch.

Its pathetic how disrespectful the kaamineege family is towards the constitution when it applies to them. and they expect the DRP and their supporters to sacrifice themselves to protect him. To the extent of attacking a police officer in his house.

If this was when Maumoon was president and it was MDP and Anni resisting the government & the law you could all imagine how the turn of events would be. I would not be surprised if people are even shot to death. After all it had happened once at Maumoon's order.

Anonymous said...

What kind of half-baked constitution is ours? Everybody is not equal before the law!! Where do I register myself as an Ex-President?

Anonymous said...

Maumoon was given more protection than he deserved...
Next time im taken to police, i will go to civil court for a ruling...

Anonymous said...

It is not the Police who want to drag the former President to Police Station.It is their political masters who want this.The Police know the laws very well. But Anni and Shihab want to humiliate the former President.The stand the court has taken is very clear. Inthe similar situation court has said until the court rules on the powers given to the Presidential commission Yameen cannot be summoned or forced to appear before the Commission.So,whether it is not Yameen ,Police should follow this ruling of the court.And besides Maumoon himself has court to issue such a temporary order. The Police knew very well that the Court will rule as before. The Police knew that the court decision was due on Tuesday(today)and therefore they acted quickly as instructed by their political masters. Maldives will always have its unique brand of democracy. Things will never change in these third world backward democracies. Even though some people think atlast we have a true liberal democracy here. Maummon also said his rule was democratic. Now Anni will say the same.

Anonymous said...

Hehe atlast Maumoon taken to police. More will follow.He will be arrested ,thrown into jail and given a taste of what he did to others while he was in power, HeHe .Bravo Anni.There is one way he can avoid this fate. Make a deal with Anni. Anni has called upon Maumoon to resign as DRP leader.Maumoon should obey the President and resign from DRP leadership and the agree to go into minimum 5 year exile.By the time he returns our dear Anni will have been elected for a second term and by the end of his second term Maumoon if he is still alive will have atleast one foot in the grave .And he will not be a threat to the next MDP leader(Jesus Afeef?)

Maanu P Six said...

no one is above the law.

Anonymous said...

I don't really know about this, Dr. Waheed.

I mean, even in the United States, these drug lords or people of "importance" and "power" has all the amenities even inside their prison cells, while "ordinary" inmates just have the bare minimum toilet bowls and bible.

So, though everyone is equal, these things do happen.

I'm told that even inside our prison cells, "political prisoners" were given "special privileges." I'm told that Anni himself was privileged to read books and have writing materials inside his prison cell while other inmates didn't have that privilege.

So maybe considering the level of importance, some may feel that both Maumoon and MDP made such a big issue out of a little thing last night.

I'm all for equality under the law, and this should also extend to being summoned to police, and also the privileges inside prisons. All are humans after all.

mauloof said...

I agree with you....

Anonymous said...

The Constitution says every Maldivian has to be a Muslim....but is there a LAw which gives power to it???
Now even non-muslims can become maldivians....and maldivians can lawfully convert to other religions....There is no law...Constitution is useless without laws according to Maumoon...

Anonymous said...

This drama played on the orders of a hooligan,again has proved how immature this gangster secularist MDP leader is.From the beginning this man under the effects of.....has proved he will not do anything constructive to build this island nation.He has no vision except get obssesed with some over 80 yr old man who will nevere return as President.He is obssessed with ex Presidents for whatevere reason the Psyhiatrists may say.He brought a dead body homw against probably his wish.Liars.Atheists.Rapists.Paedophiles.Addicts.Gnagstera.Thats what democracy is about.Equal rights for everyone

Anonymous said...

Police did not have to enforce a request of the Presidential Commission until their powers are ruled legal by the courts. The police are not ignorant. They followed orders given by Shihab(zip lowering Shihab) .The Police will have to be prosecuted. If not under Anni regime under next Govt. Please make a list of all those police officers who disregarded the law in favour of illegal orders from Shihab. Make notes. Hide the evidence for another day.

Mohamed Naahii said...

What I feel is it is not Maumoon who will decide the legitimacy of the presdential commision or its order. His duty at the time was to obey the order. The whole thing wouldn’t have become so violent at the first place if he had agreed to the summon of the commision and later file his doubts as a court case in the court. Perhaps he may have got a court ruling like what yamin got.
Unfortunately even the wise old man did make the wrong move of challenging an order issued by a commision made under law where he had better ways to move ahead. That is a fact even the members of DRP must accept. Let the courts decide its validity and members of DRP have always got the option of taking the matter to the courts. To be frank i was expecting wiser actions from the man who ruled Maldives for 30 years

Anonymous said...

I'd say he was treated with special respect and protection as the constitution says.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous July21,2009 7:22 AM:

No its the other way around. The Police will have to act unless and until such time a court rules their actions cannot be enforced. That is exactly what happened. Their actions and Commission's actions are deemed legitimate until proven otherwise by a Court. And its irrelevant before the law what Maumoon or Yaamin thinks of the Commission. It is a Court that has to say so.

So in this case, its not the Police but Maumoon who should be prosecuted for disobedience to order. After all, wasnt that the most popular provision for prosecution under his regime?

Get your facts straight!!!

Anonymous said...

This evening’s proceedings in which Gayoom was summoned to the police headquarters for questioning and the hoohaa surrounding this event was a vile display of how he craves attention and how he has lost touch with reality. It is Gayoom, he and himself and everyone paying attention to him. Gayoom likes to revel in the attention and the chaos (and violence) that his person can evoke in the still mindless thousands who worship his gigantic ego.

And yes, it is all about his gigantic ego. Long before the last summons was issued there were lorries with megaphones roaming the streets of Male’ calling for his supporters to congregate at Alivaage (Gayoom’s temporary residence until he can move back to the palace – or so he hopes). If he were innocent and had the best interest of the rule of law and that of the people he once ruled over then he would have instead called for restraint and calm from his supporters. He would have stepped in and called for them to stay home and out of trouble (and most would have obliged his command). But he did not. Gayoom just cannot pass off a golden opportunity to be at the center of attention. And he got his circus and his clowns and his audience just the way he wanted it.

But as much as he loves to bask in attention, until today, he has so far evaded something that could have created a lot of it: challenging the Auditor General for the untimely audit reports (of the palace and presidential office) in court. In the past Gayoom had challenged an allegation of apostasy by Adaalath and won. And more recently he had won the defamation case against Afeef. So what is stopping him from taking the AG to court what with all the scathing reports that have potentially defamed him far more seriously? Do I smell guilt?

I suppose he’s just waiting for these things to take its natural course and then he’ll make a world stopping show out of it. He’ll make sure that there’ll be more than a couple of women fainting (his ego must have expanded by an order of some magnitude with that news).

Just you wait and see.

Anonymous said...

whacked this up for minian letters ection, thought its relevant here?

Maumoon’s promise that the Government will face “bitter consequences” for arresting him made my heart burn with sorrow and rage for all of Maumoon’s victims who continue to suffer the “bitter consequences” of his narcissistic self worship.

For example, I was speaking to a woman who, when she was only nine years old, was violently woken up by Maumoon’s National Security Service who blasted into her bedroom at 5 in the morning looking for her Grandfather. She continues to suffer from severe anxiety as a direct consequence of that event. Her story is one of many thousands of tragic cases wherein Maldivians' lives were ruined as children due to Maumoon’s cruel power trips.

Have some mercy for the suffering of your victims, Maumoon. We all know what bitterness you are capable of causing, but if you want to die knowing you have done the right thing by your maker and by humanity, what about cultivating some mercy and compassion for once in your life. Your use of the words ‘bitter consequences’ was received by thousands like a dagger to the heart. You so viciously reminded all of your victims of the pain you put them through.

The way you have been treated was so kind, you can’t compare the way you treated your victims to that. I mean, first, you were told that you would be arrested hours in advance - it was not whilst you were asleep at some hideous hour, and you have admitted that you were treated humanely. It is about time you begin to express some gratitude for the merciful way you are being treated by His Excellency’s Government.

After the severe trauma you had put His Excellency through during his life, you need to weep at his feet for a month begging forgiveness and gratitude for his soft approach with you. He was not there to see his own daughters being born. Have you ever apologized to Madame Laila and President Nasheed for the hell you put them through? Do you have any idea how much pain you have caused and how sorry you need to be?

You claim to be a great Muslim scholar, but a true Muslim leader is called to embrace the suffering for others (In Sahih Muslim a Muslim leader is called to be a shield for his people), not to impose suffering on others.

The Islam that I feel shreds my heart with painful mercy for the oppressed; it causes me to tremble with indignation when I see any exploitation or abuse of power. Obviously for you, your Islam makes you feel happy to see your own people suffer, you seem to love to abuse power.

I say, throw the book at Maumoon. Show him justice until he is sorry for what he has done and steps aside from politics. If you wanted to stop hurting your people, Maumoon, you would leave politics alone and go back to Islamic scholarship. If you care, you would know that you only hurting the people that you claim to love by remaining in politics. To me, this demonstrates you are not caring at all.

Really, I just wanted to write this letter to comfort all those whom Maumoon’s words are hurting so deeply. Take care, dearly beloved Dhivehin, Allah loves and is closest to the oppressed; Allah will shield your soul in times of trial and has a great reward in Jannah (Heaven) for all the suffering you have been through at the cruel hands of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Allah treasures every tear that you have shed, dear Brothers and Sisters, and will return every tear to you as pearls in paradise.

An Ayat from the Qur'an for you:

Surah 2: 214

Or do ye think that ye shall enter the Garden (of bliss) without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? they encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the Apostle and those of faith who were with him cried: "When (will come) the help of God?" Ah! Verily, the help of God is (always) near!

Anonymous said...

so many thousands of Maldivian blog sthese days man can't keep up, someone send me a list

Anonymous said...

"O ye who desires rivers of honey and fountains of milk, shall have it in the Garden of Eden under the brand name of Shula Shiraz.Bu ye all believers this will be done if you repent for consuming false drink while in this World"

Mohamed said...

The problem is that he is still thinking in his own style.And he feels that he is above the law.More than 54% of the Maldivians have elected Mohamed Nasheed as the president of the Maldives for a purpose.To serve the Maldivians and make a better tomorrow for us.

Nasheed formed the commision not to investigate the reason for putting arresting him so many times but to investigate the crimes the previous government have done and to correct the injustice given to people.

To day in an open democracy the Maldivians are opening their eyes to the facts and facts of reality.President Nasheed is doing his duty.Becoming a presidnt even he cannot forgive Maumoon.If Maumoon Abdul Gayoom allowed the law to take its own course all this unnecessary problems wouldn't have arised in the first place.Instead he allowed his supporters to beat a police officer mercilessly at his own residence.He should have shown a better example to the public to respect the laws of the Maldives.

He was summoned to the presidetial comission just for questioning.And why is he so much afraid of the commission.If he is innocent then why is he so afraid and not allowing the comisssion to carry out their work.


Today the Maldivians should allow the democracy to strengthen in the Maldives.

Even in United states president Clinton was tried having an affair with his intern Monica.After all now Maldives is also a democracy and no one should be above the law.

I hate Maumoon, for his police force arrested my brothers and sisters because of someones false complain.He kept my younger brother who was an innocent 4th class kid in police custody without any proof for more than a week until proven we were innocent.I hate him for all the tortures we were given in the police.

I was tortured at the police for telling the police officer who came to arrest me that I was not afraid to go to police for something I have not done.But today why Maumoon is afraid to face the comission and prove his innocence.

Maumoon and other corrupt leaders should be given a lie detection or narco analysis test to bring out the facts.Let the law to take its own course.

Anonymous said...

I’m surprised to know that this is the first time in the history of Maldives Police Service to engage its special operations team to summon anyone to police after failing to attend police for a summon chit. The normal procedure to summon a member of public is to send a chit. if failed another chit will be sent. If again failed police will request for a court order to arrest. But why it is different to summon the former president and opposition leader Maumoon? Why didn’t two or three police officers attend to Alivaage and take the statement of Maumoon when they did the same to Dr.Shaheed with regard to Kosovo suspected bribe case? How long Hon. Shihab will survive as a puppet of president Nasheed? Why would president Nasheed need a timid person like Shihab to be the Home Minister? What influences police leaders to obey the president or Home Minister’s illegal orders? Where are we heading to…?

Anonymous said...

why is president delaying the formation of Police Integrity Commission while all members have been cleared from the parliment for sometime? Is this deliberate? who will ask this question? How could we prevent police from political mayhem? Mr. President shall never think of believing police a power of executive branch! In a democracy police power will only be used to protect and serve the citizen…

Anonymous said...

The very fact that some of these people are so obsessed with Maumoon and want him in gallows show how wickedly double faced some of us can be.The others just go on talking of his cruelties and the scores of people he murdered etc etc,, All carefully orchestrated to fool some really ignorant people and prolong the rule of MDP.When facts are bared a totally different picture will emerge.It is foolish to assume that any leader should be held responsible if drug addicts, thieves, anti nationals, terrorists etcc get their due punishment according to the law and rules existing at that certain point of time.Those who glorify the actions of this government should not surprised if all their actions are scrutinized or scorned upon by a hostile new government in future.This doesnot mean that all their actions are wrong.However it is indeed ridiculous if some of them take a personal vendetta on the ruler when they were given due punishment for a crime or get convicted and spend time in jail.Civil societies will always have courts, always punish the guilty and if the guilty take a personal offense then it is their problem.No point in blaming gayoom , Anni, Nasir etc etcc... You pay for what you do.

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