Maldivian seaman arrested in Syria on drug possession charges
| DATE: 2009-04-01 | PRINT | Share
Hassan Ilyas, 28, of Ahimaage in Lhaviyani atoll Isdhoo, had been contracted by Goodwill Private Limited to work on a foreign vessel when he was arrested by Syrian Police on 26 December 2008, the company said. An official from the company said that they had notified the Transport Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and Ilyas’ family about the arrest. However, the story had not been picked up by media outlets until now.
According to Goodwill Private Limited, Ilyas had been arrested at a port called Tartous in Syria.
“We received information that he was under the custody of the Syrian Police,” Goodwill Chairperson Mariyam Azeeza said on Tuesday. “It has now been some time since we last had any communication with him.”
She said due to the incident, their good relationship with the Grecian company Charter World Shipping had been affected and their trust in Maldivians had been broken. She noted that as a result of the incident Maldivians were no longer allowed to travel on any of their ships that travelled to Brazil. She added that this was because Brazil was well-known for its drug trade.
“We have faced many difficulties due to this incident,” Azeeza said. “They even tried to send back 259 Maldivians who were working on their ships under contract with us. They notified us to solve the drugs problem or they would send the Maldivians back. However we've had a very close business relationship with them that went back very far and we were able to make some compromises. Now they will only allow Maldivians to work on their ships in the cargo area. Previously, Maldivians could go for tankers too.”
She further said that a total of 13 Maldivians who had been working for their company had been arrested in various ports around the world since 2003. The Grecian company had said that they had suffered damages in excess of US$4 million due to the arrest of Ilyas, she said.
| DATE: 2009-04-01 | PRINT | Share
A Maldivian seaman was arrested in Syria for drug possession.
Hassan Ilyas, 28, of Ahimaage in Lhaviyani atoll Isdhoo, had been contracted by Goodwill Private Limited to work on a foreign vessel when he was arrested by Syrian Police on 26 December 2008, the company said. An official from the company said that they had notified the Transport Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and Ilyas’ family about the arrest. However, the story had not been picked up by media outlets until now.
According to Goodwill Private Limited, Ilyas had been arrested at a port called Tartous in Syria.
“We received information that he was under the custody of the Syrian Police,” Goodwill Chairperson Mariyam Azeeza said on Tuesday. “It has now been some time since we last had any communication with him.”
She said due to the incident, their good relationship with the Grecian company Charter World Shipping had been affected and their trust in Maldivians had been broken. She noted that as a result of the incident Maldivians were no longer allowed to travel on any of their ships that travelled to Brazil. She added that this was because Brazil was well-known for its drug trade.
“We have faced many difficulties due to this incident,” Azeeza said. “They even tried to send back 259 Maldivians who were working on their ships under contract with us. They notified us to solve the drugs problem or they would send the Maldivians back. However we've had a very close business relationship with them that went back very far and we were able to make some compromises. Now they will only allow Maldivians to work on their ships in the cargo area. Previously, Maldivians could go for tankers too.”
She further said that a total of 13 Maldivians who had been working for their company had been arrested in various ports around the world since 2003. The Grecian company had said that they had suffered damages in excess of US$4 million due to the arrest of Ilyas, she said.
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