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Sri Lanka CID officers paid
to spy on Maldivians? 13 Oct 2003 Senior Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Department police officers are being paid US$1000 dollars each to spy on Maldivians living in Sri Lanka, say reliable sources. The CID officers have been in Malé, finalising a list of people to be placed under observation, the sources claim. All houses where Maldivians live will be under surveillance, phone bills are being examined, householders questioned about their calls, and selected phones are being tapped, according to the sources. In May 2003, this website gave details of the close co-operation that exists between sections of the Sri Lankan police and the Maldives' NSS. Until his death that month, the Maldivian High Commission security chief in Colombo, Mohamed Zahir, had controlled a vigorous NSS spying operation on Maldivians visiting and residing in Sri Lanka. Mohamed Zahir was married to President Gayyoom's sister, Muslima, and he was the brother of Adam Zahir, ex-police commissioner in Malé, transferred after the Sept 20 disturbances and currently living with his family in London. Several years ago, the NSS took over the Maldives Department of Immigration, previously under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Senior NSS officials thought it would be easier to collect intelligence, carry out surveillance, and control movements of people if they had direct control over immigration and emigration. Mohamed Zahir headed liason with the Sri Lankan National Intelligence Bureau and Criminal Investigation Department, and this close co-operation continued without hindrance under Chandrika Kumaratunga's presidency, until the election of the new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The NSS have been able to detain and even extradite Sri Lankans suspected of infringing Maldive interests. No extradition treaty exists between Maldives and Sri Lanka, but Sri Lankan citizens are regularly removed illegally to Malé NSS headquarters. |
Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldive cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
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