British Editor Targeted for Publishing Letter on Homosexuality

by Olivia Lang I’ve been meaning to write about this since it kicked off in early October. An editor of an English news website has been accused of diluting Islam and promoting homosexuality in the Maldives by an Islamic group who have asked for her deportation. The religious group took offence after Maryam Omidi, who took over from me as editor of Minivan News at the beginning of the year, published a letter written by a reader who said that the 100% Muslim country should recognise gay rights. The Islamic Ministry, headed by the religious conservative Adhaalaath party, then condemned the publication of the letter and asked for an investigation into both the letter (to establish its author) and the website. The rest of the government, headed by President Mohamed...

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Posted in: Politics / Religion,Society

Serial Paedophile Sentenced To Six Years

By JJ Robinson | November 25th, 2009 Convicted paedophile Hussain Fazeel has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for 39 counts of child sexual abuse, the highest sentence for such a crime in the Maldives and a landmark decision for the country. Fazeel was initially arrested in February for smuggling alcohol in Male, but when police searched his home they discovered a hard drive containing a large quantity of images and videos of Fazeel having sex with young boys, some as young as 10. In other videos, the boys were made to had sex with each other. Inspector Ismail Athif of Maldives Police Service said at the time that many of the...

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Posted in: News

Letter on Tolerance & Dialogue

This letter was sent to the editor of Minivan News by an anonymous writer, published on their website on November 19th, 2009*** Dear Editor, I am appalled at the ease with which Muslims in the Maldives and all over the world take offence at the slightest indication that there is an opposing view expressively forbidden by Islam. Constitutional law dictates that all tenets of Islam should be observed strictly and nothing else can supersede this entrenchment. Unfortunately, we do not do that. We have adapted and inherited a watered-down version of Islam and rally in Islam’s names as hypocrites. Hypocrisy is the Maldivian National Identity. I strongly appeal as a Muslim moderate to open up a dialogue and invite the public to educate and inform about the numerous cases of openly homosexual, atheistic...

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Posted in: Letters

Islamic Foundation calls for Minivan News website editor to be deported

The Islamic Foundation has called on the Government to deport the editor of Minivan News website, Maryam Omidi, for publishing a reader-submitted letter on the website which talked about legalizing homosexuality in Maldives. Speaking at a news conference held at Dharubaaruge, the Islamic Foundation’s spokesperson Ahmed Shain said that their investigation to discover the reason the letter had been published on the website had revealed some interesting details. Shain said that their investigation had revealed that Maryam Omidi, a resident of UK and the editor of the Minivan News website, had worked as a journalist for one of the largest European online websites that endorsed equal rights for homosexuals. He further said that she had written and published 37 articles endorsing homosexuality...

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Posted in: News

MPs vote for harsh penalties for sex offenders

By Ahmed Naish | November 4th, 2009 A bill on child abuse was passed by parliament today with amendments to increase jail terms for sex offenders. Of the 60 MPs who participated in the vote, 58 voted in favour, two voted against and one abstained. The two MPs who voted against were Bilendhoo MP Ahmed Hamza and Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Rasheed of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Kulhudhufushi South MP Mohamed Nasheed, an independent, who drafted the legislation, proposed a raft of amendments to reverse the changes to the jail terms made by the committee that reviewed the bill. A total of 36 amendments were passed. The...

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Posted in: Politics / Religion