Ali Didi tell breadfruit man story is true and Dr Munavvar very corrupt

I read this article about Dr Munavvar that say he is very bad man. I am now very confused. I wait for Naseem to come from Bangkok to clear this.

Today I meet Dr Munavvar's relative from Meedhoo. His name Ali Didi. We eat and Lavazza coffee at Al Fresco. Ali Didi tell me the story of breadfruit man is true. Ali Didi tell me that Dr Munavvar is personally jealous man and he was very bad Attorney General. I am now very confused.

Shabeer kept only Dhunikolhu island for himself, and he gave Velaavaru island to Zaki who in turn sold it to Champa Hussain Afeef. The case of Velaavaru island is unique. Maumoon Gayyoom knew that Zaki who was the head of the Tourism Ministry's resort awarding committee, had manipulated the process to benefit from Sunland's gaining of the three resorts. At one point, the case became very sensitive and Zaki had to seek the help of Gayyoom's executive secretary Abdulla Shahid and the then Attorney General Dr. Mohamed Munavvar to ensure the case was laid to rest.

Champa Afeef paid US$500,000 each to Abdulla Shahid and Dr. Munavvar to 'settle things', and Champa offered the same amount to Zaki. But Zaki wanted more than US$500,000 dollars and after some bickering, Champa who was desperate for Velaavaru island, promised to construct Zaki's eight-storey house complete with a swimming pool on the terrace. Now Zaki was really happy.

Zaki and his family frequently spent vacations in Lohifushi Resort at the time. The owners of the resort entertained him well. In return, DIMMS shareholders Solih and Didi each received a resort. Long after the resorts were given, Zaki continued to receive cheques from DIMMS.

Zaki's friend Dr Mohamed Munavvar, the Attorney General at the time, also visited resorts with Zaki and had drinking parties. Munavvar has family links with the Sunland group of resort operators. Out of the 14 islands, Sunland also received islands to develop as tourist resorts.

Munavvar as Attorney General changed a lot of things in the amended 1997 constitution to increase the President Maumoon Gayyoom's power. When Gayyoom removed the clause which stated that the president can only have two terms, Munavvar did not oppose it. This is just one example of many things Munavvar manipulated and twisted when he was Attorney General to further his own and Gayyoom's interests.

Munavvar can also be very petty. He once sentenced one of his neighbours to many years exile to another island, after that man who lives next door to people close to Munavvar accidentally picked a breadfruit from the 'wrong tree' because both breadfruit trees in the neighbouring houses had interlocking branches.

Munavvar's relatives decided to forgive the man, but Munavvar who bore a personal grudge against the man, gave him a disproportionately long sentence. This case was reported in the Maldives media but both Maumoon Gayyoom and Munavvar ignored it. This is how Munavvar treats even the weakest among his imagined 'opponents'. One can guess what torture he will inflict on any person who seriously politically opposes him if he is able to become Maldives' next dictator after Gayyoom is toppled by the MDP.

One similarity between the arrogant Dr Munavvar and paranoid Maumoon Gayyoom is that they both enjoy enslaving the people who work under them. If you fail to be publicly courteous and stand up when Munavvar enters the room, he will be your enemy for life. Munavvar lacks any sense of humanity towards his fellow beings and was even snobbish towards his fellow Cabinet members.

At various times he prevented draft bills by the former Labour minister Abdulla Kamaaludhdheen from being heard or read at the People's Majlis. (Abdulla Kamaaludhdheen is now the Fisheries minister; may Allah protect the fishing industry!)

All Maldivians know about Kamaaludhdheen's intellectual limitations, but bills by any majlis member, regardless of whether he can read and write, at least deserve a hearing.

Gayyoom removed Munavvar from the Attorney General's position in 2003 and offered him another post, but Munavvar declined the offer. It is believed that Gayyoom's brother and Trade Minister Abdullah Yameen wanted both Zaki and Munavvar removed from cabinet because Yameen saw them as a threat to his own presidential dreams.

Zaki and Munavvar never belonged to the core group of the Gayyoom regime, and they had visions of gaining power in the future. Both of them criticised Gayyoom in private gatherings, but in public it was all 'praise for Gayyoom'. Even in October 2003 during the peak of Gayyoom's election campaign, Zaki organised a ceremony supposedly to mark an anniversary of national planning in the Maldives, and Gayyoom was invited and gave a speech with maximum publicity. Zaki had organised similar publicity campaigns for Gayyoom on many occasions.

As the Attorney General, Munavvar relentlessly prosecuted political dissidents and people with moderate Islamic beliefs who were critical of the regime. His performance at the Sandhaanu prisoners trials, on behalf of Maumoon Gayyoom, was a national and legal disgrace. At the same time, he pulled strings to free his friends who committed all sorts of criminal acts.

There is no doubt that both Zaki and Munavvar would be faithful servants in the Gayyoom regime had they not been sidelined. If they had been offered acceptable cabinet portfolios they would have remained supporters of the regime and would not have 'defected' to the MDP.

As Attorney General, Munavvar received an opportunity to work towards constitutional and legal reform but he did nothing with his skills and power for the betterment of Maldives and Maldivians. Instead, he defended a corrupt regime, and ended up a corrupt politician.