Media freedom groups have called for the release of two journalists jailed in the Maldives for violating a gag order that banned public discussion of a documentary alleging an affair between President Mohamed Muizzu and a former aide.
The International Federation of Journalists on Wednesday “strongly condemned” the jailing of Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Nasir, while the Committee to Protect Journalists described their sentences as a “punitive attempt to criminalise investigative journalism.”
The journalists, who work for the news website Adhadhu, were sentenced by the criminal court in the capital, Male, on Tuesday. Shahzan received 15 days in jail and Nasir 10 days.
Muizzu’s spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, rejected the criticism, saying any “attempts at portraying the criminal proceedings as an attack on free press are unwarranted and politically motivated.”
The case centers on a documentary titled “Aisha,” released on Adhadhu’s social media accounts on March 28. It featured an anonymized interview with a woman who claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Muizzu, a married father of three. Muizzu has dismissed the allegations as “baseless lies.”
Police raided Adhadhu’s offices in April over the documentary’s release, seizing laptops and hard drives. The gag order, issued Monday, bans any direct or indirect discussion of the allegations, citing constitutional provisions protecting the right to reputation.
Adhadhu said the trials were conducted in secret and concluded within hours, with the journalists given just two hours to find legal counsel and no opportunity to present a defense. “For the first time in our democratic history, journalists have been jailed for challenging the most powerful man in the nation,” the outlet said.
The case has intensified concerns about democracy and media freedom in the Maldives. Parliament passed a media law in September giving a commission stacked with government loyalists powers to fine, suspend and shut down outlets, while Muizzu’s allies overhauled the Supreme Court last year, removing three judges.
The Committee to Protect Journalists urged authorities to release Shahzan and Nasir and “end judicial harassment of their news outlet.” Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said the jailing “marks another shameful chapter in the government’s attempt to intimidate the press and silence public dissent.”
Source: www.aljazeera.com