Speaker intervenes in case of 2 foreigners 'harassed' at airport
Speaker Nasheed has submitted similar motions to parliamentary committees before, and the matters had been accepted.
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed has requested the Parliament's National Security Services Committee (241) to investigate allegations that two expatriates who arrived in the Maldives in September were harassed by an immigration officer and denied entry.
Chair of the 241 committee, North Hithadhoo MP Mohamed Aslam said the parliament secretariat had sent a letter to the committee on Sunday to investigate the matter on behalf of Nasheed.
Aslam presented the letter during Monday’s committee session. The letter stated that the Maldivian Immigration had repatriated a Sri Lankan media official and UK resident Intigab Idris on 12 September.
"The Speaker of the parliament said that they have been sent back out of the Maldives after being mocked by an employee of Maldives Immigration," the letter read.
"The parliament secretariat requests this committee to look into the matter as the Speaker wishes to clarify what happened".
Speaking to the members of 241, Aslam said that a letter has been sent to relevant authorities to clarify the matter. He said that further details of the matter would be revealed upon more investigation.
There has been no word from immigration regarding the allegations.
Some MPs refuse to investigate
PNC's Maduvvari MP Adam Shareef, who is on the 241 committee supported the clarification. However, some MDP members spoke against the matter.
"Can the Speaker of the Parliament [himself] send cases to the committee, or doesn't he need a parliament member to address the issue?”, the deputy leader of MDP's parliamentary group and MP for South Henveiru Hussain Shameem questioned.
Hussain, who is also the deputy chair of the committee, said that it was a matter of concern for other members as well that the Speaker himself had submitted the case to the committee.
Hanimaadhoo MP Abdul Gafoor Moosa refused to investigate Nasheed's submission due to lack of details that had been provided. He said that the letter did not contain any information such as who was involved in the case, nor the foreigners’ passport numbers.
"So and so happened, look into the matter; that is not how these things are done, it is not valid. We might end up investigating the wrong people. Some information needs to be presented to begin investigations like this," Gafoor said.
"Therefore, this committee does not need to look into the matter. There is no need to write inquiries to government authorities on the matter either. We do not work upon heresy in this committee."
In response to the question posed by South Henveiru MP Shameem, Aslam said that there is no article in the parliament regulation stipulating that a case may or may not be submitted to the committee by the Speaker. He suggested seeking the advice of the Counsel General of the parliament.
Speaker Nasheed has submitted similar motions to parliamentary committees before, and the matters had been accepted. MDP members did not make it a big issue at the time.
