German National Receives An Unthinkable Punishment In Maldives

An old video of 1978 has gone viral in the Maldives. On the video CBS journalist Morley Safer meets a German national who was exiled to Fulhadhoo island for committing murder. The German was happily married to a Maldivian and living in paradise. He was exiled to Fulhadhoo in Baa Atoll, to live there was his punishment and he could not be more content. When asked if he would go back to Germany if pardoned, he said he would go back to see his family and come back to live in Maldives.



That’s what he did, but he never went back to Germany. He is still living in Maldives, now with grandchildren.


Photo by Mihaaru: Johim with his children in 1980s. His name is now Ismail.

The story was covered on “It’s A Long Way To Furudu”, an episode of 60 Minutes by Morley Safer, the most watched and most profitable program in television history.

In 1978 Maldives was a peaceful community of about 130,000. Jails did not exist. That was probably the reason for this exile. At that time exile was considered a severe punishment. Members of every family were very interdependent to each other. To live on another island without family support would have been difficult. It did not matter to Johim Blum who said Maldivians were friendly. He must have adapted to local lifestyle very quickly, his marriage indicates exactly that. One man’s punishment is another man’s dream.


Photo: Fulhadhoo, Baa Atoll, Maldives

There was no island in Maldives that was called Furudu, the island Morley referred was Fulhadhoo in Baa Atoll. In 1978 there was not many Maldivians who spoke English.

Award winning journalist visited Maldives to record this documentary at a time Maldives was unheard to much of the world. There were only 3 diplomatic missions in the Maldives. From Maldives there was only one diplomat representing the country internationally and that was the Ambassador to United Nations.

The video is very interesting. Watch it!


Johim is now 63, has 6 children and 11 grandchildren with the same wife he married 38 years ago. Local media Mihaaru tried to reach him for an interview but was unsuccessful. But they managed to convince one of his children and was able to get some pictures.


Johim with a grand child - Photo by Mihaaru



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